Trying to book rooms too early?

Are you getting any response? It is possible that you are too early and they are simply ignoring your requests. We normally book in the range of four to five months out. BUT we do not always book all our rooms. In May you will not have any trouble securing rooms unless you are very picky.

I have found that lots of the smaller, family run B&B& B type places, especially outside the main cities, do not want to talk about reservations for the coming year until December or January. If you have your heart set on a particular place, and they don't respond to email, I suggest you call and ask when they will start accepting reservations for next May.

Like you, I am a planner and am also travelling to Austria in May 2013. However, I bought the air tickets first, then searched for lodging. I have already booked our hotel rooms, with confirmations in writing (used booking.com; hotel then e-mailed me to confirm reservation). It could be that B and B's are less hesitant to commit if they don't take credit cards and thus would lose income if you didn't show up. However, if they take a credit card, require one to hold a reservation, and have a room cancellation policy, then I don't see why this would be too early to book. As a last resort, did you call them?

Most hotel's do not currently have any pricing information for 2013. Especially B&Bs. The only ones you can book are usually chain hotels. Or those that completely caters to tourists. No one will want to commit pricing this early, especially B&Bs. Also some B&Bs shut down when the owners go on vacation. Your plane tickets should never be bought over 3 months in advance, except for holidays. Airlines don't have anything on sale until about 8-10 weeks before departure time. Unless there is some sort of festival going on during that time. I'd keep a list of places you'd like to stay in. Watch the prices of airfares. And not book anything until 2013.

Frank's advice is as good as his grammar.

you are right lola, my grammar sucks. I leave the writing to my wife. but i do save more money than most travellers.
most of the time over 50%. if you don't care about saving money. you can do anything at anytime. if you do care about saving money, a simple search online will tell you the exact same things on when to book for hotels and when to buy your tickets. international fare monitor... hotel price watch alerts... industry people you can ask on reddit, from employees of star alliance to sky team...etc. do whatever pleases you, after all everyone has different goals when traveling. mine is to save as much money as i can while having the exact same itinerary as others. you may be happy with a concrete plan and bookings 7 months before take off, and will pay more for that peace of mind. i don't judge. keep on traveling!

I prefer to book through HRS.com. I was traveling to Germany in April last year and found that some of my favorite hotels were not listed until late January. I think they were waiting to see what the market would bear. I had better and cheaper choices by waiting to book.

Robyn, typically small family-run B&Bs might not be ready to take reservations so far ahead, but I've been researching booking.com (I've used them for over 60 reservations in the past few years) and there are lots of listings available (although more will come up around the New Year). As for airfares, I have found them less predictable in the last few years, so I start searching for fares as soon as I have dates set (I hate paying to change a flight), and when I find a fare I can live with, I buy the ticket, usually five months or more ahead of the departure date.

Uh-oh, another advocate of the Book Three Months Out doctrine. I followed that advice when the previous proponent pushed it so confidently. It cost us an extra $1200 over what I would have paid buying the tickets early as we usually do. That was for 4 tickets,mtrip in 2010. The price never did go down, I checked. There is no one size fits all formula for plane tickets. It is different in different markets.

It's not accurate to say that B&Bs won't be able to give you a price or won't be willing to book this far out. I suppose it's possible, especially in tiny towns, but for planned leisure travel in Europe, I normally book 7-9 months out, almost exclusively at B&Bs and have never had these problems. Yes, some places close in the off-season, especially in small towns when tourism disappears. And it's also true that it will be easier to find a place with shorter notice in May than it would be in the middle of summer, so you may not need to worry about this too much. Still, e-mail the B&B directly, or call if you like. For Hallstatt, check out Helga Lenz guesthouse (Haus Lenz). Cheap, super clean, way up at the top of town – excellent views, but only a couple of rooms). BTW, I have had hotels ignore my request before. No problem, I move on and give my business to a place that will respond. I'll have to agree with Lola on some of this advice. I have saved money booking 3 months out, and I've saved money booking 9 months out. In fact, the cheapest RT airline tickets I have ever purchased were snagged 9 months out. There are tons of variables one must consider when trying to save money, and no single strategy ever works the best every time. So when someone says "never do this" or "only do that", weigh their advice carefully so you can determine if you think they know what they're talking about. I also always buy airline tickets first before trying to make lodging reservations...just sort of makes sense to me and flows logically.

Thank you everyone for your great advice. I have tried many of the tips you have given, but still not having much luck. I have decided to wait until the first of the year and try again as per your suggestions.

Robyn, As a general rule (so there are many exceptions), places where a deposit is taken will be happy to book as far ahead as possible. But at places where a deposit is not taken, the farther ahead a booking is made, the more likely that person's plans will change, causing considerable aggravation and possibly lost business for the lodging. We frequently book lodgings 5-7 months in advance and usually have no trouble. But there have been occasions - especially in B&B's - where we have been told that we are too early and to wait. Unless there is an unusual festival or convention, you will have no trouble finding a room for May in December or January. I wouldn't base any trip decisions on this issue yet. Decide what you want to see and when you can go. Then shop around for the best flights. Buy your ticket. Then once that is set in stone, dive into lodging choices. As long as you have a flight booked by December, you should have no trouble finding a room in any location tourists frequently go. I always email direct and never use a booking service. I will not book a location unless they have acceptable-looking photos online and respond promptly (within 48 hours) with a helpful email. If the place you want most really is full, there is at least a 90% chance that some place else just as good is available just down the road/street.

Two years ago when I traveled to Europe I could not make the reservations until 9 months early. They all told me they had not come up with their next years pricing yet. However I am also going to Europe again next May 2013. Just for the heck of it I started looking in June (11 months early) and was able to book all three hotels with no issue (one was a repeat for us, the other two were new) Because I booked so early I will touch basis with them in January to reconfirm but I was surprised as well. So I guess it really depends on the particular hotel.