Booking lead time
Also called lead time, booking window, advance booking window. Last reviewed Oct 21, 2026 by Jeremy Werden
Booking lead time is how many days pass between a guest booking a short-term rental and checking in. BNBCalc Markets shows it as Lead time: a market page averages the last 12 months, and each listing shows its own, so you can see how far ahead guests in a market plan their stays.
Lead time = check-in date − booking date, in days
How does BNBCalc Markets measure lead time?
Lead time counts the days from a booking to the check-in it's for, so a guest who books on May 1 for a May 31 arrival adds 30 days. BNBCalc Markets shows it in three places:
- The Lead time card on a market's Marketwide Stats tab averages the last 12 months. Each month's figure is the average lead time of the stays in that month, so the card tells you how far ahead guests book a typical stay across the whole year. It follows the performance tier and bedroom count picked at the top of the page, which start on Average earners and All beds.
- Each listing's details show its own Lead time under Past 12 months, or a dash when there isn't one.
- Comp sets and the Operators tab average the lead times of their listings, leaving out any listing without one.
What does a long or short lead time tell you?
A long lead time means guests plan ahead, which gives you more warning before a slow month and more time to adjust your prices. A short one means bookings arrive late, so a calendar that looks empty two weeks out can still fill.
That's why you'll want to judge your own calendar against your market's lead time rather than a fixed rule. If guests in your market book about 40 days ahead, an open week two months away isn't a warning sign yet, whereas an open week next Tuesday probably is. With a Markets plan, you can also pick a bedroom count at the top of the page to see the lead time for homes the size of yours.
The change line under the card, such as "↓1 days from prior 12 mo", compares two 12-month periods without adjusting for changes in how the market data was measured over the years, so it isn't reliable as a growth rate.