Why Weekend Demand is Different
Before diving into pricing tactics, let's understand why weekends and weekdays represent fundamentally different markets.
Weekend travelers are primarily leisure guests:
- Couples on romantic getaways
- Families taking short trips
- Friend groups celebrating occasions
- Locals doing staycations
These guests are spending discretionary income on experiences. They've chosen YOUR property for a reason—location, amenities, vibe. They have higher price tolerance because the trip itself is the goal.
Weekday travelers have different motivations:
- Business travelers (expense accounts but also alternatives)
- Remote workers seeking change of scenery
- Budget-conscious travelers avoiding weekend premiums
- Necessity bookings (relocations, medical visits, etc.)
Weekday guests are often more price-sensitive. They might choose a hotel instead. They might delay the trip. They might work from home rather than book that workcation.
This fundamental difference in price sensitivity is why treating weekends and weekdays identically is a mistake.
The 75% Rule Explained
Here's the rule we've validated across our 11-property portfolio:
Whatever discount you apply to weekday rates, apply 75% of that discount to weekend rates.
In practice:
- If weekday gets a 10% lead-time discount, weekend gets 7.5%
- If weekday gets a 15% close-in discount, weekend gets 11.25%
- If weekday gets 0% discount, weekend also gets 0%
The reasoning: Weekend demand is less elastic. Guests who want Friday-Saturday aren't going to wait for a bigger discount—they'll book somewhere else or not travel at all. Discounting aggressively doesn't convert more bookings; it just reduces revenue on bookings that would have happened anyway.
The Math Behind It
Let's work through a real example from our La Jolla property.
Base rates:
- Weekday base: $328
- Weekend base: $369
Scenario: Close-in dates (5 days out) with low occupancy
Standard lead-time discount would be 15% for close-in weekdays.
Old approach (equal discounting):
- Weekday: $328 × 0.85 = $279
- Weekend: $369 × 0.85 = $314
75% rule approach:
- Weekday: $328 × 0.85 = $279 (same)
- Weekend: $369 × 0.925 = $341 (11.25% discount vs 15%)
The difference: $27 more per weekend night.
Now multiply by the number of weekend nights per year (104) and the percentage that actually needed discounting (let's say 30%):
$27 × 104 × 0.30 = $842 recovered annually
This is just from ONE property applying ONE rule. Across a portfolio, across all pricing scenarios, the compound effect is significant.
Why 75%? The Data Behind the Number
We didn't choose 75% arbitrarily. It came from analyzing booking patterns across our properties over 24 months.
Key findings:
Weekend booking velocity is less sensitive to price:
- 10% weekday discount → 22% increase in bookings
- 10% weekend discount → 8% increase in bookings
The same discount produces dramatically different results. Weekend guests who are going to book will book regardless. Weekend guests who aren't going to book won't be swayed by 10%.
Weekend cancellation rates are lower:
Weekend bookings have 40% lower cancellation rates than weekday bookings. This suggests stronger commitment—guests really want that weekend stay.
Weekend lead times are longer:
Average booking lead time for weekends: 18 days. For weekdays: 11 days. Weekend guests plan ahead and commit earlier, suggesting they're less price-sensitive at the decision point.
The 75% ratio optimizes for these observed behaviors.
Holiday and Event Overrides
The 75% rule applies to normal weekends. Special circumstances require different treatment.
Major Holidays
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Fourth of July—these are 0% discount periods.
Demand exceeds supply. Every property in your market is booked or close to it. Discounting doesn't generate incremental bookings; it just gives away revenue.
Set premium rates (often 20-50% above normal weekend) and hold firm.
Local Events
SXSW in Austin. Comic-Con in San Diego. Formula 1 in Austin. The Masters in Augusta.
These events create artificial demand spikes. Apply the same logic as holidays: 0% discount, premium rates, hold firm.
The opposite also applies: the week AFTER a major event is often unusually slow. This is when more aggressive weekday (not weekend) discounting makes sense.
Shoulder Season
During shoulder season (spring/fall in most markets), the weekend/weekday gap naturally narrows. Business travel picks up, leisure travel spreads more evenly.
In these periods, the 75% rule might become 80% or even 85%. The principle remains: discount weekends less than weekdays, but the magnitude adjusts.
The Sunday Exception
Is Sunday a weekend or a weekday?
From a pricing perspective, Sunday nights often behave like weekdays:
- Lower demand (guests check out Sunday morning)
- Different guest profile (business travelers arriving for Monday meetings)
- More price sensitivity
Our approach: Sunday nights get weekday treatment, not weekend treatment.
This means:
- Friday and Saturday: Weekend rates, 75% rule for discounts
- Sunday through Thursday: Weekday rates, full discounts when appropriate
Some operators treat Thursday nights as pre-weekend, applying partial weekend pricing. This works in leisure markets but not in business-heavy areas. Know your market.
Automating Weekend/Weekday Logic
Manual management of weekend/weekday differentials is tedious and error-prone. Every pricing decision needs to consider:
- What day is it?
- What's the appropriate discount level?
- Apply the 75% rule if weekend
- Check for holiday/event overrides
- Adjust for seasonal patterns
Our Golden Engine handles this automatically:
- Identifies day-of-week
- Calculates appropriate weekday discount
- Applies 75% rule for Friday-Saturday
- Treats Sunday as weekday
- Checks event calendar for overrides
- Outputs final recommended rate
You see the recommendation. You don't have to think about the logic.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Flat Pricing Across All Days
Some operators set one rate and leave it. This leaves money on the table both ways—underpricing weekends and overpricing weekdays.
Mistake 2: Discounting Weekends First
When occupancy is low, some operators discount weekends first because they're "higher priced anyway." This is backwards. Weekend demand is stronger. Discount weekdays first.
Mistake 3: Equal Percentage Discounts
Applying the same 15% discount to weekdays and weekends ignores demand elasticity. The 75% rule exists because these are different markets.
Mistake 4: Ignoring Sunday
Treating Sunday as a weekend day inflates your rates for a night that behaves like Monday. Know your market's Sunday patterns.
Mistake 5: Not Adjusting Seasonally
The weekend premium varies by season. In peak summer, weekends might be 30% higher than weekdays. In slow winter, maybe only 10%. Static ratios miss these dynamics.
Measuring the Impact
How do you know if the 75% rule is working? Track these metrics:
Weekend RevPAR: Revenue per available weekend night. This should increase when you implement proper differential pricing.
Weekend occupancy: Should stay stable or improve. If occupancy drops significantly, you've over-corrected.
Weekday-to-weekend ratio: The average rate ratio between weekdays and weekends. This should reflect your market's demand patterns.
Discount distribution: What percentage of discounts went to weekdays vs weekends? Weekdays should receive more (deeper discounts, more frequently).
Putting It Together
The 75% rule is simple but powerful:
- Calculate your weekday discount based on occupancy and lead time
- Multiply that discount by 0.75 for Friday and Saturday
- Apply Sunday as a weekday
- Override to 0% for holidays and events
- Adjust ratios seasonally if needed
Properties implementing this consistently see 5-8% revenue improvement from weekend/weekday optimization alone. Combined with proper lead-time and comp-set strategies, the compound effect is 15-30% total improvement.
See Your Weekend Opportunity
Want to know how much you're leaving on the table with weekend pricing? Our free audit analyzes your weekend/weekday patterns and shows exactly where optimization would help.