What Does Increased Air Travel Mean for Furnished Apartment Rentals?
Whether you’re planning a trip and looking for furnished rentals for your stay or you’re a property owner interested in making some passive income on one or more furnished apartments, you should be interested in the latest statistics about air travel in the United States. According to Jean Medina, a spokesperson for Airlines for America, commercial air travel has been steadily increasing as the economy has shown signs of recovery, and we’re now looking at numbers as high as pre-2008 travel statistics.
Why does an increase in commercial air travel matter to you? Whether you’re a traveler looking for affordable but luxurious temporary housing, or you’re a property owner with furnished apartments to rent, recent increases in flight numbers will directly affect you.
What It Means for Travelers
With flights booking faster, travelers are finding themselves planning trips earlier and leaving for the airport with more time to spare because airports all over the country are busier and security checkpoint lines are longer than they’ve been in years. Hotels are booking faster, as well, and so finding a place to stay that fits your standards and won’t cost you an arm and a leg is getting more difficult if you limit yourself to staying in traditional hotels and motels.
While all that probably sounds inconvenient and expensive, there’s good news. With increased travel, we’re also seeing an increase in furnished rentals in cities around the country. So, whether you’re planning an extended vacation, you’re traveling for work, or you’re relocating, this means you can find a better alternative to staying in a hotel. With more furnished apartments available in the cities and neighborhoods where you want to stay, you’ll get more amenities and conveniences, and you’ll pay less than you would for a luxury hotel (or, in some cases, even a normal hotel without any frills at all).
What It Means for Property Owners
If you’re a property owner interested in turning one or more of your apartments, condos, or houses into an investment property, you should find these increasing flight numbers encouraging. More people are traveling, which means that you’ll have more prospective renters for your furnished rentals.
As you look at the increase in travel throughout the country, you may want to consider how you’ll set your minimum stay for your properties, though. You’ll no doubt want to encourage renters to stay longer so that you can minimize turnover and vacancy, but you can attract more travelers to stay at your properties when you choose a lower minimum stay.
We generally recommend a month, as this is long enough to avoid legal issues and fines associated with very short-term rentals, but it’s also short enough that many renters will reserve your property and pay a full month’s rent even if they are only staying for two or three weeks.
Overall, more air travel in the US is good for everyone, renters and property owners alike. Whether you’re visiting a new city or you own a few furnished rentals, you should be excited about these signs of an improving economy and what they mean for you.
