Awaze says Flexible Cancellation guests book about 30 days earlier

Guests who pick Flexible Cancellation at cottages.com and Novasol book around 30 days further ahead, on average, than guests on standard terms, according to Awaze, which describes itself as Europe's largest holiday rentals group. The product runs through Awaze's partnership with Pikl, an insurance-backed revenue partner for the travel market.

The release places the finding against data from KeyData's UK Summer Index, published in August 2026. That index shows third-party OTAs continuing to gain volume share, with the two largest platforms each close to a fifth of all UK short-term rental reservations. It also describes a booking window increasingly split between guests who book well in advance and those who wait until the last minute. Awaze argues that without a refund option, guests have little reason to commit early and may shop elsewhere closer to travel. Flexible Cancellation is meant to give them a reason to book earlier and directly with Awaze.

Mike Wheeler, Commercial Trading Director of Awaze, said the partnership gives guests "greater confidence to secure their preferred holiday earlier" while giving property owners better visibility of future bookings. According to the release, Pikl works with Awaze to assess the actual risk behind each cancellation, which allows guests to be refunded directly without a third-party claims process.

Louise Birritteri, founder and CEO of Pikl, said that for flights and hotels the trade-off between booking early and keeping flexibility "disappeared years ago" and that self-catering is "only just catching up". She added: "Guests commit sooner and plan further out." The two companies said they are already working on further developments.