Guaranteed Early Check-in & Late Check-out
Guaranteed Early Check-in & Late Check-out
Live
Phase 1
Duration
April 14, 2026 - Present
First of its kind feature
First of its kind feature
Project Overview
Project Overview
Early check-in and late check-out are common unmet needs in hotel booking, as travellers often arrive early or leave late due to flights, trains, traffic, business schedules, family needs, or jet lag.
With Guaranteed early check-in & late check-out, hotels can offer flexible check-in and check-out timings at an additional charge. The next step is to design a customer-facing booking experience that lets users easily avail this option.
This feature aims to offer certainty, convenience, and comfort to travellers, while helping hotels monetize flexibility and enabling Goibibo/MMT to drive incremental high-margin revenue.
Early check-in and late check-out are common unmet needs in hotel booking, as travellers often arrive early or leave late due to flights, trains, traffic, business schedules, family needs, or jet lag.
With Guaranteed early check-in & late check-out, hotels can offer flexible check-in and check-out timings at an additional charge. The next step is to design a customer-facing booking experience that lets users easily avail this option.
This feature aims to offer certainty, convenience, and comfort to travellers, while helping hotels monetize flexibility and enabling Goibibo/MMT to drive incremental high-margin revenue.
Early check-in and late check-out are common unmet needs in hotel booking, as travellers often arrive early or leave late due to flights, trains, traffic, business schedules, family needs, or jet lag.
With Guaranteed early check-in & late check-out, hotels can offer flexible check-in and check-out timings at an additional charge. The next step is to design a customer-facing booking experience that lets users easily avail this option.
This feature aims to offer certainty, convenience, and comfort to travellers, while helping hotels monetize flexibility and enabling Goibibo/MMT to drive incremental high-margin revenue.
Design Process
Design Process
High intent user segments
High intent user segments
Travellers arriving early in the morning
Travellers arriving through bus/train/flight or via personal transport with overnight journey
Travellers arriving early in the morning
Travellers arriving through bus/train/flight or via personal transport with overnight journey
Same day bookings (AP0)
Travellers making last-minute bookings who need immediate access to a room.
Same day bookings (AP0)
Travellers making last-minute bookings who need immediate access to a room.
Family travelers
Traveling with kids and elderly parents.
Family travelers
Traveling with kids and elderly parents.
International travelers
International travellers dealing with early arrivals, late departures, long layovers, or time-zone differences.
International travelers
International travellers dealing with early arrivals, late departures, long layovers, or time-zone differences.
Other leisure user segments – Where travel plans are unknown or arriving post the standard check-in time, feature may not be pushed aggressively to these customers.
Other leisure user segments – Where travel plans are unknown or arriving post the standard check-in time, feature may not be pushed aggressively to these customers.
Storyboard
Started Planning
Started Planning
Started Planning
Started Planning
Storyboard
Started Planning
All Set to Go
The Overnight Journey
Waiting for Check-In
Week 1 - 2
Started Planning
Design Phase
All Set to Go
The Overnight Journey
Waiting for Check-In
Week 4
QA & Testing
Personas
Aarohi Mehta
Aarohi Mehta
Senior consultant
“I need certainty that my room will be available when my schedule demands it.”
Need
Need
A room immediately after an early flight or additional time before a late departure.
A room immediately after an early flight or additional time before a late departure.
Pain point
Pain point
Standard hotel timings often conflict with unpredictable meeting and travel schedules.
Standard hotel timings often conflict with unpredictable meeting and travel schedules.
Goal
Goal
Confirm flexible check-in or check-out in advance and avoid last-minute coordination with the hotel.
Confirm flexible check-in or check-out in advance and avoid last-minute coordination with the hotel.
Rohan Sharma
Rohan Sharma
Plans leisure trips with friends or family
“After a long journey, we should not have to wait with all our luggage.”
Need
Need
Early access to the room so the group can rest, freshen up and store luggage.
Pain point
Pain point
Coordinating several people becomes difficult when the group arrives before standard check-in.
Goal
Goal
Secure a convenient arrival time during booking and ensure a smoother experience for everyone.
Some more facts
Flight Timings
Flight Timings
Flight Timings
70%
70%
International flights arriving early or leaving late
International flights arriving early or leaving late
60%
60%
Domestic Flights arriving early or leaving late
Domestic Flights arriving early or leaving late
Bus & Train Timings
80%
Buses from metro cities are overnight journeys
72%
Trains from tier 1 to tier 2 arriving early or leaving late
Bus & Train Timings
Bus & Train Timings
80%
City to Tourist Destination
Buses from metro cities are overnight journeys
72%
City to city
Trains from tier 1 to tier 2 arriving early or leaving late
Personal Vehicle
Personal Vehicle
30%
Groups are arriving early at the destination
Business Travel
Business Travel
90%
Travelers are arriving from early flight/trains/buses for there meetings and vists
Timing Windows preferred by the travelers
3 hrs
75% demand
6 hrs
20% demand
9 hrs
5% demand
Brainstorming & Ideas
Category Filter
Introduce a filter that allows travellers to view properties offering guaranteed early check-in or late check-out.
Pros
Pros
Gives greater visibility to eligible properties.
Helps travellers discover the feature earlier in the booking journey.
Makes it easier to narrow down a large set of properties.
Cons
Cons
Offers limited flexibility in selecting specific timings.
Does not communicate the additional price clearly.
Makes detailed conditions difficult to explain within the filter experience.
New Rate Plan
Introduce a dedicated rate plan that includes guaranteed early check-in or late check-out.
Pros
Pros
Provides strong visibility at the room-selection stage.
Clearly associates the benefit and price with a particular room.
Can later be expanded to include additional benefits.
Cons
Cons
May be difficult to discover on the first visit.
Adds cognitive load to an already complex list of rate plans.
Makes comparison between similar room options more difficult.
Add on
Offer early check-in and late check-out as optional add-ons on the booking-review page.
Pros
Pros
Keeps the base room-selection experience less cluttered.
Can be bundled with other relevant upgrades or benefits.
Cons
Cons
May have a lower attachment rate because it appears later in the addons dection.
Chances of getting missed is high
User Flow
Design
Personalized Nudge
Personalized Nudge
Using linked itinerary details, we identify travellers whose arrival or departure time may not align with the hotel’s standard timings and surface the feature contextually.
Using linked itinerary details, we identify travellers whose arrival or departure time may not align with the hotel’s standard timings and surface the feature contextually.
Listing Page
Multiple entry points improve feature visibility across different user intents.
Multiple entry points improve feature visibility across different user intents.
Filter Pill
Flexible Check-in/out
Allows travellers with clear intent to narrow the results to properties offering guaranteed early check-in or late check-out.
Flexible Check-in/out
Allows travellers with clear intent to narrow the results to properties offering guaranteed early check-in or late check-out.
Property inclusion
Guaranteed Early Check-in & Late Check-out available
Shows availability on the property card, making eligible stays easier to compare.
Guaranteed Early Check-in & Late Check-out available
Shows availability on the property card, making eligible stays easier to compare.
Inline contextual card
Explore Early Check-in & Late Check-out
Surfaces relevant stays for travellers who need to check in immediately.
Explore Early Check-in & Late Check-out
Surfaces relevant stays for travellers who need to check in immediately.
Collection card
Early Check-in & Late Check-out
Discover stays with flexible arrival and departure options.
Early Check-in & Late Check-out
Discover stays with flexible arrival and departure options.
Each placement maps to a different user intent from active search and availability confirmation to immediate need fulfilment and feature discovery.
Details Page
Shows the availability of early check-in and late check-out
along with the hotel’s standard timings.
Select Room Page
Shows the feature at both room and rate-plan levels, with clear callouts when the option is free.
Review Page
Travellers can add early check-in or late check-out directly from the booking review page, without interrupting the room-selection journey.
Discover
Flexible timing options are placed next to the
standard check-in and check-out details.
Select
Travellers can compare available time slots,
prices and conditions before choosing an option.
Confirm
The selected timing is reflected in the booking
and can be changed or removed before payment.
The experience keeps the feature contextual and transparent, while giving travellers complete control over their selection.
Payment Page
Reflects the selected check-in and check-out timings in the booking summary before payment.
Thank You Page
Confirms the added flexible timings in the booking summary, giving travellers clear confirmation after payment.
Success Metrics
20%
Add Slot CTR
Based on data from the first 15 days of July 2026.
Users exploring the feature for there booking.
14-17%
Slot Addition
Based on data from the first 15 days of July 2026.
Users adding & removing time slot in there booking.
10-12%
Attach Rate
Based on data from the first 15 days of July 2026.
This includes both MakeMyTrip & Goibibo.
Solved for million of users with ❤️ travelling worldwide
A closer look at how guaranteed early check-in and late check-out were introduced across the hotel booking journey.
Looking forward to working together!