When you enable alternate dates on your RFP, you're giving hotels the option to propose a different date range if they don't have availability for your original dates — as long as it fits your program's pattern and length.
💡 Are you a hotelier looking to propose alternate dates? See: How to Propose Alternate Dates on an RFP | Alternate Dates FAQ for Hoteliers
What does "Allow Alternate Dates" actually mean?
This setting is entirely optional and controlled by you. Hotels cannot propose alternate dates unless you've turned it on — and it must be enabled per RFP. It does not carry over automatically from previous RFPs.
⚠️ This setting is per-RFP. Just because you allowed alternate dates on a previous RFP does not mean it's enabled on this one.
How to enable alternate dates when building your RFP
Alternate date settings live in the Dates tab of the Request Builder.
Open your RFP and navigate to the Dates tab
Go to the Alternate Dates section
Toggle on "Allow hotels to suggest alternate dates" to allow them to freely select a new set of dates that matches your amount of dates/nights requested
If you want to control which days of the week hotels can start on, you need to also toggle on "Allow hotels to suggest a flexible pattern" and select your approved start days (see below)
If you're not picky about the start day, don't make any day selections!
Complete the rest of your RFP and send as normal
What is "Allow Flexible Pattern" — and how is it different?
There are two separate toggles in the Alternate Dates section, and they work together:
Toggle 1 — Allow Alternate Dates
This is the master switch. When on, hotels see the option to propose new dates. When off, the button is greyed out for all hotels on this RFP regardless of anything else.
Toggle 2 — Allow Flexible Pattern
This adds a second layer of control. When on, you can select up to 7 optional start days — specific days of the week that you're open to for your event's arrival day. Hotels will only be able to propose dates that begin on one of those highlighted days. Any other start day will be unselectable on their end.
Example: Your original RFP is for a Sunday arrival. You toggle on flexible pattern and select Sunday, Monday, and Saturday as approved start days. Hotels can only propose alternate dates that start on a Sunday, Monday, or Saturday — nothing else.
If you leave Allow Flexible Pattern off but keep Allow Alternate Dates on, hotels will have more flexibility in which start day they propose, as long as the date range matches your program's length and room block structure.
Selecting your approved start days
When "Allow Flexible Pattern" is on, a day-of-week selector will appear. Choose every day you're genuinely open to as an arrival day — up to all 7 for full flexibility.
A few tips:
Be generous if you're truly flexible. If a hotel has to message you asking you to add a start day, that's friction you can eliminate upfront.
Include your original arrival day. Otherwise hotels won't be able to confirm your original dates via the alternate date submission flow.
Cross-reference your RFP notes. If you've noted constraints like "must avoid holiday weekends," make sure your approved start days reflect that.
What if a hotel needs a start day you didn't include?
Hotels whose preferred dates fall outside your approved start days won't be able to submit them — the calendar dates will not be clickable on their end. If a hotel reaches out via the Message tab to request a specific start day:
Open the RFP and go to the Dates tab
Add the requested day to your approved start days
The platform should auto safe- the hotelier may need to hard refresh their own platform for the setting to update
💡 Good news: Updating alternate date settings does not require hotels who have already submitted proposals to resubmit. Their existing proposals stay intact.
Can I enable alternate dates after the RFP has already been sent?
Yes. If you forgot to enable alternate dates before sending, or a hotel has asked you to turn it on. Enabling alternate dates on a sent RFP does not affect any proposals already submitted.
What if in messages we agreed on dates that fall outside the approved start days?
If your conversation with a hotel landed on specific alternate dates that aren't in your current approved list, you'll need to add that start day before the hotel can submit — the system will block them otherwise, even if you've verbally agreed.
Follow the steps above to open the Dates tab and add the agreed-upon start day.
Need help configuring this? Our support team is available Monday–Friday, 8am–8pm EST via the chat icon in your HopSkip dashboard or at help@myhopskip.com.