A small but important change to exchange proposal calendars

We've made a quiet but meaningful change to the way calendars work when you're putting together an exchange proposal. It's the kind of thing you might not notice straight away, but it solves a problem that's caused the occasional headache in our Community: accidental double-ups on your exchange commitments.

The old way (and why we changed it)

Until now, when you opened the calendar to choose dates for a proposal, every date was shown as available — whether the home was actually free or not. Most of the time this worked out fine, but every so often it led to two members proposing the same dates without realising the home was already committed elsewhere. Not a great moment for anyone.

So we've changed it. From now on, the calendars in proposals will only show dates that are genuinely available.

How it works, depending on the type of exchange

There are a few flavours of exchange on PLU, and the calendar behaves slightly differently for each.

Simultaneous exchanges

For a simultaneous exchange, both homes need to be free at the same time. So the calendar now shows only the dates where both your home and theirs are available.

Here's an example. Let's say I'm putting together a simultaneous exchange proposal to Joan. Joan's home is available all of July and August. Mine is unavailable in July, but free for the first three weeks of August. The calendar will show only the overlap — those first three weeks of August — because that's the only window when both homes are genuinely free.

Non-simultaneous exchanges

For a non-simultaneous exchange (where the two stays happen at different times), you'll now see two calendars instead of one.

The first calendar shows the dates available for the home you're proposing to.

The second shows dates available for your home. Pick a window from each, and you're set.

Non-reciprocal and hospitality exchanges

These are one-way arrangements, so there's only one home's availability that matters. The calendar shows the dates that are available for the home you're proposing to.

What if the dates you want aren't showing as available?

This is the important bit. If the dates you'd love to propose aren't showing up as available, it means one of the homes (yours or theirs) isn't open during that window.

The fix is straightforward: have a friendly chat with the host and ask if they'd be willing to open up those dates. They may well be happy to — sometimes a calendar just hasn't been updated, or a tentative hold is no longer needed. Once the dates are made available, you can go ahead and put your proposal together.

Why we think you'll like it

The whole point of this change is to give you confidence that the dates you're proposing are real. No more crossed wires, no more "oh — I'd already promised that week to someone else" emails. Just a cleaner, clearer way to plan your next exchange.

As always, if anything's not behaving the way you expect, Member Support is right here.