How much should you charge for holidays?
Charge a flat add-on on each visit, such as $10, or a percentage of your usual price, such as 25%. Pick one, use it the same way on every holiday you work, and tell clients in writing before the holiday. Put in your own price to see both.
Photo: Felipe Souza on Unsplash
Which holidays should I charge extra for?
Charge extra on the days you'd rather spend at home and the days clients book you because they're away. Go through the list: the 11 US federal holidays and four more days that aren't federal holidays, with their dates for 2026 and 2027. Mark each one to charge extra, keep your usual price, or close.
Show my rates as .
| Holiday | Your plan | Holiday price | Extra for the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day2026: 2027: | $35 | $30 | |
| Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.2026: 2027: | $25 | $0 | |
| Washington's Birthday (Presidents' Day)2026: 2027: | $25 | $0 | |
| Easter Sunday2026: 2027: Not a federal holiday. Set it to Charge extra if you charge for it. | $35 | $30 | |
| Memorial Day2026: 2027: | $35 | $30 | |
| Juneteenth National Independence Day2026: 2027: (federal day off ) | $25 | $0 | |
| Independence Day2026: (federal day off )2027: (federal day off ) | $35 | $30 | |
| Labor Day2026: 2027: | $35 | $30 | |
| Columbus Day2026: 2027: | $25 | $0 | |
| Veterans Day2026: 2027: | $25 | $0 | |
| Thanksgiving Day2026: 2027: | $35 | $30 | |
| Day after Thanksgiving2026: 2027: Not a federal holiday. Set it to Charge extra if you charge for it. | $25 | $0 | |
| Christmas Eve2026: 2027: (federal day off for Christmas Day)Not a federal holiday. Set it to Charge extra if you charge for it. | $35 | $30 | |
| Christmas Day2026: 2027: (federal day off ) | $35 | $30 | |
| New Year's Eve2026: 2027: (federal day off for New Year's Day)Not a federal holiday. Set it to Charge extra if you charge for it. | $35 | $30 | |
| Extra across the holidays you work, a year | $270 | ||
The date shown is the holiday itself. When a federal holiday falls on a weekend, federal offices close on the Friday before or the Monday after, shown as the federal day off. Your price sheet should say which day you charge.
How do I tell clients?
Tell them in writing before the holiday, and give every client the same rate. Put it on your price sheet and in your service agreement, then text the clients who usually book, a few weeks ahead. Below are a price-sheet line and a text built from your numbers, ready to copy and edit.
Price-sheet line
Holiday rate: $10 extra a walk on New Year's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve, so a $25 walk is $35.
Text to your clients
Hi, a note about holiday rates: on New Year's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve, walks are $10 extra ($25 becomes $35). If you'd like a visit on any of those days, let me know early so I can fit you in. Thank you.
Set your holiday rates in Reeve
In Reeve you set each holiday once, as a percentage or a flat amount. It's added once to each booking that lands on it, not once a night, and a holiday can cover a stretch, like Christmas week. US holidays come loaded. Mark the ones you don't work as Not working, and your booking page stops offering those days.
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Need somewhere to put the rate? The free starter kit has a price sheet with holiday fee fields.
Not sure your usual price is right? Work it out with the dog walking rate calculator.
Flat fee or percentage?
A flat add-on is the easiest to explain: $10 extra a visit, whatever the visit costs. A percentage grows with the booking, so a long visit or one with three dogs earns more than a short one. If your prices vary a lot, a percentage keeps the holiday rate in step with them.
At $25 a walk, a $10 add-on makes it $35 and 25% makes it $31.25. The two meet at a $40 visit: below that the flat add-on is more, above it the percentage is.
What about a holiday that spans several days?
Decide which days count and charge the holiday rate on each of them, or once on the whole booking, and say which in writing. Charging each holiday night is easy to explain: a stay from Dec 23 to Dec 28 has two holiday nights, Christmas Eve and Christmas.
Mark the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve above if you charge for the whole stretch. The calculator counts each day you mark.
Should I charge extra on holidays?
It's your call. A holiday visit takes you away from your own plans that day, so a higher rate is fair. If you'd rather not work a holiday at all, mark it as not working and tell clients early.
Do I charge on the holiday or on the federal day off?
Charge on the day you name in writing. The calculator shows the holiday itself and, when it falls on a weekend, the federal day off too: July 4, 2026 is a Saturday, and federal offices close on Friday, July 3. Pick one and say which on your price sheet.
Does the holiday rate go up with extra pets?
A percentage does on its own, because it's a share of the whole visit price. A flat add-on stays the same per visit however many pets there are. Put your extra pets into the calculator to see the difference.
Can Reeve add the holiday rate to bookings for me?
Yes. In Reeve you set each holiday once, as a percentage or a flat amount, and it's added once to each booking that lands on it. US holidays are already loaded, and a holiday you mark as Not working drops off your booking page. See holidays and days off.
Where to go from here
Photos: Erin Vey, Christian Testa and Andriyko Podilnyk on Unsplash