Let’s talk about VIPKID short notice classes! If you’re teaching English online with VIPKID, you might have heard about something called a short notice class, also known as a 24h booking. In this post, we’ll dive into exactly what this means and discuss if short notice bookings are right for you.
Important Update
In the years since this post was first published, VIPKID changed its online teaching platform, modified the application process, and shifted to a worldwide student base. Some of the information below is now out of date. For details about their new programs, check out the official VIPKID website.
How VIPKID Bookings Work
After you’ve finished the VIPKID hiring process, you’ll be able to open up your teaching schedule in the VIPKID teacher portal.
Your VIPKID booking schedule will look like a large calendar with time slots spanning the hours that VIPKID is open. Here, you can let parents know which time slots you’re able to teach. If a parent wants to book you, they’ll be able to see this calendar and pick the class time that works best for their child.
Normally, a regular VIPKID time slot can be booked anywhere from about two weeks to 24 hours in advance. But short notice time slots are different.
What Is A VIPKID Short Notice Class?
A VIPKID short notice class is just a regular lesson that the parent was able to book last minute.
Short notice classes can be booked anywhere from 24 hours to one hour in advance of the class start time. This means that parents have an extra day to book this time slot then they would if it were a regular class.
The content of the lesson is exactly the same as if it were a regular booking. The only difference is that the parent can book the time slot much closer to the class start time than normal.
How Do I Open Short Notice VIPKID Classes?
To open short notice VIPKID classes, hover over the “Class” tab in the VIPKID teacher portal and click the “Booking” drop-down button. This will take you to your booking calendar. Follow these steps to open your first short notice class:
- Click the orange Lock button in the top right hand corner of your screen. This will unlock the calendar so you can make changes
- Click on the timeslot you wish to open
- Select the “Course” button
- By default, the time slot will become available as a regular class. To make it short notice, click the “Short Notice” button under the word “Available”
Now you should be able to see a blue box on your schedule with the words “Short Notice” in the bottom corner. This means that the slot is available to be booked and it can be booked within 1 hour of the class start time.
How Much Will I Get Paid For VIPKID Short Notice Classes?
VIPKID pays teachers a $2 bonus for each short notice class taught. You’ll receive this short notice incentive in addition to your base pay rate and service fee.
Keep in mind that just toggling on the “Short notice” button isn’t enough to earn the bonus. The class must have actually been booked within the 24-hour – 1-hour window for you to receive the short notice bonus.
For example, let’s stay it’s Friday and you want to open 4 classes on Monday. You open every class short notice.
Two classes get booked on Saturday, so you’ll get regular pay for those since it’s outside of the 24-hour booking window. One class gets booked 26 hours before the class start time. You’ll get regular pay for that as well.
The last class gets booked 6 hours before class start time. That class is considered “Short notice” and you’ll get the $2 bonus.
What If I Have A VIPKID Short Notice No Show?
At the time I’m writing this, if you have a VIPKID Short notice no show, you’ll still get the short notice pay incentive. This is true for both trial classes and regular classes.
When a student in a regular class is a no show, you still get full pay for that class. If the spot was booked short notice, you get full pay plus the $2 short notice incentive even if the student doesn’t show up.
When a student in a trial class is a no show, you get half pay for that class. If the spot was booked short notice, you get half pay plus the $2 bonus.
So if your normal pay rate is $8 per class, you’ll learn $10 for a regular student short notice no show and $6 ($4 half-pay + $2 bonus) for a trial short notice no show.
How Can I See Which Classes I Earned A VIPKID Short Notice Bonus For?
To see which classes you earned a VIPKID short notice bonus for, hover over your “My Info” tab and click the “Payment” button. Below the “Total Payment Summary” section, you’ll see the word “Courses” with a drop-down arrow next to it. Click this arrow to see a list of all your completed classes.
Any class taught on short notice will say “Short Notice” in the “Tag” column.
You might also see these classes referred to as VIPKID 24hr bookings. This is the same thing as a short notice booking.
Short Notice Vs. Available VIPKID Classes
Parents can book normal VIPKID class time slots up to 24 hours in advance. Normal slots say “Available” in the booking calendar. Short notice VIPKID classes can be booked anywhere from 24 hours to 1 hour in advance of the class start time.
For both class types, you’ll need to start/end class on time and provide feedback for your students.
| Normal VIPKID Class | Short Notice VIPKID Class |
|---|---|
| Can be booked any time as long as it’s 24 hours before the class start time | Can only be booked 24 hours to 1 hour before the class start time |
| Pay = normal base pay rate + incentives | Pay = normal base pay rate + incentives + $2 short notice bonus |
| Default class type | Must toggle on the short notice button |
Pros Of Teaching VIPKID Short Notice Classes
I personally love VIPKID 24 hour classes! I try to teach them as often as possible because they add variety to my usual student base. If you’re a new teacher with VIPKID, here are the biggest benefits of teaching VIPKID short notice bookings.
Adjust Your Schedule At The Last Minute
The VIPKID short notice booking option makes it possible to add more classes to your schedule at the last minute. If you only had normal bookings, you wouldn’t be able to add any time slots within 24 hours because parents wouldn’t be able to book them.
But short notice classes mean that you can open a class for later in the day and there’s a chance it will actually get booked. This gives you a lot more flexibility to open classes on the fly.
Meet Different Students
When I open VIPKID 24 hour booking slots, I meet a lot of new students. I think this is because parents filter by availability when they’re looking for last minute classes so I get to talk to students other than my regulars.
It’s really fun to meet new students and potentially find more kiddos to become regulars. If you want to add more variety to your teaching schedule, 24 hour classes can be a great way to do it.
More Trial Classes
Normally, I don’t teach a lot of trial classes. My regular students usually book me a week or two in advance so there aren’t extra time slots for trials.
But when I open short notice classes, I’ve noticed that I get a lot more trial bookings. Recently, I opened 6 short notice classes in one day. Four were trial classes and two were booked by regular students who were new to me. This is fun because I like to meet new students and teach a different curriculum.
Cons of Teaching Short Notice VIPKID Classes
Even thought I often use the last-minute booking feature, there are a few downsides you should be aware of. Keep this in mind before opening any short notice VIPKID classes to ensure everything goes smoothly.
You Have To Check For Bookings
Short notice classes can be booked up to an hour in advance and you might not get any notifications when it happens. It’s up to you to check if the class got booked. This can get teachers in trouble if they open early morning short notice classes but don’t set an alarm the night before.
If you open a short notice class for 6:00 am and it hasn’t been booked the night before, you have two choices.
- You’ll need to set an alarm for 5:00 am to check if it got booked overnight. Teachers accidentally sleeping through their short notice classes is such a common mistake that VIPKID even has an alert on the booking page telling you to set an alarm.
- Close the short notice class so that it can’t be booked while you sleep.
When opening short notice classes, you should always set an alarm one hour before the class so you don’t sleep through a last-minute booking.
Less Time To Prepare
Short notice bookings also mean you’ll have less time to prepare before class. Especially if you’re a new teacher, it’s nice to spend time reviewing the PPT and gathering props before class. With short notice classes, you might only have an hour to do that.
If you’re just starting out with VIPKID, I’d recommend going easy on the short notice classes until you feel more comfortable with the lesson structure.
The more you teach with VIPKID the less prep time you’ll need. With practice, it becomes easier and easier to teach on the fly. But start slow to avoid new lesson overwhelm.
How To Get Short Notice Bookings With VIPKID
Short notice classes can be a powerful part of your teacher tool kit when used strategically. This is what I do to get more short notice bookings with VIPKID.
Typically, I open up my teaching schedule two weeks in advance. If I’m in the east coast time zone, this is usually 6:00 am – 9:00 am Monday through Friday. A few bookings trickle in over time and I usually see bigger surges on Fridays (this is called the VIPKID booking frenzy).
On Saturdays, I check my schedule for the upcoming week. Usually, about 70-80% of my classes are booked by this point but there are some gaps. So any box that is still blue (available but not yet booked), I make “short notice.”
Often, these gaps will be filled before the short notice window hits so I teach them as regular classes, but I want to cover my bases so I don’t accidentally miss out on a booking.
If a student cancels a class throughout the week, I make that time slot short notice.
If my schedule changes and I’m able to teach at an unexpected time, I open all those classes short notice too.
Short Notice Booking Strategies
Some teachers wait to open classes 24 hours in advance so they have a better chance of getting the $2 bonus. This can be risky because you might end up with unbooked slots, but there are some times that are popular so your odds are better.
In my experience, Friday and Saturday nights (EST) and peak times every day are the most likely to get booked. So if you want to try to get multiple short notice classes at once, you can wait until Thursday night (EST), open classes for Friday night, and mark them short notice.
On Friday night, repeat the process for Saturday night.
New VIPKID Teachers: It will be easier to fill these time slots if you already have a few classes and positive parent reviews under your belt. Having more VIPKID certifications (including the trial class certification) will also make it easier to fill these spots.
Final Thoughts: Are Short Notice Classes Worth It?
Are VIPKID short notice classes worth it in 2021? Totally! It’s important to make sure you have alarms set in advance so you get caught off guard, but overall the short notice booking feature is a huge perk for both teachers and parents.
