Peak date: the five stretches of the Amsterdam year that change the payment order

A peak date is a day the house treats differently for one reason only: on it, half of the fee is paid before she sets out, on every booking, whoever makes it. The fee itself does not change, and neither does the arrival window or anything about the session.

The list

• King's Day, on the twenty-seventh of April, or the twenty-sixth when the twenty-seventh is a Sunday.
• Pride, centred on the weekend of the Canal Parade in early August; the house says which days of the fortnight it counts when you give your dates.
• The Amsterdam Dance Event, across its five October nights.
• The run from Christmas to New Year, New Year's Day included.
• A large conference week, which has no fixed place in the calendar and is named on request.

What it changes, and for whom

Most bookings made by visitors already carry half ahead for another reason: a first booking, a booking fixed more than twenty-four hours before it starts, an overnight, two therapists, three hours or more, or a Schiphol hotel room. For those guests a peak date changes nothing. The person it does affect is the returning client who writes on the day for one or two hours at a city address, who would otherwise pay the whole fee on arrival. On a peak date, that booking carries half ahead as well.

What is not on the list

Marathon weekend, Liberation Day, the canal music festival, the opening of the cultural season and the light festival evenings outside the holiday run are busy but ordinary. The peak dates guide explains the reasoning in full.