The new and improved SiteMinder platform is not only easier to use and faster to load, but simpler to navigate. And thanks to an enhanced user interface, you can now access all of your products in one place instead of switching between apps.
After upgrading to the new platform, your products’ core functionalities will remain the same — so too will all of your existing channel mappings, reservation details, and so on.
However, to simplify setup and management and improve the parity of rates across your Direct Booking and connected channels, some settings for your Channel Manager and Direct Booking products are combined in the new platform.
To help familiarise you with these combined settings, this article explains what they are, why they are useful, and how to update them before and after upgrading to the new platform.
Minimum rate (property)
A Minimum rate setting configured at a property level helps ensure that any room rate that is below a set value cannot be applied, updated, or synced.
If you are using the old version of the platform and have an existing property-level Minimum rate in Channel Manager, that setting will be applied to both Channel Manager and Direct Booking in your new platform (once you have upgraded to it).
To update a property-level Minimum rate setting before upgrading to the new platform, follow these steps:
Channel Manager — Property settings > General > update the Minimum rate.
Direct Booking — Property > General > Rate Settings > update the Minimum rate.
To update a property-level Minimum rate setting after upgrading to the new platform — which hosts the property-level Minimum rate settings for both Channel Manager and Direct Booking in the same place — follow these steps:
Property settings > General information > Inventory > update the Minimum rate.
Minimum rate (room rate)
A Minimum rate setting configured at a room rate level is very similar to a Minimum rate setting configured at a property level, except it applies to a specific room rate rather than all of a property’s room rates.
In Direct Booking, you can override a property-level Minimum rate by setting a room rate with a higher Minimum rate.
If you are using the old version of the platform and have any existing Minimum rate settings for any room rates in Direct Booking, those settings will be applied to the associated room rates for both Channel Manager and Direct Booking in your new platform (once you have upgraded to it).
To update a Minimum rate setting of a room rate before upgrading to the new platform, follow these steps:
Direct Booking — Setup > Rooms & Rates > Room types > click Edit on the necessary room type and update the Minimum rate.
Channel Manager — in this instance, a Minimum rate can only be set at a property level (via Property settings > General > Minimum rate).
To update a Minimum rate setting of a room rate after upgrading to the new platform — which also allows you to override a property-level Minimum rate setting by configuring a room rate with a higher Minimum rate — follow these steps:
Rooms and rates > Rate plans > click Edit in Room rate actions to update the Minimum rate for the associated room rate.
Release period (rate plan)
The Release period setting determines the number of days in advance of a reservation’s arrival day that a booking can be made with a specific rate plan.
Currently, you can set an independent Release period for both Channel Manager and Direct Booking — for example, a 30-day advance purchase rate plan or room rate for Channel Manager, and a 0-day advance purchase rate plan or room rate for Direct Booking.
If you are using the old version of the platform and have any existing Release period settings in Channel Manager, those settings will be applied to both Channel Manager and Direct Booking in your new platform (once you have upgraded to it).
To update the Release period setting for a rate plan before upgrading to the new platform, follow these steps:
Channel Manager — Rooms & rates > Rate Plans > click Configure on the necessary rate plan and update the Release Period.
Direct Booking — Setup > Rooms & Rates > Rate Plans , click Configure on the necessary rate plan, and under Lead time, select Early Bird from the drop-down menu > update the Release Period.
To update the Release period setting for a rate plan after upgrading to the new platform — which hosts the Release period settings for both Channel Manager and Direct Booking in the same place — follow these steps:
Rooms and rates > Rate plans > click on the rate plan name > click Edit > update the Release period.
Allow decimals (rate)
Once enabled, the Allow decimals setting allows you to add, update, and manage your rates using decimal values — for example, 100.25, 200.50, etc.
If you are using the old version of the platform and the Allow decimals setting is enabled, that setting will be applied to both Channel Manager and Direct Booking in your new platform (once you have upgraded to it).
To enable or disable the Allow decimals setting for rates before upgrading to the new platform, follow these steps:
Direct Booking — Property > General > tick/untick the checkbox Allow decimals under Rate Settings.
Channel Manager — please contact our support team to enable the setting. (You can, however, add decimal values to your rates via the inventory grid.)
To enable the Allow decimals setting after upgrading to the new SiteMinder platform, please contact our support team, and once enabled, follow these steps to add decimal values to your rates:
Rooms and rates — add and update decimal values as required.
Distribution > Inventory — add and update decimal values as required.