💡 Important to know:
For details on how to update/configure your mapping to a channel or to your Property Management System, please see: Map your room rates in the channel manager
How does mapping work?
Mapping means connecting the rates you have already created in your channel extranet ( like Booking.com ) with those created in the channel manager.
You need an equivalent rate in the channel extranet for each room rate you want to connect to the channel manager. The setup needs to be the same on both sides to ensure the correct connection.
If you have not created any rates on the channel side, we recommend you create them before you begin the room mapping in the channel manager. Once you have the rates created on both sides, you would need to connect them.
How does cross mapping work?
The configuration between the channel manager and the channels/PMS needs to be identical. All the rates of the same room in the channel manager should be configured in the exact same way in the channel's extranet.
Cross-mapping happens when the configuration on the channel manager and the one on the channel/PMS don’t match.
Please note: Every rate has a specific room code and the availability is sent to the room code.
If different rates have the same room code on the channel manager we know that they belong to the same room type.
All the rates of the same room type on the channel manager should be mapped to only one room on the channel extranet/PMS.
If you map the rates from one room to three different rooms on the channels you are tripling your availability and this will likely result in overbooking.
The same applies to the channels configuration: if there is one room on the PMS, there should be one room in the channel manager and one room in each channel.
How does the two-way connection work?
When a room rate is mapped in the channel manager, their availability, rates and restrictions* are being sent to the channel.
When a reservation is made for that room rate, the channel sends the reservation updates to the channel manager.
That is why we have a two-way connection that sends availability, rates and restrictions and receives reservations.
For this connection, the channel should be added to the channel manager and your room rates should be mapped to the channel. The channel manager and the channel each need to enable the connection on their side.
For example, look at the channel manager as a Blu-Ray player, and the connection as an HDMI cable and the channel as a TV. For the TV to be able to see what the Blu-ray player shows, the HDMI cable needs to be connected to the TV and to the Blu-Ray player. If the HDMI cable is not connected on one of the sides, the connection won’t work. If the channel is activated on the channel manager side and there is no connection, it may mean the channel hasn’t enabled the connection on their end.
Please note : Some channels can be configured to block some updates from the channel manager. If you see a dash (-) on the inventory for a rate or restriction, the channel may not support that setting.
Why do I need to map every rate I have on the channels?
You need to map all of your rates in the channel manager to process reservations correctly.
If you don’t have all the rates mapped, reservations for those rates will be sent without the room type and room rate information.
The channel manager won’t be able to process the reservations correctly or, in case of PMS integration, we won’t be able to send these updates to your PMS.
When do I know if you have activated the channel I added?
You will know that your channel is active when it moves from the Channels Awaiting Setup list to the Active Channels list under the CHANNELS tab.
You will also see it on your channel manager dashboard / channel status.
How do I know if I have mapped all of my channel rates on the Channel Manager?
You can check this by going to CHANNELS > click on the channel you want to check > CONFIGURE >> on the top right side of your window, see Rates mapped. It displays your currently mapped channel rates / vs your total rates on the channel extranet. Ideally, you should have all channel rates mapped so both the values should be the same.
If you see the first value is lower, for example,
this means that 4 out of your 9 rates are not mapped.
If you try to map a rate where both values are the same, for example,
you will get the error " All room rates found on this channel are currently mapped to other room rates".
Please note : If you don't want to use some of your rates on the channel, we recommend you delete them from the channel's extranet to avoid future problems with unmapped rates. If you are not sure how to delete rates from the channel, contact the channel's support team.
I finished mapping my rates to the channel, what are the next steps?
Mapping to the PMS (if you have a PMS)
If you have a PMS (Property Management System) you will need to map the new rates to your PMS.Check your rates, availability and restrictions
Under your channel manager Inventory tab, you will find your mapped rates listed. You need to check that the rates, availability and restrictions for each room rate on the channel manager are correct so that you offer correct values in the channels.Enable the channel
When you have completed the required mapping and checked rates, availability and restrictions you are ready to manage that channel. To enable it you need to change its status to enabled by going to CHANNELS > click on the new channel > CHANNEL SETTINGS > Enabled.
What is multi-mapping?
The channel manager’s room mapping functionality allows multiple channel rates to be mapped to, and managed by, a single channel manager room rate. This is known as multi-mapping and it provides flexible mapping options to help you simplify your setup.
When to use multi-mapping
Multi-mapping is only useful when mapping to channels that sell multiple variants of each room rate.
For example, Expedia's Hotel Collect, Expedia Collect, and Package Rates .
Let’s say you have a "Single Room - Room Only" Room Rate in the channel manager, and one of your channels has multiple variations of this room/rate, such as:
Single Room - Room Only - Guaranteed
Single Room - Room Only - Non-Guaranteed
Single Room - Room Only - Corporate
Multi-mapping allows you to map each of these variants to the "Single Room - Room Only" room rate in the channel manager; this will ensure that all reservations are delivered to the channel manager and to your integrated PMS (if applicable).
When to avoid multi-mapping
Please do not multi-map room rates if:
the channel's room/rates require different pricing, availability, or restrictions, as this could result in rooms being sold at the wrong price and/or mishandled reservations, or
you require reservations for each of the channel's room/rate variants to be delivered to a specific PMS room/rate code. Reservations from channel rate variants that are mapped to a single channel manager room rate will be delivered to a single PMS room/rate code.
Why do I see the message “Could not connect” while room mapping, when my channel is already active in the channel manager?
This message appears when either:
the channel settings (hotel code, username, password and others) are incorrect - please make sure you have entered them correctly or
the channel hasn’t enabled the connection on their side - please follow up with the channel.
What does this error message mean "All room rates found on this channel are currently mapped to other room rates"?
This error message can mean three things:
That all the rates you have created on the channel have been mapped in the channel manager.
That there are no rates on the channel to map.
That the channel manager is not able to see the rates on the channel. Note : It may take up to 60 minutes for any room rate list updates in the channel to be available in the channel manager. To refresh the channel mapping after an update, go to CHANNELS > click on the channel > ROOMS & RATES > in the top right of the screen click Refresh
.
What does this error message mean - " Unable to locate "<channel room rate>"?
The "Unable to locate" error appears when a contract/rate is modified or removed in the channel and the rates are no longer recognised .
This is usually because:
there are new channel rates to map in the channel manager or
You can confirm this by checking Rates mapped in the top right side of your window . I f you see that the first value is lower than the second value (eg.
there is no valid rate to map in the Channel Manager. In this case unmap or disconnect the rate from the channel.
Please note: For Airbnb connections the "Unable to locate" error could mean that Airbnb are yet to approve your listing.
What do I do if a channel is not receiving rate updates?
If your rates are not successfully showing on a channel, first check to ensure you have mapped to every available channel rate.
Then check the inventory grid to see if rates are visible within the grid for the required channel. To do this:
Go to the INVENTORY tab.
Select ' x channels ' next to the applicable rate plan.
Look at the grid to see if you see rate values or a ( -)
If you see a dash ( - ) it means that the channel manager is not sending rate updates to the channel for this rate. This could be due to:
the rate not being configured by the channel to accept rate updates or
the rate configuration changing but is yet to be applied in the channel manager.
If the rate mapping allows for rates to be sent through, do the following:
Go to the CHANNELS tab
Select the applicable channel
Select the rate mapping from the < Channel> Rate column
Click Configure
You can see what updates should be sent to the channel for this mapping.
Updates marked in green are the updates being sent, updates marked in red are not sent.
Check to see if the Rates option is marked as ' Green '. If Rates are marked as ' Red' then the channel has not configured this room rate to accept rate updates from the channel manager. To change this, you would need to contact the channel directly to change this and then repeat the process.
Click Save
Now go back to the INVENTORY tab.
Select ' x channels ' next to the applicable rate plan. If channel has configuration to accept rates, you should now see the rate values that will be sent to the OTA.
Video Example: