What are Rate Plans and how do they work?
A rate plan is a bundle of settings and rules that you can apply to one or more of your room rates. Certain rules and offers can only be applied by using rate plans. In this article you can find out which rules and offers are available through rate plans.
After you create a rate plan, you have to link it to your room rates where you want the plan to apply. Once this is done, the room rate will behave fully according to the rate plan.
Note: a common misunderstanding is that when you link a rate plan to a room rate, the room rate will be sold to guests both at normal price without the rules, as well as also giving guests the option to buy with a discount depending the rules of the rate plan. This is not the case. A room rate linked to a rate plan is only sold according to the rate plan rules. Separate room rates are needed to give guests both options.
For example :
You have a "Double Room" room type with a room rate called "Double Room - Standard Rate", and a "Triple Room" room type with a room rate called "Triple Room - Standard Rate"
You want to give your guests some kind of special discount according to a rule that is available as a rate plan
You create a new room rate for each of your room types. So you add a "Double Room - Special Discount X" to your "Double Room" and a "Triple Room - Special Discount X" to your "Triple Room"
Then you create the new Rate Plan "Special Discount X" setting up the rules that you want
Then you link "Special Discount X" to your two room rates "Double Room - Special Discount X" and "Triple Room - Special Discount X"
The guest will now be able to book either using the Standard Rate room rates that you had before, or using the Special Discount X room rates as long as they follow the rules you have set
Create a rate plan
To create a rate plan:
Click the Setup tab
Click the Rooms & Rates tile
Click on the Rate Plans tab
Click +Create
Under General, enter the following information:
Name (required) - name of the rate plan
Rate code (optional) - if applicable, an alphanumeric code or text which can be used to link the rate code in your Property Management System (PMS)
Description - description of the rate plan
Max stay - maximum number of days a guest is allowed to stay in the connected room rates
Min stay - minimum number of days a guest is allowed to stay in the connected room rates
Restrict rate to mobile device — tick the Restrict rate to mobile device checkbox if you want customers on your direct booking engine to only be able to see and book a specific rate plan when viewing your direct booking engine through a mobile device — a useful feature if, for example, you want to make a promotion available exclusively through mobile devices.
Lead time: The time taken between when a customer makes a booking and their actual arrival is called the lead time. Select a lead time option to offer Early Bird or Last Minute rates to your customers
Dynamic discount - select a dynamic discount option to offer Stay Pay Deal, Dynamic Length of Stay Discount and Package Deal to your customers
Stay dates - A guest can 't make a booking that has check-in, stay nights or check-out outside of the date range/s you select here.
On selected days - Select the days of the week (within the date range you selected) when this rate plan allows the guests to book
Exclusion stay dates - This is an option to create exclusion range/s within your previously selected stay date range/s. Guests won 't be able to book if their reservation is within an exclusion range.
Sell dates - A guest won't be able to see the linked room rates if they open your booking engine website on a day that is outside of the date range/s you select here.
Exclusion sell dates - This is an option to create exclusion range/s within your previously selected sell date range/s. Guests won 't be able to see the room rate if they open your booking engine website in day within an exclusion range.
6. Click +Create
You can view the rate plan under Rooms & Rates >> Rate Plans tab and can link it to any of your room rates.
After you have created a new rate plan, you need to link your rate plan to one or more room rates in order for the rate plan to actually be available to guests.
Set up an Early Bird rate - Early Bird Special
Early Bird rates help drive demand by advertising discounted rates that encourage travellers to book their stay in advance.
To set up an Early Bird rate:
For a new rate plan, follow the steps above to Create a rate plan.
Under Lead Time, select Early Bird from the drop-down list. The Release Period field appears.
Release Period : The number of days in advance to book a room rate. For example: if you set Release Period = 7, guests will only be able to book the room rate if their arrival date equals or is more than 7 days ahead of their booking date.
Note : You can also set the Release Period at the room rate level.
Click Create for a new rate plan or Save to update an existing rate plan.
To display this rate on the booking engine as " Early Bird Specia l", go to Property >>Customisation and enter the number of days for Alert Guests when release period is __ days or more
The "Early Bird Special" label will be displayed if the number entered here is equal or greater than the release period set at the rate plan level. Any rate plan with a lower release period will not be labelled as "Early Bird Special" on the booking engine.
Also, ensure that the rate plan is linked to the room rate you want to promote as early bird.
Set up a Last Minute rate
Last Minute rates allow you to drive demand and fill your empty rooms faster by advertising discounted rates to the last minute travellers who did not plan to book their hotel rooms in advance.
For a new rate plan, follow the steps above to Create a rate plan.
Under Lead Time, select Last Minute from the drop-down list and complete the following fields:
Number of Days: the number of days from the selected check-in that guests can book this room or the maximum number of days to check-out
Restriction Type: Select the restriction type for your guests to be able to book the Last Minute rate
Check-in : restrict your guests to check-in within a set number of days to be able to book the last minute rates. For example: If you set the number of days = 7 and apply Restriction Type = Check-in , the last minute rate is available for guests arriving within seven days of their booking, regardless of their check-out date.
Check-out: restrict your guest to book last minute rates for a set number of days. For example: if you set the number of days = 7 and apply Restriction Type = Check-out, the Last Minute Rate is available for guests departing within seven days from their booking date. If the guests extend their stay to 8 days, they can not book the last minute rate.
Click Create for a new rate plan or Save to update an existing rate plan.
To display this rate on the booking engine, ensure that the rate plan is linked to the room rate you want to promote as last minute.
The room rate will be displayed as a Last Minute rate on the booking engine, the rate information, the guest confirmation email and the booking confirmation page.
Extranet set up
Booking engine display
Set up a Stay Pay Deal - Book now and save
Stay pay deals let you offer complimentary nights/discount based on their length of stay. For example: Stay 3 nights, pay for 2 only.
This will encourage your guests to book rooms for more nights as they get to pay less for a longer stay.
To create a Stay-Pay Deal:
For a new rate plan, follow the steps above to Create a rate plan.
Under Dynamic Discount , select Stay-Pay-Deal
Enter information in the following fields:
Stay: the number of nights a guest can stay
Pay: the number of nights a guest should pay
Discount : select which night in the Stay Pay Deal is free of charge
Click Create for a new rate plan or Save to update an existing rate plan.
You can now link the rate plan to a room rate. The linked room rate will be displayed as a deal on the booking engine.
Please note: The Stay Pay Deal option will display the "Stay x nights and pay y!" text on the room rate that has the stay pay condition. Also, the original price of the room rate (before discount) will be stricken through and the new rate will be displayed underneath it.
Dynamic Length-of-Stay-Discount - long stay discount
The Dynamic Length-of-Stay Discount allows you to offer discounts to your guests based on their length of stay.
You can entice your guests to book for more nights by offering a higher discount for a longer stay, For example, you can offer a 10% discount for more than 7 nights stay and 25% discount for more than 10 nights stay.
To setup a Dynamic Length-of-Stay Discount:
For a new rate plan, follow the steps above to Create a rate plan.
Under Dynamic Discount , select Dynamic Length-of-Stay Discount from the drop-down list
Add Discount Rules by entering the number of nights (max 14) to Stay and the Discount (%)
Click Add Rule to add more rules for the discount (optional) and click on the red X icon to delete the rule
Click Create for a new rate plan or Save to update an existing rate plan.
The room rate will be displayed as the Long-Stay Discount with a tag on the booking engine telling the customer how much they are saving with this deal. Also, the original price of the room rate (before discount) will be stricken through and the new rate will be displayed underneath it.
Extranet set up
Booking engine display
Set up a Package Deal
To set up a package deal:
Click the Setup tab
Click the Rooms & Rates tile
Click the rate plan tab
Create a new rate plan or select the rate plan you want to sell as a package deal
Select package deal from the drop down under the Dynamic Discount section
Note: You can either create a Stay Pay, Dynamic Length of Stay Discount or a package deal.
Enter values in the following fields for the package deal:
No of Included Nights: The number of nights that are included in the package deal. The package deal is displayed on the booking engine only if the guests search for a number of nights either equal or greater than the included nights and equal or less than the max stay that you can manage through the inventory grid or the rate plan screen.
Charges for additional nights
Rate for included occupants: The Rate you want to charge for an extra night on top of the included nights
Extra Adult: The Rate you want to charge for the extra night with an extra adult
Extra Child: The Rate for an for the extra night with an extra child on top of included occupants
Extra Infant: The Rate for an extra night with an extra infant on top of included occupants
Click Save
Please ensure that to sell a package deal, you must link the package deal rate plan to a room rate.
Link a rate plan to a room rate or unlink it
Linking a rate plan to a room rate is a necessary step in order for the rate plan to work. There are some rules to follow when linking rate plans:
A room rate can only be attached to one rate plan
A room type cannot have more than one room rate attached to the same rate plan
To link a rate plan to a room rate:
Click the Setup tab
Click the Rooms & Rates tile
Locate the Room Type, then underneath click on the Room Rate you wish to link to a rate plan
Select the rate plan from the drop-down list under Rate Plan, or select no rate plan to unlink
Click Save
Note: When you unlink a rate plan, most of the rules from the unlinked rate plan will be lost in the previously linked room rates, however MinStay and MaxStay will need to be removed manually using the bulk update option.
How to Delete a Rate Plan
To delete a rate plan, At the bottom of the rate plan view page, click Delete. When you delete a rate plan, it will automatically be unlinked from the room rate.
Most of the rules from the deleted rate plan will be lost in the previously linked room rates, however MinStay and MaxStay will need to be removed manually using the bulk update option.