A rate plan is a pricing package that details the cost and conditions for booking, including room types, inclusions, and additional fees or discounts. We suggest keeping your rates simple, with clear descriptions and kept up-to-date to make sure your system is easy to use and navigate.
Rate plans can be created for:
Bedrooms
In this article, we will be building Bedroom Rate Plans which are built for use in the Availability and Planner areas of Rezlynx and can be exposed to sell online. If you are a Best Western property then you will have a specific method for creating rate plans that send to CRS or with rates not updated to CRS.
You can create specific seasonal rate plans tailored to special occasions, such as Christmas, Valentineβs Day, or Easter if this is more applicable for your needs.
Step 1: Prepare to build a Rate Plan
The below checklist can be used to ensure you have all of the required components in place, prior to building your rate plan:
β οΈ Important: If you already have one or more of the required elements built within your system you can use them again in your new rate plan, provided they meet your current requirements.
Step | Description |
1. Planning | Think about the total value of the rate plan and its component charges for example breakfast, and have these to hand when creating your rate plan. Check your system to make sure you do not already have this rate plan set up. |
2. Products | Non-accommodation items or services associated with the rate plan if needed. Check your system as you may already have your required products set up, for example: Breakfast. |
3. Product Rule | Add non-accommodation elements to the rate plan, either included within the table or as additional charges. The value of the products, and how these are charged, should be taken into account when entering the room price into the rate or flex table. Check your system as you may already have your required product rule set up, for example: BB/Breakfast Rule. |
4. Rate Table or Flex Table
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Used to apply accommodation charges associated with the rate plan. There are 2 table types:
Check your system as you may already have a table set up, for example: BAR rate, which could be discounted or altered using a Rate Rule.
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5. Rate Rule | Used to apply the rate or flex table for a specific date, and to apply a discount if required. Check your system as you may already have a Rate Rule using the correct table. |
6. Optional Extras |
Depending on your needs, you can add optional features to your rate plan either before or after building your rate plan:
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Once you have all of the above prepared you are ready to move onto Step 2: Building a rate plan, and Step 3: Testing the rate plan.
Step 2: Build a new bedroom rate plan
A rate plan combines the elements listed in the table above to create a unique offering for sale. If you already have one or more of the required elements built within your system you can use them again in your new rate plan, provided they meet your current requirements.
We suggest keeping your rates simple, with clear descriptions, and organised to make your system easy to use and navigate, some sites do a yearly rate review to ensure everything is tidy and kept up-to-date.
Testing your rate plan is a vital final step in building a rate plan and is addressed further down in this article.
Build a rate plan
To build a new bedroom rate plan, follow the steps below:
Navigate within Rezlynx to System, Rates and Rate Plans.
Click New Bedroom Rate Plan.
The DETAILS section at the top of the screen, defines the details of the rate plan. Complete the following fields:
Code: A unique identifier up to 12 characters long. This cannot be changed after saving.
Description: Enter a unique Description. This can be included in confirmation letters and used for cancellation policies or rate details so please carefully consider the wording used. This can be changed at any time.
Notes: Enter any notes as required, these will appear on the Rate Search screen when hovering over the rate plan or can be included in confirmation letters for additional information and could include a full breakdown of what is included in the rate plan.
Group Code & Sub Group Code: select from the drop-down menu, which determine where this ceiling will be stored within the left-hand menu. This can be altered at any time. You can create a new group if required, by selecting New Main or Sub Group in the bottom left, then enter Code and Description and Save the new group.
Market Segment Default: select from the drop-down menu, and is used for reporting purposes within the system.
The CRITERIA section under Details, defines what criteria must be met to make the rate plan available for booking. Complete the following fields:
Rate Plan Available: Tick box to make the Rate Plan available for booking.
Start Date/End Date:Set the date range during which the Rate Plan can be sold. The rate plan will not show outside of these dates.
Lead In Time: The number of days from the date of a guest search, the rate plan will be available/appear for i.e. must be booked within the next 30 days, you would enter 30. This will not feed to online channels, instead a Closure by Rate should be created.
Advance Purchase: The number of days out that the Rate Plan can be sold from, the rate will only be able to the guest/person searching if they look for it that far ahead, i.e. value is 14, they will need to search a date at least 2 weeks in the future.
β οΈ Important: This will not feed to online channels, instead a Closure by Rate should be created.
Nights Per Room From & To: Set the minimum and maximum number of nights the Rate Plan can be booked for. If the rate is exposed to 3rd party channels set nights from 1 to 28.
Occupants From & To: Define the minimum and maximum number of guests allowed.
β οΈ Important: Only pricing for up to 5 occupants can be sent to online channels to be sold online, regardless of supplements etc.
Occupancy % From & To: Set occupancy percentage thresholds to automatically open or close the Rate Plan based on occupancy levels. This will not feed to online channels, instead a Closure by Rate should be created.
The RULES section on the right, defines what charges make up the rate plan cost. Complete the following fields:
Charge Mode: Determines how the Rate Plan is charged. The possible Charge Modes are:
Per Room β The cost from the Rate Rule/Rate Table and possible Product Rule combined as a Nightly single charge per room.
Per Person β Nightly Charge Per Person (Adults + Children)
Per Adult β Nightly Charge Per Adult only
Per Child β Nightly Charge Per Child only
Per Infant β Nightly Charge Per Infant only
Single Charge β One off Charge per booking regardless of number of guests or nights
If you selected Charge Mode Per Person or Per Child review the information below - if you have not selected them then skip over this section to Adult Rate Rule: Child Shared Type β From this drop down list two options can be selected for charging a Child sharing the room with Adults, the two options are: Child Rules will only appear on a per person rate. Own Rate Rule β A separate Rate Rule if required can be selected for any children sharing the room which will charge at a different rate to the Adult Rate Rule Code. This Code can be added under Child Shared Rate Rule Code.
Discount Percentage β By selecting Discount Percentage, the Rate Rule Code selected for Child Sharing will be subject to a discount percentage; this can be added to reduce the total cost per child.
Child Shared Rate Rule Code β If Own Rate Rule for the Child Sharing Type has been selected, the Rate Rule Code created in the Rate Rules area for the cost of the Child sharing the room can be selected. This will charge the Rate Per Child sharing the room Rate Plan. The required Rate Rule Code can be selected using the drop down arrow. Child Shared Percent β The Percentage can be entered into this box for the discount percentage if the setting has been added to the Child Shared Type box. Child Own Room Type β From this drop down list two options can be selected for charging a Child staying in their own room. Own Rate Rule β A separate Rate Rule if required can be selected for any children in their own room. This Code can be added under Child Own Room Rate Rule Code. Discount Percentage β By selecting Discount Percentage, the Rate Rule Code selected for Child in their own room will be subject to a discount percentage; this can be added to reduce the total cost per child. Child Own Room Rate Rule Code β The Rate Rule Code created in the Rate Rules area which is linked to the Rate Table. This will charge the Rate Per Child in their own room. The required Rate Rule Code can be selected using the drop down arrow. Child Own Room Percent β The Percentage can be entered into this box for the discount percentage if the setting has been added to the Child Own Room Type box.
Adult rate rule: Select the Rate Rule Code from the drop-down menu. The Rate Rules is linked to the Rate Table, and the rule determines the charge per adult or per room, depending on the Charge Mode.
Product Rule: Select the Product Rule from the drop-down menu. The Product Rule pulls together the products to determine the additional elements within the rate plan, for example to add a breakfast or dinner charge to the booking.
Supplement Rule: This is an optional extra within a rate plan and allows for room or person uplifts or supplements to be charged. If you are using this within your rate plan, select the Supplement from the drop-down menu.
Surcharge/City Tax: This only needs to be completed if your city or region charges city or tourist taxes and only for sites using Kiosks for check-in. If this applies to you and you have Kiosks for check in, select the Surcharge from the drop-down menu.
Final Adjustments: The Final Adjustment option can be used to increase or decrease (insert β-β symbol) a rate by a monetary or percentage value, after all other settings and rules have been applied. The value will be applied to each day of stay. Final adjustments can now also be sent to online channels if enabled for your site, if not enabled for your site a Price Variance can be set.
The MISC section on the left, defines additional system settings for the rate plan. Complete the following fields:
Hide Rate on Reg Card β Leaves a blank space where rate is usually printed. If the box is not visible, select Save and then the tick box will be seen.
Restriction Level Type β The Rate Plan will default to cascading but can be set here to isolated again dependent on how the Restriction set up is to be used.
Restriction Level β The Rate Plan will default to Restriction Level 1 and other levels can be selected depending on how the Restriction set up is to be used.
Ceiling β Allows you to limit the number of rooms sold by a specific rate plan for a selected period. Ceilings can be set for the whole hotel and by room type. If you are using this within your rate plan, select the Ceiling from the drop-down menu.
Cancellation Policy - Select from the drop-down menu. Cancellation policies are used to determine if a booking can be cancelled by the booker and if cancellation charges would apply.
The EXPOSE TO section, allows you to select where the rate will be sold. Options include:
PMS β used to sell the Rate Plan at the site only. Untick this if selling online only.
Public and Agent Portal β No longer in use.
Webservice β For interfaces connected to Rezlynx via our Web Service.
Distribution Hub β For rates to be used on Direct Booking Manager(DBM) or to Online Travel Agents (OTA) and any linked GDS. The rate plan will then need to be mapped to the channel and edit the rate plan description otherwise the short code will show online.
Important: Only pricing for up to 5 occupants can be sent to online channels to be sold online, regardless of supplements etc.
The OVERRIDE ANALYSIS CODES section, is only used if you need to override the analysis codes of accommodation and products attached. If you are not using this within your rate plan, move to the next section.
Adult, Child, Supplement β Analysis code to be used for this rate, does not need to filled out generally unless posting to a different Analysis code than accommodation i.e. corporate accommodation or cottage accommodation.
After 28 Days β Used to attached a Long Stay Accommodation Analysis code usually that has a different tax rule attached i.e. 4%.
The INCLUSION section at the very bottom of the page, defines which room types are included in the rate plan, and site only settings for when the rate plan is available. Complete the following fields:
Cleaning Schedule: If you have multiple cleaning schedules set up on site, select from the drop-down menu per room type. Or leave blank to use the default for site.
Include: Tick to include the room type for sale in this rate plan.
Available On: Determines when the rate plan is available within Rezlynx. This will not feed to online channels, instead Restrictions should be created.
Permitted Arrival: Determines when guests can arrive to stay on this rate plan. This will not feed to online channels, instead Restrictions should be created.
Must Include: Only select if the guest must stay on a specific day, otherwise leave blank. This will not feed to online channels, instead Restrictions should be created.
Click Save, after configuring all necessary details, to finalise the Rate Plan.
Once saved other tabs will appear at the top of the rate plan, these are additional rate plan settings and are used by sites as needed. The additional tabs including:
Companies - used to restrict the rate plan to a specific company at time of booking.
Users - used to restrict the rate plan to a specific set of users, no other users will be able to select the rate plan.
Translations - apply translations in a variety of language options for the Rate plan description and notes.
Variances - settings price variances for rezlynx only, as online Price Variance are set up within Distribution Hub.
Other buttons also appear at the bottom of the screen:
Validate to GDE - this is used to test the elements of the rate plan will send online as expected.
View Summary - a summary of your rate plan settings.
Create to do - You can create a reminder or a to do, this might be something you want to set
Step 3: Test your new rate plan
Testing your rate plan is a vital final step in building a rate plan.
To test your rate plan, follow the steps below:
Within the rate plan, select Test Rate Plan in the top right of the screen.
Enter the search criteria and the rate plan will already be automatically selected. Click Find Rates to run the search.
Check the rate carefully.
If the rate plan shows as unavailable, hidden or in a different colour, hover over the search results to see the reason given. For example, it may not show if the search criteria do not match the rate plan, or if restrictions are in place stopping its sale on the selected date.
If the rate is correct, check some other dates if required until you are satisfied this is working as required. If the rate is selling online, search the rate online.
If the rate is not correct, navigate to Guest Journey, Reservations, then select Create Reservation. You do not need to create a full booking or save it. Within the reservation screen, within the ROOM & RATE section, select Add. Run the same search again and select the rate. Then select Rate Analysis which shows a full breakdown of the rate plan cost to see what is not calculating or set as required. You can then exit the reservation screen without saving, and edit rate plan as required, and re-test.
Troubleshooting
Rate plan not available: Check the Tick box for "Rate Plan available" has been selected. Within the rate plan search window, hover over the rate plan to see why it is not available for your searched criteria - this could be due to restrictions in place or even a setting.
Rate plan has the wrong price: Test the rate plan and work out the amount it is out by, this often helps to pinpoint a missing product item for example. If the rate value is not correct, navigate to Guest Journey, Reservations, then select Create Reservation. You do not need to create a full booking or save it. Within the reservation screen, within the ROOM & RATE section, select Add. Run the same search again and select the rate. Then select Rate Analysis which shows a full breakdown of the rate plan cost to see what is not calculating or set as required. You can then exit the reservation screen without saving, and edit rate plan as required, and re-test.
The inclusions are not feeding online: Only the room type information feeds online within this section. Available on, Arrival permitted and Must Include are only for Rezlynx or internal use, and will not feed to online, instead Restrictions should be created.
Rate plan not showing online as expected: Please make sure you have mapped the rate plan to sell online.