If you only ever use simple nightly prices for your Accommodation Products, you can simply use only the Daily Rate Manager to load your Daily Rates. However, you may also define a number of Special Offers which can be used instead of your Daily Rate OR in conjunction with your Daily Rate.
By creating a Special Offer associated with a particular Product, you can create a completely separate and unique price for a special promotional period, event, or offer.
When frontdesk searches for a price to apply to an available Product, it first checks to see if any matching Special Offers are available. If not, it will default to the prices entered in the Daily Rate Manager.
You can define the following parameters:
a specific price for a set number of nights
a price for additional nights
how many, if any, additional nights can be booked at the special price
what days of the week the offer is available for check-in
days of the year the offer is available for check-in (date of stay)
days of the year the offer is NOT available
days of the year the offer can and cannot be accessed (transacted)
Go to the Manage tab.
Click on Products & Rates>Special Offers in the left hand menu.
From the ‘View’ drop-down list, select the Product you wish to view.
By default, all ‘Active’ Special Offers for that Product will be displayed (ie all Special Offers that have a current Offer Period). If you wish to view Special Offers that fall within a different date range, click the ‘View all offers’ button then select the parameters required.
You are taken to the Special Offer Summary section of the Rate
Plan Setup page where all active special offers for this Product will
be displayed, as a default. A message stating the number of currently
active Special Offers will be displayed above the listing. 5. You
can amend any existing Special Offers by clicking the Edit .gif){kind=small}
icon
in the Actions column.
Once in Special Offers (see View Special Offers above), click Add Special Offer at the bottom right of the page.
Set up your offer rule
The Rate Type for which you are creating the Special Offer will be stated. Typically, you’ll be creating Special Offers for the Best Available Rate.
Enter a Description for this Special Offer. Then the number of 'consecutive nights' that must be booked.
Enter the Total Rate (this is NOT the per night rate, it is the total amount for the number of days specified).
Under Extra Night Rate - enter the rate the customer must pay for any additional nights over and above the original number of nights. (If this is left blank AND 'Combine with DRM' is ticked, any additional nights will be charged as per the prices defined in the Daily Rate Manager.)
Enter the maximum number of Extra Nights that can be booked at this rate. If the field is left blank, the will be no limit to extra nights bookable.
Click the days of the week on which a booking using this Special Offer may start (check-in day).
By ticking "Combine with Daily RateManager" means that if a customer searches for a number of nights over and above those defined by the Special Offer, the price calculated will be the Special Offer price 'padded out' either side with the rates that appear in the Daily Rate Manager for the same Rate Type. If this box is left unticked, then either the Special Offer price will be returned if the search criteria matches the defined parameters, OR only the prices in the Daily Rate Manager will be used (if any).
Set your offer periods
You now need to define the check-in dates that this offer can be applied to. If you select "Starting now, no end date’, the offer will be valid for any dates of stay. If the Offer only applies to stays within a specific date range, click the ‘Set offer date ranges’ button and use the calendars to define your date range. Click Add Date Range if you have more than one offer period. You can create up to 5 different date ranges that this Special Offer can be applied to. IMPORTANT: These dates apply to the date that the booking commences (check-in date).
Set your Exclusion Period
You now have the option of defining check-in dates to which this Special Offer cannot be applied. For example, if there is a long weekend that falls within the Offer Period where you don’t want a discount to be available. To apply an exclusion, click ‘Between these dates’ and use the calendars to define your date range. Click Add Date Range if you have more than one exclusion period. If you select ‘None’, then no exclusions will be applied. IMPORTANT: If the check-in date falls outside of the exclusion period, the offer will be applied - even if any other days of the qualifying stay fall inside it.
Set the promotional periods
Now define the 'promotional period'. This allows you to define the dates when the offer is available for customers to purchase. If a date is set, the offer will not be shown online or offline outside the specified date range. For example you may only want the offer to be available if customers purchase it before 30 December. If there is no restriction, tick ‘On sale any time’.
Click Save. A confirmation screen appears upon pressing Save, which will show the offer details. Review the details and click ‘OK’.
Here are a few examples of some of the different ways you can use the Special Offers functionality to set up promotional rates.
Discount for X Nights
Eg: A room is priced at priced at $100 per day, with no minimum stay requirement. However, if the customer books 7 or more days, the rate is only $75 per day.
Within the Daily Rate Manager, enter a rate of $100 for each day of the week for the required Rate Type. Then, for the same Product, create a Special Offer with the following parameters:
Tick ‘Combine with DRM’.
Enter description: 'Discount for 7+ Nights' or 'Weekly Rate'.
Enter the Rate of $525 total for 7 consecutive nights.
Enter the Rate for additional nights. In this case it continues to be $75 per night.
Leave the box for the number of extra nights allowed blank.
Check the boxes for each day of the week (‘Select All’).
Define required Offer Periods, Exception Periods and Promotional Periods.
Mid-Week Special
Eg: A room is priced at $100 per day, with no minimum stay requirement. However, if a customer books to stay Monday through Thursday night, they will receive a discounted rate of $70 per night. If they stay extra nights, it reverts back to the normal rate.
Within the Daily Rate Manager, enter a rate of $100 for each day of the week for the required Rate Type. Then, for the same Product, create a Special Offer with the following parameters:
Tick 'Combine with DRM'.
Enter description: 'Mid Week Special' or '4-Night Midweek Rate'.
Enter the Rate of $280 total for 4 consecutive nights.
Leave the box for additional nights blank as, in this case it reverts back to the DRM rate.
Leave the box for the number of extra nights allowed blank.
Check the box for bookings to start on Monday only.
Define required Offer Periods, Exception Periods and Promotional Periods.
Package Price
Eg: A '2-Night Gourmet Package', which includes a winery tour and dinner each night, the cost is $350 for the 2 nights. They can then book additional days at the price of a normal room. The package is available any day of the week.
It is recommended that you first create a separate Product called '2-Night Gourmet Package' rather than applying this package rate to your normal Product. Otherwise, any customer just wanting to book a normal 2-night stay will be forced to pay the package price.
If you do so, you do not need to define a Daily Rate. Just define a Special Offer as follows:
Enter description: 'Package Rate'.
Enter the Rate of $350 total for 2 consecutive nights.
Enter $100 rate for additional nights.
Leave the box for the number of extra nights allowed blank.
Check the boxes for each day of the week.
Define required Offer Periods, Exception Periods and Promotional Periods.
Get One Night Free
Eg: May also be referred to as '4 nights for the price of 3', or 'Book 3, get 4' etc. For example, the normal rate for 1, 2 or 3 nights is $100 per night. The 4th night is free and any nights thereafter revert back to $100.
Within the Daily Rate Manager, enter a rate of $100 for each day of the week for the required Rate Type. Then, for the same Product, create a Special Offer with the following parameters:
Tick 'Combined with DRM'.
Enter description: 'Book 3, get 4' (for example).
Enter the Rate of $300 total for 4 consecutive nights.
Leave the box for additional nights blank as, in this case it reverts back to the DRM price.
Leave the box for the number of extra nights allowed blank.
Check the boxes for each day of the week.
Define required Offer Periods, Exception Periods and Promotional Periods.