Advanced pricing (Packages)

[System data > Reservation > Rates > Rates tab > Tree view > Advanced pricing]

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If you offer packages and arrangements as part of your pricing structure (spa weekend, gourmet dining package, etc.), we recommend using the advanced pricing feature. Under “Calculations,” you can specify the exact combination of services and prices included in the package. In addition, you can define individual rules for each calculation, e.g. rates for different seasons, permitted days for arrival and departure and minimum length of stay.

A calculation-based rate code is divided into different levels. The 3 main levels are subdivided as follows:

  1. General settings

  2. Rules

  3. Calculations

General settings

[System data > Reservation > Rates > Rates tab > Tree view > Advanced pricing > Add new rate]

Select the Advanced pricing entry and select a rate code, or click the plus sign underneath the tree view in the left window pane to create a new calculation-based rate code.

 

Name

The name is diplayed in the reservation dialog box and for online bookings. Translate the name of the rate code by using the the globe button.

Short name

Internal description for the rate code.

Description

The description text is displayed for online bookings and can contain information about included services, seasonal periods or other conditions.

Rate group

In order to provide a better overview you can group your rate codes into different rate groups (for example: All corporate price rates belong to the “Corporate” rate group.)

Rate code type

Select a rate from the selection box. The rate types are preset by the system and are divided into the following:

Type

Description

Complimentary

In order to be able to statistically record the guests who stay at the hotel, you can create a rate type with the title “Complimentary”.

House use

This kind of rate type is similar to the “Complimentary” rate code. It represents hotel internal overnight stays (employees who stay at the hotel overnight).

Normal

Standard prices are drawn up as “normal” rate codes.

Null

This price type is statistically not recorded and can be used for internal accounts (group master and pseudo-room).

Rack

The price to be shown in the reservation enquiry by default is preset with this selection.

Negotiated

Special company rates or negotiated rates, etc.

Sort order

Define the position of your rate codes by defining a sort order. The default order is alphanumerical. If you would like to change the order of rate codes, you can enter a number here. The lowest number (1)  appears at the top of the list.

The sorting specified here will now also be considered in the reservation enquiry.

Enquiry group

You can group your rates into enquiry groups for the purpose of selling. This makes the reservation enquiry much more efficient and considerably improves the selling process. When performing a reservation enquiry, the enquiry is limited to the selected enquiry group, which helps you to always offer the right rate.

General

Rate codes for general sale will appear by default when checking rate availability in the reservation enquiry screen.

Contracted

Rate codes which have pre-agreed contracts with third party companies and travel agents need to be re-assigned from General to Contract rate. This means if you need to select one of these rates you will initially need to select from the dropdown list in the reservation enquiry from General to Contract rate.

Other

Rate codes for internal use or anything not fitting into GENERAL or CONTRACTED

Prices (optional, not for Advanced pricing rates)

You can choose to include items or packages in your rate code. To do so, select the check box and then select an item or package from the drop-down list (e.g. breakfast). If a price has been assigned to the item, this price is displayed in the menu. You can change the price if necessary.

Included in room rate: If you do not select this check box, the price of the item will be added to the existing room rate. Otherwise, the selected item is included in the room rate.

Invoice text  (optional, not for Advanced pricing rates)

The information provided in the “Invoice text” field will appear on the guest’s invoice. Click the globe icon to enter foreign language translations for the names and description, if required.

Enable discount groups  (optional, not for Advanced pricing rates)

If you select this check box, the discounts listed below will be applied to this rate code. For information on how to define age group discounts, see the “Discount groups” section of this help topic.

Default rate

Select default rate if you wish to define this rate as the default.

The rate code defined as the default rate is always preselected when making a reservation in the room plan and is also presented first for online bookings.

Basically, only one rate can be defined as the default rate. If you have already defined a default rate and set the checkmark for another rate, the checkmark is removed from the previous default rate.

Linen

In protel Air you can set how often you want to change the linen in your rooms. This is primarily set in the room type. In the rate codes, you can define a linen change settings which is different from the default setting, e. g., if one of your wellness specials includes a daily change of linen regardless of the room type. Simply select the rate code and enter the linen change interval in the Linen field.

Bookable online

Select this check box if you want this rate code to be available for online bookings via your Web Booking Engine (WBE).

Enable zero prices

Sometimes a price code contains a zero-prices or items for zero-prices (e.g., free complimentary fruit-basket). If the price code or the zero-price item is to be booked with zero euros, please place a check here.

Disable in CRS / Res. enquiry

If you tick this checkbox, the rate code will not be shown in the reservation enquiry nor in the CRS (e.g., useful for rate codes for internal use).

Yieldable

This field is only relevant if a yield management system is connected. If you check this box, the availability of this rate code is transferred to the yield system.

Booking conditions

Guarantee

This is where you can link a rate code with a guarantee condition. The guarantee condition shown here will be automatically used when booking the rate code and displayed in the reservation dialog box.

Additional information about the guarantee conditions can be found here:

Display of a valid guarantee condition for a reservation: Reservation summary > Reservation dialog > Rooms > Guarantee conditions

Configuration of the guarantee conditions: System data > Reservation codes > Guarantee conditions

Cancellation

This is where you can link a rate code with a cancellation condition. The cancellation condition shown here will be automatically used when booking the rate code and displayed in the reservation dialog box.

Additional information about the cancellation conditions can be found here:

Display of a valid cancellation conditions for a reservation: Reservation summary > Reservation dialog > Rooms >  > Cancellation conditions

Configuration of the cancellation conditions: System data > Reservation codes > Cancellation conditions

Currency

(Advanced pricing only)

Only active if you use more than one currency in the hotel (Multi Currency Feature).

When offering a rate using a foreign currency, (e.g., for an international booking portal), you can create the respective rate in the desired currency.

Please note that foreign currency rates can only be set up in the framework of the Advanced pricing (System Data > Rates > Advanced pricing) List-based (simple) rate codes can only be generated using

Difference item

(Advanced pricing only)

If you have manually overwritten the rate specified in the rate code (e.g. because a special discount has been granted), the resulting differences can be posted to a separate difference item. For example, you can use this to chart the value of the discounts granted to your guests. The system carries out the calculations automatically.

Posting text

(Advanced pricing only)

If you want to post the difference item separately as an individual item on the invoice, select “Split package” from the drop-down list.

If you want to post the difference item as a package together with the cost of the accommodation and other included services, you must first create the new calculations and then select the posting text of the corresponding calculation.

Rules

[System data > Reservation > Rates > Rates tab > Tree view > Advanced pricing > Rules]

The rules defined here apply to all calculations in the rate code, regardless of the validity defined for the individual calculations. For example, you can restrict the rate to a specific period of time:

Suppose you have different season times and rates throughout the year, but these rates apply only for 2012. This way, you can restrict all of the calculations contained in this rate to the period of January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012. You can define the actual seasons times and rates later on in the individual calculations.

In addition, you can set restrictions for the entire rate and all corresponding calculations. This way, you can specify the days of the week and the minimum length of stay for which the selected rate is available for booking (see section Room rates > Pricing rules).

Set default value for market code / distribution channel on rate level

[System data > Reservation > Rates > Rates tab > Tree view > Advanced pricing > Rules]

You can default market codes and distribution channels in the rate settings. This can be done on Rate Rule level (see the following figure) or on Room Calculation level (see below). The default values will automatically copy to the reservation when a reservation is made in protel Air.

If the rate code of a reservation is subsequently changed, protel Air adopts the preset market code and distribution channel of the new rate code.

This feature allows hotel management to predefine default values that shall be populated automatically during the manual booking process, improving accuracy and statistics, while reducing risk of user error and increasing workflow efficiencies. The codes are also transferred to the RBD grid when a reservation is booked via an interface, such as the protel Air WBE, IDS connect, WBE5, etc.

Please note

  • Market segment and distribution channel can also be specified for the rate code at room rate calculation level, for example, if a different market segment is to apply to a particular room type (see section below:  in the section Room Pricing / Statistical Data). Room rate calculation / Statistical Data).

  • You can find more information on this topic here.

 

Calculations (Package elements)

[System data > Reservation > Rates > Rates tab > Tree view > Advanced pricing > Calculations]

This is where you define the individual calculations for the advanced pricing rate code. Once you have created a calculation, you can use it for different rates. protel Air uses two different calculation types:

These different types allow you to create as many calculations as you need, with a wide array of conditions and prices, for a single rate.

To begin the room rate calculation, select the appropriate entry in the dialog box that appears.

Room rate calculation

The room rate calculation allows you to specify the price of accommodation to be posted for your room/property. You can create as many room rate calculations as you need for a particular rate. This way, you can calculate different booking and price conditions within a single rate. This means that your rates are available for booking year-round, both in the hotel management software and online.

Example:
Suppose you have defined a peak season, an off-season and an interim season, each with different prices. You would now like to create a business rate for each of these different prices. Initially, this rate will be available for booking in the “Superior” category (with possible expansion to other categories). First create a “Business I” rate code (or other custom code, see description above).

  1. To create a new calculation for a rate code, click the advanced rate code (e.g. “Business I”) in the tree view. Then click the “Calculations” branch for that code. In this example, we assume that you have not yet created any calculations. For this reason, the “Available Calculations” area of the window is currently empty. Later, this area will contain all calculations created during this process.

  2. Click the plus sign in the “Available Calculations” panel:

  3. Choose "Room rate calculation" as calculation type and enter the following settings:

General settings
[System data > Pricing > Rates tab > Advanced pricing > Calculations > Room rate calculation > General settings]

Name

e.g. “Interim season”

Description

A descriptive text, e.g. “Business rate in Superior room during the interim season.”

Accommodation

Select the item you want to use for posting the price of accommodation (e.g. “Accommodation”).

Posting text

If the rate is to include additional items so that it can be posted as a package, enter a posting text here. All additional items with the same posting text can be posted together as a package. Select “Create new” from the drop-down list and enter the posting text in the text field, e.g. “Off-season arrangement.” If you want the items to be posted separately on the invoice, select “Split package.”

for room type(s)

The room price can apply to all categories or for one or more selected categories. Select the pen icon and use the arrow keys (left, right) to assign the room types. CAUTION! ALL room types are selected by default.

Example for multiple room rate calculations: The “Business I” advanced rate code is displayed with multiple room rate calculations for the different seasons (peak, off-season, interim season). The room rate calculation for the “Superior” room type in the interim season is selected:

 

Rules
 [System data > Pricing > Rates tab > Advanced pricing > Calculations > Room rate calculation > Rules]

Valid for period

 e.g. June 16, 2013 to September 14, 2013. TIP: Click the plus sign to define multiple time periods (e.g. if the season is made up of multiple blocks of time).

Valid for weekday

Select the appropriate check boxes to specify the days of the week for which the rate code is valid. Here, arrival = valid arrival days; stay = days permitted for stay (for example, a special weekend rate is available from Friday to Sunday, but you can specify Friday as the only valid arrival day).

Valid for length of stay

Minimum length of stay as a condition that must be fulfilled in order for this rate code to apply. If the minimum length of stay is set to 2 days, the reservation will have to be booked for at least 2 nights.

Valid for nights

The amount from the calculation will only be booked on the nights defined here. Example: If you enter “from 3 to 4”, the calculation will only be booked for the third and fourth nights. If you enter “from 4 to 4”, the calculation will only be booked for the fourth night. This option makes it very easy to create rates which vary during the stay; for example the room costs €100 for the first two nights and only €80 as of the 3rd night. At the same time, it can also be used to display rate offers such as “pay 6, stay 7’’ (the seventh night was calculated with a price of €0.00).

Statistical Data

You can specify a default value for the market code and distribution channel at room rate calculation level. When you create a new reservation, the default values of the rate code are copied to the reservation according to the defined rules. Even if a price type is subsequently changed, protel Air adopts the preset market code/distribution channel.
Please note: Market segment and distribution channel can also be specified at rate code level (see above: : Set default value for market code / distribution channel on rate level). The room rate calculation level always has priority.

You can find more information on this topic here.

 

  1. If you want to define custom rules (e.g. valid season times) for the room rate calculation, select the “Rules” tab.

    In our example, the room rate calculation is valid for the interim season times:

  1. Select the “Rates” tab:

  1. In the table on the left, enter the room rates for the applicable room rate calculation (e.g. the rate for the Superior room during the interim season). These room rates are calculated without any additional services.

  2. Optional: If you are working with age group discounts, enter the rates per person for your custom age groups in the table on the right. These prices are added to the accommodation or the room price.

Example 1 (business rate without separate age groups)

You want to include breakfast in the “Business I” advanced rate code. This would add up to a total price of EUR 100 for 1 room with 1 occupant. Internal price calculations yield a proportional price of EUR 90 for the accommodation and EUR 10 for breakfast. Enter a room rate of EUR 90 for a room with one adult (breakfast will be added as a service later using the item calculation).

The total price for a room with 2 adults is EUR 130. Discounting the two breakfasts (EUR 10 each), the net room price for 2 occupants is EUR 110, etc.

Example 2 (family price with age groups)

A family with 2 adults and one 8-year old child wishes to make a reservation. In your custom age groups, children of the age of 8 are listed under “Level 2.”

The rate for the parents is EUR 100 (room rate for 2 occupants) and the price for the breakfast is EUR 10 per person. You can now enter different prices:

  • The child will have a separate room, but the child’s room should not cost the same as a full-priced adult room. In the “Own room” row of the table, you can specify a lower price for the child’s room in the cell for the corresponding age group:

    In this example, the separate room for the child is posted at a discounted price of EUR 40.

  • The child will share the room with the 2 adults for a small fee of EUR 20 for a cot. For the second age group under “Occupancy with” > “2 Adult,” enter, e.g. EUR 20. The room type for which you create the room rate calculation must allow for 3 occupants:

The total cost of the accommodations is calculated as EUR 100 for the 2 adults plus EUR 30 for the 8-year old child and EUR 40 for a 12-year old child.

 

  1. Click [Apply] to save the entered data.

 

These were the entries for your interim season with the selected room type (Superior). Proceed as described for other room types and season times (e.g. peak and off-season) and create custom room calculations for each of these conditions.

If you are working within the same season time, make sure to enter the same validity period for each room type.

At the end of this process, all calculations within a particular rate will be available for booking year-round. The system automatically searches for the correct price information in the individual calculations.

Caution: Make sure that the room calculations for the same room type and the same accommodation item do not fall within the same time period. If both calculations are valid, the sum of these two prices will be posted in the reservation and the invoice.

Important note

[System data > Reservation > Rates > Rates tab > Tree view > Advanced pricing > Calculations]

ATTENTION!

When creating room rate calculations, please make sure that the calculations for the same room type and the same accommodation item are not within the same time-period! If both calculations are valid, both rates in protel Air are added together and posted to the reservation and to the invoice accordingly!

In addition, if you are using an IDS interface (direct interface to the online channels), the IDS rate calculation will be reset to a former calculation method, which will result in longer export times. At the same time, the protel IDS interface sends an email with the respective information to the system administrator. To reactivate the proper calculation method again, the respective rate codes need to be corrected. After the correction, the new calculation method is automatically reactivated.

Related information: >>> protel Air & protel IDS connect | Setting up prices for online sales

 

Item calculations

[System data > Reservation > Rates > Rates tab > Tree view > Advanced pricing > Calculations]

The item calculations allow you to create all additional services that you want to sell using a rate code, e.g. breakfast, half-board, massage, cleaning costs, Internet access or New Year’s special.

You can create as many item calculations as you need for a particular rate.

First, select the advanced rate code for which you want to create an item calculation (e. g. "Wellness package"). In the tree view, click “Calculations”.

Click the plus sign in the “Available Calculations” panel:

Choose "item calculation" as calculation type:

  1. Now enter the “General settings”:

  1. Switch to the “Rules” tab when wanting to have the item calculation only available for booking under specific conditions and make the appropriate settings.

  1. Select the “item” tab. Click “Add” to add items to the calculation.

During the validity period, the system automatically posts the selected items on the specified days and at the correct price, based on the number of adults and children.
If there are certain arrangements for which you have not yet created item packages in your system data, you can simply add all items to be included in the package to an item calculation.

If you have restricted your room or item calculations to specific time periods, the rate cannot be posted on days for which the validity period is not active. If the system cannot find a valid entry in a calculation for a particular day, the rate cannot be posted. In addition, reservations for the selected rate cannot be made for this period.