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This article informs about how to install and manage rate-plans for your accommodations, and which channels are supporting to operate a multiple rate-plan setup
Managing rate-plans can in most instances be a very profitable and smart way to apply further revenue management tactics to optimise more earnings for your accommodations. While we discuss those benefits under NextPax PACE - Pricing, this article is meant to explain more how to set it up, edit and what elements are built up on a rate-plan, the more operational side of managing this and which channels accept what.
Channel Capabilities around Rate-Plans
Before focusing on the specifics of rate-plans, let's first look at the capabilities of the channels on rate-plans and where we have developed multiple-rate-plans.
Channels Compatible with Multiple Rate-Plans & Policies
The following channels have capability to manage multiple rate-plans, their conditions and multiple cancellation policies at the same time of searching and booking. Booking.com, Expedia and Agoda have implemented these sort of solutions and we can create multiple combinations.
Channels Not Compatible with Multiple Rate-Plans & Policies, but with Promotions
The following channels are currently not active with multiple rate-plans, but do provide accommodation partners the opportunity to do different pricing strategies and tactics via setting of certain channel promotions: Airbnb
Channels Not Compatible with Multiple Rate-Plans & Policies
Vrbo, HomeToGo, Holidu, Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy, Google Vacation Rentals
NextPax Channels - Connected with the Distribution API
The NextPax Rate-Plans and Cancellation Policies specified will be distributed to the NextPax Distribution API, all partners connected to that API have the possibility to adopt this.
Adding a New Rate-Plan
An accommodation partner can add a new rate-plan by clicking the blue button on the top right (+) Add New Rate Plan. It will open the rate-plan creator module and automatically a NextPax Rate ID is already generated. This article will now go through all steps, but first the important pre-requisite is that you already created a 'cancellation & prepayment policy' for the channel that you intend to create a rate-plan for.
Rate Plan Name
The rate-plan name should be a structured name summarizing what the rate-plan is meant for, advised name structures are: Channel Name, Policy, Mealplan, Other. See a few examples:
Booking.com Non Refundable Rate - Breakfast Included
Booking.com Flexible 7 days Rate - Room Only
Expedia Easter Weekend Package - Halfboard
Post the name creator, one can define whether this is rate-plan is applied to all properties or a selection of properties. When selecting yes, it will be applied to all, else you can select the properties you want the rate-plan to be active for.
You can also decide per rate-plan on the bookable period and the stay period. With your normal rates this primarily will be throughout the entire year for both, but if you would look like to setup an Easter Package that you wish to sell only in January for the Easter Weekend. One can specify the booking period for 01/01 till 01/31 and cover the stay dates over the Easter Weekend. This secures that this package is only bookable in the month of January for the coming Easter Weekend. Same tactics can be applied on for example give Advance Purchase Rate-Plans or Last-Minute Rate-Plans.
After the bookable period, you need to select the channels. Please take a note of the channels that are compliant, if selected all channels, the rate-plan will be created as such on all channels that comply.
Once the channels selection has been made (or not in case of 'All Channels') you can attach the previously created cancellation and prepayment policy to the rate-plan. Once you selected a policy, the text of this policy will be shown for verification.
Post the policy you can select the mealplan that should be active on the rate-plan. In our system you can select between: All Inclusive, Breakfast, Dinner, Fullboard, Halfboard. The field is required if you select yes, if you wish to not offer any meal-plan select 'no'.
After the meal-plan you can select the pricing type. For some systems we import the multiple rate-plan setup from their system (The NextPax Supply API plus the PMS systems MEWS, Oracle & Bookzo are compliant with this). There you can select multiple price types, otherwise there is just the default pricing set that we get via the import.
From there you can apply either a discount or a markup to get to the right pricing that you wish to apply to the rate-plan. Again, if multiple rate-plans are imported, applying such a discount or price increase is not needed, as this is already delivered from the PMS. Also you can select if taxes are already included on this rate-plan or not. (amount before tax, amount after tax).
Post selecting the price type, generic discount and/or taxes. It is time to setup the restrictions.
Minimum Length of Stay: How long you minimum need to stay when you want to book this rate-plan. For normal rates this is 1 night maybe, but for an Easter Weekend accommodations might want you to stay for a minimum long weekend.
Min and Max Advance Booking Days This is a setting that controls bookability before a certain booking day or after. Eg. if you want a last-minute promotion, you can set the Max Booking Advance Days maybe to 5 days and the minimum to 1.
Black-Out Dates You can also specify specific black-out dates on rate-plan level to avoid certain promotional rate-plans or corporate rate-plans with lower rates are booked over city wide events or large conferences in town. For example during the largest corporate conference in Amsterdam, it might not make sense to keep your wholesaler group rates live, and so for the days of this event, an accommodation partner can insert them here to avoid low-rate bookings over this high demand period.
After filling out these details. One can hit the button Add New Rate-Plan, or Cancel the operation.
