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Rate Records

The Rate Information screen is where you set up rate amounts for the rates codes configured and configure Yield Management.

Rate Information​

Use the Insert, Change, and Delete buttons to enter and modify rate entries in roomMaster. Only "base" rate codes need to have rate records created. Once amounts are established, the derived rate codes amounts are calculated from the rate records of the base amount.

Example: If RACK rate is your "base" rate and AAA, INT, GOVT are all derived rates codes from RACK, only rate records for RACK for each rate type should be entered. The derived rate amounts are calculated automatically.

Note: Only rate records for base rates will appear in the Rate Information screen. To view the derived rates, click Front Desk > Display Rates or Press F6.

General​

Rate Code​

Use the drop down box to select a rate code. Only rate codes that have been configured will display. "RACK" is the most commonly one used. If a rate code is a derived rate, it will not be included in the drop down menu.

Rate Type​

Use the drop-down field to pick a rate type for this rate. If the rate type is *ALL, all rate types will be able to use this rate. This is commonly used by a rate type which is the same for all rooms such as discounted or special rates. For example, if a government rate per diem is $65.00, no matter which room the guest uses, or whatever the rate is, you would use a rate type of *ALL rather than adding the same entry for all room types. If two different room types will always use the same rate code (such as KING and KING NON-SMOKING), the room type can be designated to use the same rate type to keep the rate table simple. See Room Types for more information.

From/To​

Enter the valid range of dates for the rate making sure the To field is at least one day after the From field. Rate records can be "nested", meaning you can configure one create record to be applied within the date range of another rate record. For example, have one rate record from December 1 to December 31 and another rate record from December 22 to December 27.

Description​

A description of up to 35 characters can be entered for each Rate Name to help explain the meaning of the four-letter code, such as "Standard Rate". Do not include the room or rate type in the description of the rate. It is unnecessary since the user can see the room type associated with the rate.

Available to use​

Check the days of the week applicable for this rate. If the guest's stay involves any day that is not checked, this rate entry will not display in the list of rates available.

Rev Account​

Select the type of room revenue which will be posted when this rate is used. Room revenue accounts also determine the type of taxes which apply when this rate type is used. Room Revenue types are items like Taxable, Non-Taxable, Boat Slips, Meeting Rooms, etc. For more information on Room Revenue Accounts, see Account Codes in Guest Ledger Setup.

Amounts​

Depending on the Charge Type selected the field labels will differ. For a Daily Charge, Weekday and Weekend are the defaults. These can be changed in Setup > Configuration > System > Day of Week Setup. For Weekly and Monthly rates, the top field labels will designate the time frame for the charge. The bottom fields the "broken" time frames, usually daily.

When entering amounts, enter the amounts based on 1,2,3 and 4 persons for both time frames. If the rate is the same regardless of the number of adults, you have to fill it in and not leave it blank. Example: If the rate is $99.00 for 1 through 4 persons, you must place $99 in all of the fields.

Enter rates for extra adults and extra children, if you charge for them. For extra adults, the amount entered will be applied beginning with the fifth adult in the room. For example, if you have a suite that sleeps up to six adults and you want to charge $199 for one or two adults and $20 for each extra adult, in the One and Two Adults fields you would enter $199, in the Three Adults field enter $219, in the Four Adults field, $239. Then in the Extra Adults field enter $20. If a reservation is made for the six adults, the rate would be $279, $239 for four adults plus $40 for the two extra adults.

1A and 1C = 2 Adults (One Adult + One Child = 2 Adults) - Check this box to change/use the 2 adults rate if there are is 1 adult and 1 child in the room.

Discounts​

The Discount tab is where you can apply a discount percent or discount amount for each rate. In addition, you can specify if the discount should be applied for the entire stay, after a certain number of days or on a certain day. If a discounted rate code is selected, roomMaster will apply the discount when room and tax is posted on the guest folio. If a rate is set up with a discount for a minimum number of nights, and the reservation does not meet that criteria, the discount percent field will still show the discount amount on the folio, but will not be applied. It is displayed in case the guest stay changes.

Discounts are always applied at the end of calculating rates. If the discount is set as a percentage, the discount percentage is applied to any extra adults and/or extra children charges. Extra adult and extra children amounts are charged in full, if applicable, if the discount is set as an amount.

Example: If Extra Adult and Extra Child charges are $12 and $8, respectively, and a 25% Discount is configured on the Discount tab, the Extra Adult and Extra Child charges applied would be $9 and $6 (.75 x $12 and .75 x $8).

Discounted rates can be overridden at the reservation and folio level. See Discount% for more information.

Users should also review Derived Rates to configure discounted rate codes in roomMaster.

Discounts entered for rate records are NOT included in rates sent to Global Distribution Systems (GDS) like Expedia, Booking.com, TravelClick, etc., since discounts are flexible enough to be applied on a certain day or days of within a guest stay.

Note: Discounts cannot be used with Hybrid rates. Attempts to use a discount on a Hybrid rate will cause inconsistencies with rate amounts during the guest stay.

Exceptions​

For special holidays, instead of entering additional rate records, you can enter up to nine simple exceptions. These exceptions can either increase or decrease the rate amounts. The fields which will be affected by the increase or decrease are One Adult through Four Adults, both Weekday and Weekend. It does not affect the Extra Adult or Extra Child amounts. Typical exceptions entered here are Christmas, New Years, Labor Day, Memorial Day, or any other day or days which you may want to change your rate.

Example of setting up Rate Exceptions: Assuming that your hotel has four seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter) and the rate changes during each season, and there are special holiday exceptions, you would have four rate entries for each room type, one for each season. The rate code would be "RACK" for all four of these entries, and the date range would be for each season. Inside each rate record, you would enter the exception periods in that season. Such as, in the Winter Season RACK rate, you would enter the Christmas and New Years rate exceptions.

Rate Exceptions are read from the top line to the bottom line. To "nest" exceptions, i.e. have an exception applied within the date range of another exception, the rate applied for the shorter date range must be entered on a line above the longer date range. For example, if you have an exception for July 1 to 15 and another one from July 3 to 6, the July 3 to 6 exception has to be entered on a line above the July 1 to 15 exception to work correctly.

If the exceptions are the same for each rate code, use the Copy Exceptions to Clipboard to copy them from one rate entry, then open a new rate record and click Paste Exceptions from Clipboard to quickly enter the same exceptions.

Make sure the date ranges for any exceptions are within the dates entered on the General tab of the rate record.

Click here for more information about regular rates

Mass Copy​

You can use the Mass Copy button to copy a group of rates in the same period or a year out. Enter the Start Date and End Date of the time frame you wish to copy. Then enter an increase amount or a decrease amount (-10.00) which will change all rates by the amount entered. All fields left blank will be the same as the rate being copied from. You may want to backup your rate files (FILE/BACKUP) before using the MASS COPY feature in case it doesn't copy as you expected.

Rates can increase by amount, percentage or rounded percentage. If the rounded (Whole Dollar) is chosen, then the rate is increased by the percentage and then rounded (.50 or higher would be rounded up, while .49 and lower would be rounded down)

If your property uses the WorldLink interface, you MUST click the Trigger WorldLink Update button after completing rate updates you want to take effect at your Global Distribution System(GDS) partners as soon as possible. Pressing this option tells WorldLink to send a full update with the next scheduled cycle. This ensures that all current rates are forwarded to the GDS's. The data sent is based on how the interface is configured. If Max Days is set at 180, rates for the next 180 days will be sent. If you have the Expedia (EQC) interface, a full year is always sent by default. Although WorldLink can be configured to cycle as often as every five minutes, it may take some time, up to 20 minutes or more, for the information to load and be accessible on the GDS website.

Note: Complete all rates changes before triggering the update. Sending multiple rates updates within a small time frame can create a suspected exception from your GDS provider. Expedia can be especially sensitive to this and cancel your service with them.

If any changes are made to rates or yield management, including turning the feature on or off, changing how the yielding is based or changing dates for closed to arrivals or departures, the Trigger WorldLink Update button needs to be selected to have the changes sent to your GDS(s) as soon as possible.

Rate History

The Rate History tab will display old rate records that are no longer active and have been moved from the RATES table (containing active rates) to the RATESHIST table (for archiving rates no longer in use.) These rates are no longer needed or used by the system but may be kept as a reference point when adjusting rates.

Not changes may be made to any records in Rate History, they are read or view only. The ability to COPY a rate will allow you to copy the rate from History back to active rates and update the dates/rates in the process. This allows you to easily copy and reuse an old rate record for a future date.