How to create a Rate Lookup that links a Rate Type, Rate Table, and Rate Period to one or more categories or specific areas.

Overview

A Rate Lookup is the linking component for standalone rates that connects a Rate Type, Rate Period, and Rate Table to a category or one or more areas within a category.

A standalone rate will only be available if a Rate Lookup exists for the category, area, and date viewed.

Rate Structures

The two rate structures of OTA and Direct will determine the fee calculation options available on the rate table and which channel connections the rate can be used with.

OTA

• The 'OTA' rate structure has limited fee calculation options available on the Rate Table to remain compatible with all available connections in the RMS Channel Manager.
• Online Travel Agents broadly only accept per-period rates for a defined value (price per date), which is reflected in the available options on the Rate Table when using the 'OTA' rate structure.
• Some available channel connections will also accept an extended stay fee structure, and this option is also available on a Rate Table set up as the 'OTA' rate structure.

Direct

• The 'Direct' rate structure is the most flexible for available fee structures on the Rate Table and can be used within RMS, on the RMS Booking Engine, and with limited channel connections.
• The third-party determines the types of rates their channel will accept, which can be viewed in the channel's connection information article in the Help Centre.

Creating a Rate Lookup

1. Go to Charts > Rate Manager in the side menu of RMS.
2. Select the Rates icon
3. Select Rate Lookups.

1. Select Add.

1. Select a Rate Structure.
2. Select a Rate Type.
3. Select a Rate Table.
4. Select one or more Categories. The Area list on the right updates to show every area that belongs to the selected categories.
5. Optional: In the Area column, tick only the specific areas this Rate Lookup should apply to. Leave every area ticked (or use the (All) shortcut) to apply the Rate Lookup to the whole category. See Scoping a Rate Lookup to an Area below for when to use this.
6. Select a Rate Period.
7. Select Save/Exit.

Scoping a Rate Lookup to an Area

By default, a Rate Lookup applies to every area in the categories you tick. The Area column lets you narrow that scope to specific areas (for example, a single waterfront cabin or a single campsite) without having to create a separate category.

When to scope by Area

• A handful of areas inside a category sell at a different price (for example, premium view areas within a standard cabin category).
• A promotional Rate Table should only apply to selected areas inside a category.
• A specific Rate Period should only be available on a subset of areas.

How the Area column works

• The Area column lists every area belonging to the categories currently ticked, each prefixed with its area number.
• The (All) checkbox at the top ticks or unticks every listed area at once.
• The Filter Area… search box narrows the list - useful in properties with many areas.
• The Hold Selection checkbox keeps the ticked areas when you use Save/Next to create a series of Rate Lookups.

For how RMS resolves overlapping Rate Periods, see Rate Hierarchy.

Which Rate Lookup applies when more than one matches?

If you create a Rate Lookup for one specific Area in a Category, AND a Category-wide Rate Lookup (Area = (All)) already exists for the same Rate Type and Rate Period, RMS uses the Category-wide Rate Lookup. The Area-specific Rate Lookup will not take effect while the Category-wide one is in place.

To set a different rate for just one Area, you need to either:

1. Remove the Category-wide Rate Lookup and create a separate Rate Lookup for each Area you want to price, or
2. Use a different Rate Type for the Area-specific pricing.

For a worked example, see Rate Hierarchy.

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