Information on different scenarios where Users may see Availability discrepancies in RMS.

Overview

An availability discrepancy is a difference between the number of Areas the Booking Chart shows as available and the number the Availability Chart shows for the same date. Availability can be viewed at a glance on the Availability Chart and Booking Chart in RMS.

At times, Users may find that the availability between the Availability Chart and Booking Chart doesn't match. The Booking Chart may show more Areas available to book than the Availability Chart and vice versa. 

A mismatch between the two charts may result in Users creating reservations in error, leading to overbookings, or the Property may turn away reservations in error.

Below are 4 different scenarios where the availability between the Booking Chart and Availability Chart will not match within RMS.

Please Note! RMS is highly configurable. Some Terminology, User Access & Permissions, Images, Labels, and Functions used in these articles may differ from your setup. CLICK HERE to find out more.

Discrepancy: Booking Chart Shows More Than the Availability Chart

When the Booking Chart shows more availability than the Availability Chart.

In the following example, the Booking Chart shows 2 Areas available for September 25th and the Availability Chart shows only 1.

Unallocated Reservation (Book by Category)

When the Booking Chart shows more availability than the Availability Chart, the most common cause is a reservation that has no Area assigned.

When a Category is setup as Book by Category, this gives Users the ability to create reservations without assigning an Area. 

In this scenario, a reservation has been created without assigning an Area, resulting in the reservation not being visible on the Booking Chart.

To identify these reservations, generate a Reservation List report for the date and Category to locate the reservation without an Area assigned. 

In this example, reservation #10978 has not had an Area assigned.

Once an Area has been assigned, this reservation will appear on the Booking Chart and will match the availability as shown on the Availability Chart.

Guaranteed Allotment

If there are no Unassigned reservations, there may be a Guaranteed Allotment set against a Travel Agent. 

Guaranteed Allotments are used to hold back inventory for a Travel Agent. This inventory is secured for use by the Travel Agent until the release back time setup, when it becomes available for House Use.

Users can review the Daily Summary to identify any Guaranteed Allotments. The Daily Summary provides Users with an overview of availability and a breakdown of allotments and inventory for a certain date range. 

See below displaying 1 Area as a Guaranteed Allotment for Example Travel. 

The Guaranteed Allotment means that for September 25th 1 Area is being held back for use by this Travel Agent and has been taken out of inventory. 

Default Allotments used for connected channels will also be guaranteed until the release back time.

Discrepancy: Availability Chart Shows More Than the Booking Chart

When the Availability Chart shows more availability than the Booking Chart.

In the example, the Booking Chart shows 0 Areas available for September 25th, and the Availability Chart shows 1.

The grey reservation shown below is a Quote Reservation delivered from a connected channel. 

The Quote Reservation is not currently taking up inventory, and as a result, an overbooking in this Category can occur. 

Amending this reservation to Unconfirmed or Confirmed status will update the Availability Chart count for September 25th to 0 as expected. 

Category Missing from the Availability Chart

When a Category that exists on the Booking Chart is not listed on the Availability Chart at all.

If a whole Category is missing from the Availability Chart, check the 'Stats' filter at the top of the chart before looking for a data problem. The 'Stats' filter uses the 'Statistics' setting of each individual Area, not the Category, to decide which inventory is displayed:

• 'Ignore Stats' displays every Area in every Category.
• 'Stats On' displays only Areas with 'Statistics' selected. A Category is listed only if at least one of its Areas has 'Statistics' selected.
• 'Stats Off' displays only Areas with 'Statistics' deselected. A Category is listed only if at least one of its Areas has 'Statistics' deselected.

Please Note! The 'Stats' filter changes which Areas are displayed and counted on the chart. It does not change the property's actual availability.

A Category where every Area has 'Statistics' deselected therefore disappears under 'Stats On' and reappears under 'Stats Off' or 'Ignore Stats'. This is common for Interconnecting Categories, because Interconnecting Master Areas are normally excluded from statistics so the combined Area is not counted twice in reporting.

To display all inventory, set the 'Stats' filter to 'Ignore Stats'. To check or change which Areas are included in statistics, see Area Statistics. For a full description of each option, see the Stats Filter section of the Availability Chart article.