This is Article 3 of 4 in the "Rate" Series

1. Rates: Overview
2. Rates: Rate Table Formats
3. Rates: Rate Hierarchy
4. Rates: Initial Rate Setup

Overview

Rates determine the pricing applied to a reservation and can be set up with many rules and validation conditions on multiple layers of the rate setup. The Rate Hierarchy determines the order in which these rules and validation criteria apply to a reservation.

Each rule or validation criteria type has its own hierarchy, which determines which element is in effect when the same type of element exists on multiple layers of the rate setup.

Existing rules and validation criteria can be:

• Manually overridden on a reservation, or
• Globally overridden using the Control Panel and available features on the Rate Manager.

For an introduction to rate concepts and components, see Rates: Overview.

Rate Period Hierarchy

The availability of a rate is determined by the Rate Period selected in the Rate Lookup for a given combination of:

• Rate Type
• Rate Table
• Property, Category, or Area

Multiple Rate Lookups can exist with overlapping Rate Periods, defining changes in price or validation criteria for shorter date ranges within a larger date range. This method can set a base pricing structure across a season or period, with alternate pricing structures coming into and out of effect for selected dates.
 

How the Rate Period Hierarchy Works

The Rate Period Hierarchy determines which rate is available and which pricing structure is applied when multiple Rate Lookups have overlapping Rate Periods. It works in two steps:

1. Choose the winning Rate Period — When multiple overlapping Rate Periods exist, the Rate Lookup whose Rate Period has the shortest date range for that date will take precedence.
2. If there is still more than one matching Rate Lookup for that date (same Rate Type, Category, Rate Table, and Rate Period), RMS will use the most recently created Rate Lookup.

Rate Period Hierarchy Example

Below is an example of how RMS determines which Rate Lookup applies to a reservation stay date when there are overlapping Rate Periods.

 

Rate Periods: Long Weekend, School Holidays, and High Season across the same month. A reservation arriving on 1st August and departing on 8th August crosses over all three overlapping rate periods. Each Rate Period uses a different Rate Table.

 

The Total Rate Breakdown on the reservation shows which Rate Lookup is used for each stay date based on the overlapping Rate Periods:

 

1. Step 1: For each date, RMS selects the Rate Period with the shortest date range covering that date.
2. Step 2: If multiple Rate Lookups still match (same Rate Type, Category, Rate Table, and Rate Period), RMS selects the most recently created Rate Lookup.

When multiple conflicting Rate Lookups share the same Rate Type, Rate Period, and category but use different Rate Tables, and the same Rate Period length applies, Step 1 does not resolve the conflict. RMS then applies Step 2 of the hierarchy and uses the most recently created Rate Lookup for that date.

Cancellation Policy Hierarchy

The Cancellation Policy applied to the reservation will be determined by the following hierarchy:

1. Selecting or changing the cancellation policy on a reservation will ignore any policy selected on any rate setup.
2. A cancellation policy set on a Derived Rate will only apply if no cancellation policy is selected on the Rate Type or Derived Rate Type used as the 'Derived From'.

Deposit Hierarchy

The deposit rule used on a reservation is determined by where the deposit rules are configured on the Rate setup and whether the Rate Type is using its own deposit rules, using the following hierarchy:

Reservation

If a reservation already has a deposit saved (for example, it was calculated earlier and stored on the booking), RMS will use that amount and will not recalculate the deposit from the rate setup.

Mixed Rate Reservations

• On Mixed Rate reservations, RMS compares the deposit amounts from the applicable Rate Types in the hierarchy above and applies the highest deposit value.

• A deposit rule set on a Derived Rate Type only applies if no deposit rule is set on:

  • the Rate Type used on the reservation, or

  • The Derived From Rate Type is linked to that Derived Rate Type.

Property Group Rate Rule

A Property Group Rate Rule lets you apply the same deposit setup to multiple properties in a group for the same Rate Type (or Derived Rate Type). If a Property Group Rate Rule exists, RMS will use it before the deposit set directly on the Rate Type or Derived Rate Type. If there is no Property Group Rate Rule, RMS moves on to the next level in the list.

Rate Table Deposit and 'Use Deposits'

Each Rate Type has an option called Use Deposits. This controls whether RMS uses deposit rules from the rate setup or from the Rate Table.

When Use Deposits is ticked on the Rate Type, RMS uses the hierarchy above (Control Panel Override Property Rate Rule Property Group Rate Rule Rate Type Derived equivalents). In this case, Rate Table deposits are ignored because a rate-level deposit is in use.

When Use Deposits is not ticked, RMS skips all of the rate-level rules for that Rate Type and its Derived Rates, and instead uses the Rate Table deposit for that Rate Type.
 

Derived Rate Types

A deposit policy set on a Derived Rate Type will only apply if no deposit policy is selected on:

• The Rate Type itself, or
• The Derived Rate Type is used as the "Derived From" (including its Property/Property Group rules).

RMS will always use the first valid deposit rule it finds in the hierarchy. If a deposit rule exists on the parent Rate Type (or its Property / Property Group rules) and Use Deposits is ticked, that rule will be used instead of any Rate Table deposit.

Length of Stay Restrictions

The Length of Stay Restrictions applicable to a rate will be determined by where they are set up in RMS.

You can find out more about Length of Stay Restrictions and Hierarchy HERE.

Rate Overrides and Rate Adjustments

A Rate Override can be performed:

• On the Rate Manager.
• In the Control Panel.
• Manually on a reservation.

Overriding the base rate will prompt RMS to ignore:

• The Rate Setup tab on the Rate Table, including Dynamic Pricing.
• Any Derived Rate Adjustments.
• Any Rate Adjustments entered in the Control Panel or on the Rate Manager Chart.