This guide explains how to manually override the rate on a reservation in RMS, including the behaviour of an override and the prerequisites required.

Overview

A Rate Override allows authorised Users to manually change the rate applied to a reservation, replacing the rate calculated from the Rate Table setup. This is useful when a special rate needs to be applied to a specific guest or booking that falls outside of standard pricing - such as a VIP rate, a negotiated rate, or a complimentary stay.

An override can be applied to the Nightly Rate or the Total Rate directly from the Total Rate Tariff Breakdown on the reservation. Overridden rates are visually indicated in red to alert staff that the rate has been manually changed.

Prerequisites

Before overriding a rate on a reservation, confirm the following:

• The user must have the Rate Override permission enabled on their Security Profile.
• A reservation must already exist in RMS with a Rate Type applied.
• The reservation must be in a status that permits editing (e.g., Quote, Confirmed, or Arrived).

Override Behaviour

Understanding how a Rate Override behaves in RMS helps ensure it is used correctly and avoids unexpected results:

• Overridden rates display in red on the Total Rate Tariff Breakdown and reservation screen, clearly indicating a manual change has been made.
• The overridden value replaces the calculated base rate. It becomes the new base used in total rate calculations, applied before discounts, packages, commissions, or taxes.
• Dynamic Pricing and Rate Table setup are ignored. The override bypasses Dynamic Pricing, derived rate adjustments, and Control Panel restrictions for the affected reservation.
• Packages are retained. Package items configured continue to apply as normal.
• Overrides carry over to copied reservations. When a reservation with a Rate Override is copied, the override is included in the new reservation. Users should be aware of this when using the Copy Reservation function.
• The override can be removed using the Reset the Base Rate option, which restores the rate to the value calculated from the Rate Table setup.
• Interaction with tax-inclusive Rate Types. If the Rate Type has Include all Tax in Rate calculation selected, the value entered as the override is treated as the Total Rate (rate plus allocated Tax Exclusive taxes). The displayed Base Rate is derived by subtracting the tax. See Rate type tax for tax-exclusive properties for a worked example.

Guide

Open the Reservation in RMS.

1. Click on Base Rate.
   
    
2. Enter the new Rate amount.
   (Ensure the override is entered correctly, according to the configuration option on screen - Nightly or Total Rate).
3. Select Save/Exit.
   

The reservation screen will show the Base Rate and Total Rate in red, to indicate that a manual override has been applied.

 

Related Articles

• Total Rate Tariff Breakdown
• Reset the Base Rate
• Reservation Package Override
• Security Profile
• Rate type tax for tax-exclusive properties