Troubleshooting steps for when a reservation arrives from a connected Online Travel Agent (OTA) or distribution channel at a different rate to the one set in RMS.

Overview

The amount a channel reservation posts is not simply the value held on the Rate Type. Three configuration layers sit between that Rate Type and the guest: the currency the Channel Connection is sent rates in, the commission held against the channel, and the commission held against the Travel Agent record for that Rate Type. A discrepancy is usually one of those layers behaving exactly as configured.

Work the four steps in order. The first three identify which layer changed the amount; the fourth confirms what the channel sent. Before you begin you will need access to Setup > Online Bookings > Channel Management and Setup > Travel Agent in RMS, and sign-in details for the channel's own extranet portal.

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.

Quick Checks

Run these first. They account for most discrepancies that are not caused by currency or commission.

1. Open the Total Rate/Tariff Breakdown on the reservation, so you are comparing nightly amounts, not a single total.
2. Confirm the reservation is on the expected Rate Type. Where the channel sent an unmapped room or rate code, the reservation may have landed on the Fallback Category and Rate Type.
3. Check the rate on the channel's extranet for the same dates and room type. A discrepancy visible there is an outbound problem, covered by Troubleshooting: Rates or Availability Not Updating on a Channel.
4. For a Derived Rate Type, confirm a Rate Lookup still exists for the stay dates.
5. Confirm no Travel Agent Commission Override has been applied. An overridden commission displays in red on the reservation.

Step 1 - Check the Channel Currency Conversion

A property can send rates to a channel in a currency other than its local currency. RMS converts the rate using the Foreign Exchange Rate before sending it, so the reservation returns in the converted amount. A stale exchange rate produces an amount that looks arbitrary but is arithmetically consistent.

1. In the side menu of RMS, go to Setup > Online Bookings > Channel Management.
2. Select the channel connection and choose Edit.
3. Check which currency the channel is set to receive rates in.
4. Where that is not the local currency, confirm a current Foreign Exchange Rate exists for it.
5. Divide the rate on the reservation by the rate on the Rate Type. A result matching the exchange rate confirms currency conversion as the cause.

Please Note! The currency option is only available once Transfer Rate to channel from local to another currency has been enabled under Setup > Property Options > General Information > Features. See Channel Manager Currency for the full setup.

Rate Tables Built in a Secondary Currency

RMS converts between the local currency and a secondary currency in either direction. It does not convert one secondary currency into another.

Where a Rate Table is built in a secondary currency and a different currency is set against the channel, no conversion takes place. RMS sends the amount held on the Rate Table in the Rate Table's own currency, so both the amount and the currency reaching the channel are wrong.

Fix: Build the Rate Table in the property's local currency and let the channel currency setting perform the conversion.

Step 2 - Check the Channel Agent Commission

A Channel Agent Commission is saved against the channel itself and applies automatically to every reservation from it.

1. In the side menu of RMS, go to Setup > Online Bookings > Channel Management.
2. Select the channel connection and choose Edit.
3. On the Connection Information page, scroll to Travel Agent Information and open the Agent Commission Setup grid.
4. Find the row for the Rate Type used on the reservation.
5. Check the NET Booking Multiplier, Collect Type, Commission value and any No Greater Than cap.

NET Booking Multiplier

The NET Booking Multiplier grosses up the rate sent to the channel so the property still receives its intended net amount after commission is deducted. The guest books the grossed-up amount, so that is what returns on the reservation. For example, a 12% commission uses a multiplier of 1.1364, so a Rate Type set at 100.00 is sent to the channel as 113.64 and the reservation returns at 113.64.

Where the multiplier no longer matches the commission the channel charges, every reservation from that channel arrives at an incorrect amount.

Fix: Recalculate the multiplier using the formula in Net Multiplier Examples, update the grid, then run a Manual OTA Resync so the channel receives the corrected rates.

Important! Changing the multiplier affects future bookings only. Reservations already received keep the amount the guest booked at and must be adjusted individually.

Collect Type

Collect Type determines who takes the guest's money: Property means the property collects the full rate and pays the channel commission later; Agent means the channel collects and remits the net amount. A Collect Type that does not match how the channel actually settles makes the account balance look wrong even when the accommodation rate is correct.

Please Note! No commission applies where the Type is No Commission, where the Commission value is 0.00, or where the reservation used a Rate Type that is not mapped to the channel.

Step 3 - Check the Rate-Level Commission

Commission is also configured per Rate Type on the Travel Agent record. Every channel connection creates a Travel Agent record, so a reservation can pick up commission from this layer as well as from the channel. RMS resolves the two using the order set out in Travel Agent Commission Hierarchy.

1. In the side menu of RMS, go to Setup > Travel Agent and open the record for the channel.
2. Locate the commission rows for the property on the reservation.
3. Compare the commission held against the reservation's Rate Type with the value you expect.
4. Check whether more than one commission row exists for that property and Rate Type.

Important! More than one commission can be active for the same property and Rate Type. Where that is the case every matching commission applies at once, each posting as a separate transaction on the reservation account. There is no precedence between them, so a percentage and a flat amount configured together will both be charged.

Please Note! Changing the commission on a Travel Agent record also changes reservations booked under the previous commission, provided they have not reached Departed status.

Step 4 - Review the Channel Log

Where the first three layers do not account for the difference, the Channel Log establishes what the channel sent, separating an RMS configuration problem from one that originated on the channel side.

1. In the side menu of RMS, go to Setup > Online Bookings > Channel Management.
2. Select the channel connection and choose Edit.
3. Navigate to the Channel Log section.
4. Locate the entries covering the booking date and the stay dates for the reservation.
5. Read the response content beside each entry and compare the rate it contains with the amount posted in RMS.

Please Note! The time shown against each log entry is the log server's clock. It is not the reader's local time and is not necessarily UTC, so allow for an offset when matching entries to a booking time.

When Troubleshooting Does Not Resolve the Problem

Contact RMS Support with the following details:

• The channel name and the Online Confirmation Number.
• The rate the guest was charged on the channel and the rate posted in RMS.
• The Rate Type and Category on the reservation.
• Screenshots of the Channel Log entries for the booking.

Related Articles

• Channel Manager Currency
• Channel Agent Commission Setup on a Channel Management Connection
• Travel Agent Commission Hierarchy
• OTA Commission with a NET Multiplier
• Channel Pricing Models

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