Optimizing Price Accuracy for Distribution (V12)
V12.NET sends rates and pricing to distributed listings through a backend communication system using lodging rates. Lodging rates is the rates model developed by HomeAway to ensure better price accuracy through their entire online booking process. It communicates nightly rates, discounts, fees, taxes, and payment schedules.
Best Practices for Optimizing Lodging Rates Price Accuracy
The following are the best practices to follow for rates and fees to achieve the greatest price accuracy through HomeAway.
Rack Rates
Use nightly rates.
- The best option for accurate pricing is to update all your rack rates to only use daily rates instead of using weekly rack rate and monthly rack rate options. You would then create additional rate adjustments to modify your default nightly price for your weekly and monthly pricing. This allows HomeAway to quickly and accurately calculate the total cost of a booking using lodging rates.
- Nightly rates are configured for rate unit types on the Reservation Setup > Rates page. Click here for more information on setting rate unit type rack rates.
- Nightly rates are configured for individual units on the Reservation Setup > Rates > Rates by Unit tab. Click here for more information on setting unit rack rates.
For example, you set your rack rate for the property to $199 per night. Even if you do not offer one-night stays, you need to set this rack rate for good price accuracy calculation and to set a base nightly rate to adjust using other rate adjustments. You then create different rate adjustments based on the length of stay, such as 7-13 days, 14-27 days, and 28-365 days, and they have appropriate discounts configured to reduce or replace the base nightly price. Dollar discounts are ideal, but percentage discounts can be used as long as they only apply to rent. Dollar discounts can be per stay or per night. There would also be a booking rule setting the seven night minimum stay. Click here for more information on creating booking rules. The following is a rate adjustment example of one week discount of $25 per night:
- If you do not want to update your rates at this time, at a minimum you should still add a nightly rate on your base rate rule, even if you don’t offer one-night stays. This allows the HomeAway algorithm to accurately calculate the total cost of a booking using lodging rates.
For Round To Nearest, the default is to round Up to the nearest $0.01. Use this setting as any adjustments to this default setting are not supported.
Occupancy Rates
Charge the same daily price for extra adults as extra children.
- HomeAway secure messaging does not differentiate between adults and children, so to get accurate pricing, you must charge the same daily price Per Additional Adult and Per Additional Child. The weekly and monthly amounts are not supported.
- This is calculated as part of the rent, and not as an additional fee.
- For more information on how to access the Occupancy Rates page, view the last section, Set up Additional Occupancy Rates, of the Setting up Rate Unit Type Rack Rates help article.
Rate Adjustments
Adjust prices using Reduce By or Replace With options.
- Increase Rate By is not supported by lodging rates. Do not use Increase By, as this option can lead to calculation issues.
- This also ensures that the price displayed to travelers never increases. Price increases can lead the traveler to have negative feelings or to have mistrust thinking there might be hidden fees. Making sure the price never increases lets the traveler will know that they are getting the best price and they are possibly getting a deal by booking through the current channel.
Do not use any yield management or occupancy rates.
- The complexity of yield management and occupancy rate calculations can cause great variations in price accuracy using lodging rates.
Use the Use Adjustment only for days they apply to rate calculation setting.
- On the Reservation Setup > Reservation Setup > Rate Calculation Settings tab, the only option that lodging rates supports is Use Adjustment only for days they apply to.
Add On Charges
For add-on charges based on Amount Type $, use only Only Stay, Per Night, Per Person, and Per Person Per Night from the Charge Charged pull-down menu. The other options in the list are not supported.
For add-on charges based on Amount Type %, use only the Rent check box under % Charge Applied to. Only add-ons based on rent are supported. Tax, Other Add-on Charges, Add-on Tax, and Activities are not supported for % Charge Applied to.
Deposit Policies
Deposit policies are not applicable to Airbnb, but may be used on Homeaway.com, VRBO and Booking.com
Not all deposit policy component's Calculation Types are supported with lodging rates. On the Deposit Policy page, in the Policy Components section, each component is assigned a Calculation Type. Click here for more information on creating deposit policies.
The following are supported calculation types:
- $ Amount
- % of Rent
- % of (Rent + Tax)
- $ Balance Due
The following are not supported calculation types:
- Number of Nights
- Nights + Tax
- $ Per Adult
- $ Per All
- Number of Nights Rent
- Nights Rent + Nights Tax
- Nights Rent + All Taxes
Additional Resources: