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How to Import / Copy Rates into the Rate Wizard

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This article outlines the steps required to copy or import your existing rates from the legacy Rate Module into the Rate Wizard. This article has been written with reference to the Best Available Rate, however the steps and principles can be applied to any rate being imported.

Getting Started

If you have existing Rate Plans already created under the legacy Rates Module (System Configuration > Rates), you can use these steps to migrate your Rate Plans into the Rate Wizard. The Rates Module will eventually be phased out of the PMS so it is advised that all Clients migrate their Rates into the Rate Wizard.  Sufficient notice will be issued to all users before an action is taken.

Before moving Rates into the Rate Wizard, please note the following:

  • Once Rate Plans are moved into the Rate Wizard they can no longer be modified under System Configuration -> Rates, all changes must be done directly within the Rate Wizard
  • During the copying process you can Merge various rates together. When rates are merged, that means all Room Types will all share the same general Rate Plan Settings (ie: Min/Max Persons and Cutoff Days)
  • Merges cannot be undone so be careful to select the correct rates while merging

Go to System Configuration > Rate Wizard and click on the green + sign in the bottom left hand corner of the screen.

Getting Started

Right click anywhere on the Create New Rate screen and select Add Existing Rates

You will now have an opportunity to go through all your Rates in the PMS and select which ones are to be merged. In this example, we are going to take all our Best Available Rates (ie: GDS Best Available, CRS Best Available, Internet Best Available and Best Available) and merge them into one general Best Available Rate.

IMPORTANT: You will have the ability to select one rate as your Default Rate. The PMS will import all of the Min/Max Persons and Length of Stay Restrictions from that Default Rate. If no Default Rate is selected, any applicable restrictions will need to be added to the rate plans AFTER they have been merged to the Rate Wizard.

Step 1: Select any CRS rates that apply to this merge (NOTE: You can only select 1 Rate Plan per Room Type)

Step 1: Select any CRS rates that apply to this merge (NOTE: You can only select 1 Rate Plan per Room Type)

If you wish for one of these rates to be your default (ie: the PMS will pull all Min/Max LOS restrictions), right click on the rate and select Set Default.

If you do not wish for one of your CRS rates to be your default, select the Next button in the bottom right hand corner of the screen to proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: Select any Hotel Website rates that apply to this merge (NOTE: You can only select 1 Rate Plan per Room Type)

Step 2: Select any Hotel Website rates that apply to this merge (NOTE: You can only select 1 Rate Plan per Room Type)

Again, if you wish for one of these rates to be your default (ie: the PMS will pull all Min/Max LOS restrictions), right click on the rate and select Set Default.

If you do not wish for one of your Hotel Website rates to be your default, select the Next button in the bottom right hand corner of the screen to proceed to Step 3.

Step 3: Select any GDS rates that apply to this merge (NOTE: You can only select 1 Rate Plan per Room Type)

Step 3: Select any GDS rates that apply to this merge (NOTE: You can only select 1 Rate Plan per Room Type)

Again, if you wish for one of these rates to be your default (ie: the PMS will pull all Min/Max LOS restrictions), right click on the rate and select Set Default.

If you do not wish for one of your GDS rates to be your default, select the Next button in the bottom right hand corner of the screen to proceed to Step 4.

Step 4: Select any Hotel Direct rates that apply to this merge (NOTE: You can only select 1 Rate Plan per Room Type)

Step 4: Select any Hotel Direct rates that apply to this merge (NOTE: You can only select 1 Rate Plan per Room Type)

Again, if you wish for one of these rates to be your default (ie: the PMS will pull all Min/Max LOS restrictions), right click on the rate and select Set Default.

If you do not wish for one of your Hotel Direct rates to be your default, select the Done button in the bottom right hand corner of the screen to proceed to Step 5.

Step 5: Fill in the following information:

  • Category - Select the Rate Category that applies for this Rate
  • Rate Name - Enter the Rate Name
  • Rate Types - You are unable to modify your Rate Types (ie: Hotel Website, CRS, GDS, Hotel Direct) at this time as they have been selected based on the rates you selected in Steps 1-€“4. These can be modified after the Rate has been created if you wish (see Step 6).
  • Lock off (using for online booking) - Check this box if the Rate Plan you are creating is for a Lock Off Room. To learn more about creating rates for Lock Off Room Types please consult the PMS Smart Support located under the "Help" Menu in the PMS.
  • Special Rate - During a Promotion no other Rates will display on eRes except for your Online Promotion Rate. If you wish for this Rate to display at the same time as your Online Promotion Rate, then you must check the "€œSpecial Rate"€ checkbox in order for it to appear at the same time as your Online Promotions.
  • Non Commissionable - Check this box if bookings on this rate do not receive a Travel Agent Commission
  • Hide Rate - Hides the rate on following Print Outs - Reservation Form, Confirmation Form, and Registration Card
  • Cutoff Days -“ By setting a Cutoff Day, you are telling the PMS that this Rate is not available X Days before arrival. For example: We want to encourage guests to book in advance, therefore we are offering a 30 Day Advance Rate which provides the guest with a 20% discount on the Room Rate if they book more then 30 days in advance. Therefore, we set the "Cutoff Days" to 30 on the 30 Day Advance Rate Rate Plan. To learn more about Cutoff Days please see the How to set a Rate Plan, using the Cut-off Days feature section of this document
  • Number to Sell - for eRes Online Booking Engine ONLY - allows you to dictate how many of this particular Rate Plan do you wish to sell online Per Room Type Per Day.
  • Sort Order (Hotel Web Site) - if your property uses the eRes Online Booking Engine and this rate is set to appear on online, you may select in which order you wish this rate to appear by assigning a Sort Order number to the Rate Plan.
  • Min Persons/Max Persons -€“ These settings will be imported if you have selected a Default Rate in Steps 1-4. The "Min Persons" indicates the minimum number of adults that can stay in this Room Type and the "Max Persons" indicates the maximum number of adults that can stay in this Room Type. NOTE: If the Max Persons is set higher then the "Sleeps (max)" found on the Room Type, the "Sleeps (max)" will define the maximum number of adults allowed for this rate plan.
  • Min Stay Default/Max Stay Default nights - These settings will be imported from the Default Rate if one was selected in Steps 1-4. All rates must have at least a 1 Min Stay Default, so the guest must stay at least 1 night for this rate to apply. For Weekly Rates and Monthly Rates the Min Stay Default where the Period is set to week or month, the Min Stay Default can be left blank. Because the period is set to "Week", this rate will only appear when the Weekly Room Charge Code is selected. When the Weekly Room Charge Code is selected, it automatically defaults to 1 week which is a minimum of 7 nights. The same rules apply for monthly stays.
  • Rate Type - These settings will be imported based on the Rates selected during Steps 1-4
  • Market Segment - A Market Segment may also be entered into the Rate Plan to identify in which Market Segment this particular Rate Plan belongs. This field is not mandatory
  • Base Rates - leave this area blank at this time
  • Description - enter pertinent booking information regarding the rate into this area. This description will appear on your eRes Online Booking Engine, CRS and internally in the PMS when you right click on a Rate Plan while creating a new Reservation.
Step 5: Fill in the following information:

Select Create to create your Rate.

Once the Rate is created it will appear in the Rate Wizard list. From this list you can quickly see the following:

  • What Rate Types it is setup on
  • If it is a Lock-off Rate or not
  • If Tiering is Enabled
  • If it is a Daily/Weekly/Monthly Rate

Step 6: This step is only required if you wish to add additional Rate Types to the Rate Plan (ie:the Rate Plan currently only has Hotel Website Rates but you wish for it to have GDS and Hotel Direct Rates as well)

Select the Rate Plan in question (ensure it is highlighted in blue) and select the modify button below (the button with the notepad icon).

Step 6: This step is only required if you wish to add additional Rate Types to the Rate Plan (ie:the Rate Plan currently only has Hotel Website Rates but you wish for it to have GDS and Hotel Direct Rates as well)

Check the boxes besides the Rate Types which you wish to apply for this Rate Plan and then select the Update button located in the bottom left hand corner of the screen.

The Rate Plan has now been created for the GDS & Hotel Direct Rate Types.

NOTE: If you get the following error message, it means that you cannot reuse the current Rate Plan name, as it already exists in your database. This means the name of the Rate Plan must be altered slightly in order to update the rate.

For example:

  • AAA/CAA may need to become AAA/CAA Rate or AAA/CAA
  • Best Available may need to become Best Available Rate

At this point, all 3 Rate Types (Hotel Website, GDS, Direct Hotel) have been created for all Room Types. If a Rate Plan does not apply to a specific Room Type, follow these steps:

  1. On the main page of the Rate Wizard, with the rate you wish to change selected, click the Edit Rate button.
  2. Once in Edit Mode, click the More Details button.
  3. Check the Expanded box at the bottom and each Channel will be displayed under each Room Type. Using this list, uncheck the desired Channels from each of the Room Types that you wish to make unavailable on this Rate Plan.  
  4. Once complete, click Apply at the bottom of the window
  5. Then click Update on the main window.

IMPORTANT: In this step, new Rate Types (Channels) have been added to this rate plan. During this process, the rates from the original Rate Type did not copy to the new Rate Types. In the above example GDS and Direct Hotel Rate Types are newly created Channels, but currently do not have rates assigned to them.

In order to copy the rates over to these new Rate Types (Channels), the following steps must be taken:

Exit the Rate Wizard and go to System Configuration > Rates.

  1. These steps must be taken for each applicable Room Type (Room Types are selected using the Room Type drop down menu located at the top of the screen)
  2. Below we can see that our Best Available Rate/Hotel Website is the Rate Plan that has rates assigned. We can tell his because it is the one with dates found under the Date From and Date To columns. We now want to copy the rates from the "Best Available Rate/Hotel Website" onto our "Best Available Rate" and our "Best Available Rate/GDS".

Right click on the Best Available Rate/Hotel Website (the Rate Plan with the rates) and select Copy.

Next, right click on the Best Available Rate and select Paste (Best Available Rate/Hotel Website)

A message will appear to let you know the copy is complete:

Now proceed to the Best Available Rate/GDS and follow the same steps to paste the rates. Right Click on Best Available Rate/GDS and select Paste (Best Available Rate/Hotel Website)

If you check the Rate Calendar Tab for each Rate Plan, you will now see each Rate Plan has rates (the Date From & Date To will update the next time you open the Rates Module)

Proceed to copy your Rates for each Individual Room Type. Remember to Copy the Rate Plan that already has existing Rates, and Paste it into those rates that do not.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Complete this step for ALL Master Rates BEFORE setting up tiering on any other rates. If the rate values exists on the Master Rates before rates are tiered from them, once the tiering formula is entered on the tiered rates (see Step 8b), they will be automatically updated correctly.

Step 7: Reconfirm Rate is attached to appropriate Client Types & Corporate Accounts.

Select the rate you are working on in the list above and then click the Modify button below (the one with the notepad icon)

Step 7: Reconfirm Rate is attached to appropriate Client Types & Corporate Accounts.

Proceed to the Client Type tab. A list of the different Rate Types (ie: Hotel Direct, CRS, Hotel Website, GDS) will appear.

Click the + sign next to each Rate Type to view the Client Types that each Rate Type is attached too.

Ensure the proper Client Types are selected for each Rate Type (ie: under Hotel Direct you may choose only your Leisure Client Type, under Hotel Website you may choose your Online Booking Client Type, under GDS you may choose only your GDS Client Type, etc...)

In the example below, the Hotel Direct Best Available Rate is attached to the Independent Client Type and the Independent Client Type only.

If you have made any changes, select the Update button at the bottom before exiting the screen.

NOTE: CORPORATE & GROUP RATES ARE TYPICALLY NOT ATTACHED TO THE GROUP & CORPORATE CLIENT TYPES BUT ARE INSTEAD ATTACHED TO INDIVIDUAL GROUP & CORPORATE ACCOUNTS. IF THE RATE YOU ARE IMPORTING IS A CORPORATE RATE, THEN YOU WILL PROCEED TO THE CORPORATES TAB TO ENSURE THAT IT IS ATTACHED TO THE APPROPRIATE CORPORATE ACCOUNT. FOR GROUP RATES, CLIENT TYPES ARE ATTACHED DIRECTLY TO THE GROUP WHEN IT IS BEING CREATED VIA THE GROUP MODULE, AND DO NOT NEED TO BE ATTACHED HERE.

Step 8a: Creating your Rate Template

(NOTE: If the Rate Plan you are creating will be tiered off another Rate Plan, proceed to Step 8b to learn how to setup tiering)

The rates that you previously had setup in the Rates Module will flow through into the Rate Wizard when you import a Rate. However, if the Rate Plan is a Master Rate you will want to update your Rate Template and if the Rate Plan is a Tiered Rate you will need to input your tiering formula.

Choose the rate plan you wish to edit

In the Rate Wizard, select the rate you wish to edit by making sure it is highlighted in blue up top. Select the Next button in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

Choose the rate plan you wish to edit

Unlock the grid for editing

You now have an opportunity to input the different rate structure for each of your Room Types. Uncheck the Lock the Grid checkbox located to the right of the screen. Unchecking this box allows you to work within the Rate Grid above.

NOTE: Room Types will appear based on the Sort Order set in the Room Inventory module (Sytem Configuration > Room Inventory)

Unlock the grid for editing

Enter the rate differences between your Room Types

At this point what you want to do is define the rate difference between your Room Types. So, in the example below (in the red box):

  • My CVK is my standard Room Type. So whatever rate I enter when updating my Base Rate will equal the CVK. Therefore, the CVK is left at $0.00 so when I enter my Base Rate of $300.00, my CVK will be $300.00. I would enter dollar amounts under Triple and Quad fields if I charged for additional persons in the room. In the example below, I charge $30 per additional person in a room based on double occupancy. So $30 for a third person, $60 for four people.
  • I would enter $30 into the Extra field, as it would continue to charge at a rate of $30 per person at a 5th person and over. The Child field would be used if I charged a different rate for a child in the room.
  • My CVQQ room is the same price as my CVK, however because there are two double beds in the room, the price is based on quad occupancy, instead of double. In this example I would leave all fields at $0, except the Extra, as I would charge $30 for a 5th person and above.
  • My OVK Room Type is $100.00 higher then my base rate and therefore I input my template rate as $100/$100/$130/$160 and $30 for Extra and $0.00 for Child.
  • My OVQQ room follows the same pattern as my CVQQ, as it is base on quad occupancy.
  • My OVSK room is $250 more than my CVK, and as it is based on double occupancy only, I charge $30 per person for a 3rd person and above. In this case I would enter $250/$250/$280/$310 and $30 for the Extra. Again, I leave Children at $0.
  • My P2SB is my premiere suite, and is $2000 more than my CVK, As it is a 2 bedroom suite, it is also based on quad occupancy. Therefore I would enter $2000/$2000/$2000/$2000 and $30 into Extra for a 5th person and above. Again, the Child field remains at $0.

NOTE: THESE DIFFERENCES CAN BE ADJUSTED AT ANY TIME BY SIMPLY ADJUSTING YOUR TEMPLATE – OTHERWISE, the PMS WILL DEFAULT TO THESE DIFFERENCES.

Enter the rate differences between your Room Types

Save your work

Once you have your template set:

  1. Select the Update Rate Template button to save the template.
  2. Now check Lock the Grid.  This will save the template for use in the future, and act as the base structure for all of your rates.
Save your work

Enter your Base Rate

Now notice that if you were to change the Single/Double/Triple/Quad rates above in the Base Rate line, the rest of your Room Types would fluctuate along with your rates based on the template you have set. Moving forward, all you ever need to do is update the Base Rate field to change your rates for all Room Types.

Enter your Base Rate

Check your Work

Your existing rates have already been copied into the Rate Wizard during the import process, but you should still check them using the Rate Calendar. Choose the desired Room Type and Rate Type from the drop-down menus, and review the rates on the calendar below.

Check your Work

Step 8b: Setting up Tiering

If the Rate you have imported is a Tiered Rate, you will need to set up the tiering in the Rate Wizard.

  • Open the Rate Wizard by going to System Configuration > Rate Wizard.
  • Ensure the rate you are working on is highlighted in blue up top and then select the “Next” button in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.
Step 8b: Setting up Tiering

Setting up the Rate Tiering Formula

Skip the General Tab and proceed directly to the “Rate Tiering” tab and fill in the following information:

Enable Rate Tiering – check this box to allow tiering to be possible.  Then you must select at least one of the following 3 options:

   1.  Rate – check this box if you wish for the Rate to update through tiering

   2.  Closed/Closed to Arrival – check this box if you wish for Closed/Closed to Arrival to update through tiering

   3.  LOS Restrictions – check this box if you wish for Min & Max Length of Stay Restrictions to update through tiering

Rate Tiered Off – Select the Rate that this rate will be tiered off of.

Calculation Formula – enter the amount/percentage of the difference into the blank box and then select the dial next to $ (Amount) if the is an amount or the dial next to % (Percentage) if it reflects a percentage. Next, use the "<" arrow to tell the PMS if the formula should calculate as Less Than (<) or Greater Than (>) the Rate it is tiered off of.

Rounding Type – if your Calculation Formula is based on a percentage, you can choose to round your rate to the nearest penny (0.01), dollar (1.00) or five dollars (5.00)

In the following example, we are setting our AAA rate to be tiered at 10% Less than our Best Available Rate. This means that whatever rate we set our Best Available Rate to, our AAA rate will change along with it, but will always stay at 10% Less. This allows us to manage only one rate, but affect many tiered rates at the same time, simplifying our Rate Management in the PMS.

Setting up the Rate Tiering Formula

Save Your Changes

Once you have the settings for your Tiering properly configured, you will need to save your changes in order to publish your new Tiered Rate. Click the “Apply Changes Now” checkbox, and then proceed to select “Save” to setup this rate as a tiered rate.

Save Your Changes

Check your Work

The final step to establishing and publishing your Tiered Rate is to check your work, and make sure that your rates are correct. Proceed back to the General Tab.

Check your Work

Using the "Room Type" and "Rate Type"  drop-down menus, make the desired selections to check your rates.

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