Hurdle Rates
We have added new options to the rate management of the system - Hurdle Rates. You can use them to dynamically manage multiple rates. By editing one rate (Hurdle rate), you can stop rates for certain days or increase the minimum prices of multiple related rates. Here is an example how it is done:
- Create a separate rate plan 'Hurdle'. It is not mandatory, however, this way you can better organise your rates.
- In this rate plan, you should create a standard base rate. It will be used as a Hurdle rate, i.e. it will be the rate through which you will manage the other rates. For the purposes of this example, we will call it 'My Hurdle'.
- Link the rack rates, the ones from the WRS, the channels and the companies to the thus created Hurdle rate. Open the edit screen of every rate and select My Hurdle in the Hurdle Rate field. Choose the mode - STOP or Minimum price:
- STOP. If used, for each day of the rate being offered, the rate offering will automatically be stopped, if the price of the offered rate for the day is LOWER than the price in the Hurdle rate for the day. You can use this option for your corporate contracts, for example, under which you are not allowed to change your prices, however, you can stop the offering of a rate for certain days. Please note that the restriction of the rate being offered is not changed under this operation, but this restriction is dynamically calculated based on the Hurdle rate. In other words, if the Hurdle rate is changed and there is no longer a condition for stopping the rate offering for the day, the use of this rate will continue as per its restrictions: if it is offered, it will continue being offered unless it is explicitly stopped.
- Minimum price. This option has a similar behaviour to the aboveone, with the difference being that instead of the rate being automatically stopped for the day, the rate's price is automatically changed, so that it is not lower than the one in the Hurdle rate. For example, if the rack rate for 1 May is EUR 80.00, and the price of the related Hurdle rate is EUR 100.00 for this day, the rack rate price will also be increased to EUR 100.00. Please note that you will continue seeing EUR 80.00 in the rate editor, however, all calculations will be made based on the price of EUR 100.00. This way, if the price in the Hurdle rate is removed, the rack rate will once again become EUR 80.00 without any intervention being necessary.
- You can create multiple hurdle rates depending on how precisely you would like to manage the rates being offered. There can be hurdle rates for each room type or the different levels of your corporate rates, for example.
Room Features
A new additional classification for your rooms. You can add one or many room features to a certain room like High Floor, Low Floor, Sea View, Park View, etc. These additional features help for the optimal allocation of rooms considering the preferences of your guests. The explicit requirements for the room can be specified in each booking, as it is done in the Room Features field (located under the Arrival room* field).
The selected features can be used both with the manual and the automatic room allocation:
- For the manual room allocation, clicking the Allocate room... button, you will see the rooms of a specific type ordered by their room number and the number of desired feature matches allowing you to choose the most suitable room for the occasion.
- With the automatic room allocation, the system takes into consideration the specified preferences of the guest and selects the room that is most close to these preferences. In the events that there is no room matching the set criteria in terms of room features, the system will allocate a room based on other parameters and once again it will choose the most suitable room.
Room features can be added from these two screens:
- Room Features screen in Settings where you can select multiple rooms for one feature.
- Edit screen of the specific room where one or multiple features can be added.
Other improvements:
- Price control in standard rates - set minimum and maximum allowed value (in the specific currency) that can be entered manually by the user in the standard rates and minimise the errors made. The system checks each price entered by the user as a seasonal or daily one and if its value is out of the allowed range, an error message appears. The check is also made when working with rates in various currencies, as the allowed range is calculated based on the exchange rates set in the respective account. To set a price range, use the Minimum allowed price and Maximum allowed price fields in the Rate section of the Tax Settings.
- Events - detailed search form. We have updated the Event search form by adding many new filters to make the process easier and more flexible. You can search for custom text (e.g. Event name, Company name) and through ready-to-use filters (e.g. Periods - arrival, departure). You also have the option to sort out the results based on criteria selected by you. We have also added buttons for direct quick searches (Expected today, Created last 3 days, etc.).
- Self Service Deep Links - we have added links to each section of the Self Service Portal allowing direct access without being necessary to enter PIN. You can use them to build various mail campaigns, e.g. you can direct your clients to the booking guarantee section, you can encourage them to buy extra services or leave their feedback on their stay at your hotel. The new links are available through the the placeholder list in the Guest Mailer (e.g. Self Service Portal - feedback URL ).
- Self Service Fast Login. To allow your guests easier and faster access to the Self Service Portal, we have changed the system, so that guests can automatically log in to the Self Service Portal through links from the emails sent to them. This way, no PIN will be necessary. Still, we have preserved the PIN option for the events when guests don't have such an email and link, e.g. when logging in through the public link or using the Kiosk. It is our strong belief that the quick login will improve the conversion rate and the usefulness of the Self Service Portal.
- The names of various document types can now be translated. Through the Document Type Translations option, you can translate the name of each document type for the respective language. These translations will directly be reflected in the standard printouts with the language change. If you use custom printouts, please check if the correct parameter is used (folio.display_name) that will retrieve the names of the documents in accordance with the selected language.
- In the Commission Report, Cancelled bookings and No-shows are added as a filter allowing the easier tracking of the commissions for all received bookings regardless of their status.
Integrations:
Austrian fiscalization through FISKALY
Fixes:
Auto send folio email templates with folio closure were sent twice.