Rate restrictions empower hoteliers to control when and how rates can be booked to increase reservations during off-peak periods, encourage longer stays, and otherwise manage guest flow and increase revenue. Though the best time to use various restrictions depends on your unique property and market, keep these general guidelines in mind to increase yield and your bottom line:
Minimum Pricing – The stronger your demand, the more you can and should charge, so set minimum pricing and close out discount rates during popular dates.
Closed to Arrival / Departure – Rates with CTA/CTD restrictions in place do not allow guests to check in or out on certain dates, though they can continue an existing stay. If you have a cheaper rate that you only want to offer on days of lowest demand, a CTA/CTD restriction accomplishes that. In addition, it equips staff to better manage check-ins/outs, streamlining operations and preventing frustrated guests.
MaxLOS – A maximum length of stay restriction also keeps discounts from stretching into higher-demand dates, e.g., you could provide a mid-week discount with a maxLOS attached so that it doesn’t apply to profitable nights like Friday and Saturday. MaxLOS helps prevent scam bookings as well.
MinLOS – A minimum length of stay restriction should be used during peak periods when guests are primed to spend more, in this case, paying for an extra night or two. For example, it makes sense to implement a minLOS for a special event or long weekend. You could even extend that minLOS to cover the day(s) immediately following, boosting occupancy during the mid-week shoulder period.
MinLOS guarantees occupancy while simultaneously reducing workload due to lower guest turnover. It also raises ancillary revenue by ensuring guests have time to explore everything you have to offer. If you have a discount rate with a minLOS restriction, ancillary spend could make up the difference between that rate and your usual pricing. However, discount rates should not generally be provided when demand is high.
Day-of-Week Pricing – This strategy limits pricing to certain days of the week (e.g., higher weekend prices) and has a similar effect to the CTA/CTD and maxLOS restrictions mentioned above—preventing you from selling your rooms too cheaply on peak dates.
Booking Window Restrictions – Booking window or lead time restrictions determine how far in advance or how close to the check-in date rates can be booked. For instance, many hotels offer discounts to fill last-minute availability… Booking window restrictions prevent you from cutting prices before availability becomes last minute. Conversely, a discount could be offered for booking far in advance (early-bird rates) to secure future occupancy.
Stop sell – Applying a stop sell works in a similar way to a booking window restriction, but instead it’s based on a specific date rather than a time frame, closing out a rate before or after that date.
Sell limit – A sell limit prohibits more than a certain number of rooms from being sold at a particular rate. Use it when you want to offer some discounted rooms but maintain higher pricing for the rest.
Password-protected Rates – Restricting rates by access code or password allows you to offer special pricing to special guests, i.e., loyalty members, corporate partners, social media followers, etc., that the general public cannot access. These discounted rates should go to those who have given you repeat business (or that you hope will give you repeat business in the future).
The best way to manage rate restrictions is through your property management system (PMS), where you can view and make changes to your rates instantly and keep pace with demand. WebRezPro’s bulk overrides feature empowers hoteliers to adjust pricing and restrictions for multiple rates at once from a single screen. Your PMS also provides occupancy and revenue data needed to determine optimal pricing strategies.
Considered use of rate restrictions increases profitability without leaving guests unsatisfied, so take a deep dive into your data and discover the best times to market—and restrict—specific rates.
