4. Discount/Markup enhancements.
New Functionality: The criteria for applying a discount/markup to a short term reservation have been enhanced. Discounts/markups can be configured to apply to short reservations based on:
A time frame the reservation checks in, checks out, and/or checks in and checks out.
A time frame the reservation is created within.
The reservation’s length of time.
The number of days before a reservation checks in.
Occupancy data.
Days of the week criteria.
The number of guests on the reservation.
Assigning a discount code value (Only on the online search engine).
Currently, the discount and markup functionality is only designed to work with short term reservations. The discount and markup functionality will not work against seasonal or long term reservations.
Property Configuration
Only properties with the ‘Allow Discounts’ configuration check box selected will have discounts and markups apply. When setting up discounts and markups only properties with the ‘Allow Discounts’ configuration check box selected will display as properties to add to a discount or markup rule.
(Select the Properties main menu option > Select the Manage Properties menu option > Highlight the Offices option > Highlight the Property entry > Select the Edit button > Select the Misc tab)
The tab ‘Apply Discount/Markup’ has been added to the ‘Manage Property Attributes’ window. End users can apply or remove discounts and markups from a specific property from the ‘Apply Discounts/Markups’ tab.
A single discount or markup can be applied to a batch of properties from the discount/markup configuration window. Applying a batch of properties to the same markup/discount rule is outlined within the discount configuration portion of this documentation.
(Select the Properties main menu option > Select the Manage Properties menu option > Highlight the Offices option > Highlight the Property entry > Select the Manage Attributes button > Select the Apply Discount/Markup tab)
Update Property Discounts Window
New discounts are created and existing discounts are edited from the ‘Update Property Discounts’ window. The ‘Update Property Discounts’ window is opened by selecting the ‘Discounts’ properties menu option.
Currently, discounts and markups will only apply to short term reservations.
From the ‘Update Property Discount’ window, selecting the ‘New’ button opens the discount configuration pop up window.
Highlighting an existing discount/markup rule and selecting the ‘Edit’ button opens the discount configuration pop up window allowing the end user to edit the discount/markup rule configurations.
Once a discount/markup rule has been created, highlighting the rule and selecting the ‘Apply’ button allows for the rule to be applied to a batch of properties. Only properties configured with the ‘Allow Discounts’ configuration check box selected will appear as available options to be assigned to the new discount/markup.
The ‘Delete’ button will display active when a discount/markup rule is highlighted and the rule is NOT assigned to any properties. The ‘Delete’ button will display inactive when the rule is assigned to any properties. Before a discount/markup rule can be deleted all properties must be unassigned from the corresponding rule. Un-assigning a batch of properties from a rule is easily performed by highlighting the rule and selecting the ‘Apply’ button.
Discount and Markup Configuration Elements
When creating a new discount or markup rule, next to each configuration option is an information icon.
When the end user places their mouse cursor on top of each information icon image a pop up window opens providing a definition of the configuration option.
When setting up a new discount or markup the following configuration criteria can be set:
Name and Description – Only the ‘Name’ field is required to create a new discount or markup rule.
Amount – The numerical value applied within the amount field can be a positive number. Negative numbers cannot be applied within this field.
Amount Type Drop Down Menu – The options within the drop down menu are ‘percent’ and ‘dollar’. The drop down menu drives whether the discount/markup is a fixed amount or a percentage amount of the reservation’s rent. If the ‘dollar’ option is selected the discount/markup will apply the value setup within ‘Amount’ field. If the ‘percentage’ option is selected the discount/markup will apply a percentage amount of the reservation’s rental amount. The value applied within the ‘Amount’ field will consist of the discount/markup’s percentage amount.
Rule Type Drop Down Menu – The options within the drop down menu are ‘Discount’ and ‘Markup’. The drop down menu drives whether the new rule will consist of a discount or a markup.
Arrival and Departure Dates – The arrival and departure date values sets the time frame which a reservation has to either; check in, check out, or check in and check out to qualify for the discount or markup.
Prorate Configuration Check Box – The ‘Prorate’ configuration check box can only be selected when the discount or markup is configured as a ‘percent’ discount/markup. The ‘Prorate’ check box will display inactive when a discount or markup is configured with the ‘dollar’ amount type option. If the prorate check box is not selected the percentage discount will calculate against the entire rent amount when the reservation’s check in or check out dates fall within the discount/markup arrival and departure date time frame. If the prorate configuration check box is selected the percentage discount will only calculate against the days within the arrival and departure date time frame.
The prorate calculation equation:
Rental Amount/length of reservation stay = Rental amount per day
[Rental amount per day X number of days within the discount or markup time frame] x discount or markup percentage amount = Reservation discount or markup
Example: I have a 10% percent discount/markup configured to apply during the month of May. My arrival date value is set to 5/1/2013 and my departure date value is set to 5/31/013. I have a reservation Checking in on 5/29/013 and checking out on 6/5/2013. The reservation’s rent amount is $700.
When the ‘Prorate’ configuration check box is NOT selected, the percentage discount/markup will calculate against the entire rent amount. 10% x $700 = $70.
When the ‘Prorate’ configuration check box is selected, the percentage discount/markup will only calculate against the nights which fall within the discount/markup time frame. The percentage discount will only calculate against the nights of the 29th, 30th, and 31st.
$700 (rent amount)/ 7 (reservation length of stay) = $100 (per day rental amount)
[$100 (per day rental amount) x 3 (number of days within the discount or markup time frame) = $300] x 10% (discount or markup percentage) = $30
(Optional) Reservation Arrival Configuration – When this discount/markup configuration check box is NOT selected all reservations with a check in date or check out date falling within the arrival and departure date time frame will have the discount rule applied. When the configuration check box IS selected, only reservations containing a check in and checkout date within the arrival and departure date time frame will have the discount rule applied.
Example: I have a 10% percent discount/markup configured to apply during the month of May. My arrival date value is set to 5/1/2013 and my departure date value is set to 5/31/013.
When the ‘(Optional) Reservation Arrival Configuration’ check box is NOT selected, a reservation consisting of a check in date of 5/29/2013 and a check out date of 6/5/2013 will have the discount or markup applied to the reservation.
When the ‘(Optional) Reservation Arrival Configuration’ check box is selected, a reservation consisting of a check in date of 5/29/2013 and a check out date of 6/5/2013 will NOT have the discount or markup applied to the reservation. The reservation’s check in and the check out dates have to both be within the discount/markup time frame to qualify for the discount/markup.
Applicable Date – The applicable start and end date values set the time frame a reservation has to be created within to qualify for the discount/markup rule.
Example: If the applicable start date value is set to 1/1/2013 and the applicable end date value is set to 1/31/2013, only reservations created within the VRM application or from the online search engine during the month of January 2013 will qualify for the discount/markup rule.
Auto Day – This discount/markup configuration sets the reservation length of stay maximum and minimum requirements. When the auto day type option of 'Equal To' is selected, a reservation will be eligible for the discount/markup rule when the reservation length of stay is equal to the 'Auto Day Begin' value. When the auto day type option of 'Less Than' is selected, a reservation will be eligible for the discount/markup rule when the reservation length of stay is less than the 'Auto Day Begin' value. When the auto day type option of 'Greater Than' is selected, a reservation will be eligible for the discount/markup rule when the reservation
length of stay is greater than the 'Auto Day Begin' value and less than the 'Auto Day End' value. When the auto day type option of 'Not Equal To' is selected, a reservation will be eligible for the discount/markup rule when the reservation length of stay is not equal to the 'Auto Day Begin' value.
Lead Time – This discount/markup configuration will set the number of days before the reservation’s check in date criteria.
Example: If a value of 0 is applied within the low configuration field and a value of 30 is applied within the high configuration field, reservations created with less than 30 days before the check in date will qualify for the discount/markup.
Occupancy Data – This discount/markup configuration will apply occupancy guidelines to indicate whether a new reservation qualifies for a markup/discount. This configuration is based on an individual property’s occupancy percentage. The occupancy percentage amount is
calculated for the time frame identified by the number of days before check in and the number of days after check out configuration values. The discount/markup will automatically apply, when the calculated occupancy percentage value is either ‘equal to’,’ less than’, or ‘greater than’ the configured occupancy percentage amount.
The occupancy percentage is calculated as:
[The number of days reserved within the time frame set by the number of days before and after configuration values] / {[number of days of new reservation] + [number of days before check in configuration value] + [number of days after check out configuration value]}
Note: Seasonal reservations, owner reservations, and black out time periods do not affect the occupancy data percentage calculation.
Example: Number of Days Before check in configuration value: 30
Number of Days After check out configuration value: 30
(All short term reservations against the same property that occur within 30 days before the reservation checks in and 30 days after the reservation checks out are considered preexisting reservations)
New reservation checks in on 4/7/2012 and checks out on 4/14/2012: 7 day reservation
Preexisting reservation for the same property from 3/24/2012 to 3/31/2012: 7 days
Preexisting reservation for the same property from 4/21/2012 to 4/28/2012: 7 days
New Reservation length of stay: 7 days
Preexisting reservation days within the time frame set by the before check in and after check out configuration values: 14 days
Divide the sum of the total number of preexisting reservation days for the specific property by the sum of the configured number of days before check in, the configured number of days after check out, and the new reservation’s length of stay.
14 days [preexisting reservations] / (30 [before check in configuration value] + 30 [after check out configuration value] + 7 [new reservation length of stay in days])
14/ (30 + 30 + 7) = 21/67 = .2089 = 21% (This is the occupancy percentage)
The rule will automatically apply or appear as an option to apply, when the calculated occupancy percentage value is either ‘equal to’,’ less than’, or ‘greater than’ the configured occupancy percentage amount.
Days of the Week Criteria – This discount/markup configuration will set criteria based on the day(s) of the week a reservation is checking in or checking out. A reservation will qualify when the reservation is checking in or checking out on a day of the week that is selected from the ‘Check In’ or ‘Check Out’ week configuration check boxes. This discount/markup configuration will also set minimum or maximum guidelines based on a reservation’s length of stay.
The minimum number of day configuration value sets the minimum number of days a reservation length of stay can equal to qualify for the rule. If the minimum number of day configuration is set to 2, reservations with a length of stay less than 2 days will NOT qualify for the discount/markup. The maximum number of day configuration value sets the maximum number of days a reservation length of stay can equal to qualify for the discount/markup. If the maximum number of day configuration is set to 8, reservations with a length of stay greater than 8 days will NOT qualify for the discount/markup. When the minimum number of day configuration value is set to 2 and the maximum number of day configuration value is set to 8, reservations with a length of stay of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 will qualify for the discount/markup.
Nightly Configuration – This discount/markup configuration will indicate whether the charge is a one-time charge or a reoccurring nightly charge. Nightly Charges can be configured to only be applied on certain days of the week. The ‘Max Nights’ value will determine the maximum number of times a nightly charge can be applied to a single reservation.
Number of Guests – The discount/markup configuration sets the number of guests per reservation requirement. Selecting the 'Apply per Guest' configuration check box will apply the discount/markup for each additional person on a reservation greater than the 'Min Guests' value. If the 'Apply per Guest' configuration check box IS selected and the 'Min Guest' value is set to 2, a four person reservation would receive the markup/discount twice. When the 'Apply per Guest' configuration check box is NOT selected the discount/markup will apply one time to a reservation when the number of guests selected on a reservation is greater than the 'Min Guests' value.
Discount Code – A discount/markup rule setup with a discount code can only be applied to reservations booked from the online search engine. Guests will have to manually apply the discount code value on the book it page to receive the discount/markup. The discount code value can consist of any sequence of alphanumerical value desired.
Example: A 10% discount is setup with a discount code value of, JUNE10. The only time this discount will apply to a new reservation is when the guest enters the discount code value of ‘JUNE10’ within the discount code field on the reservation information step of the booking page when making their reservation online. Applying a discount code value to a discount/markup will NEVER apply the discount/markup to a reservation created within the VRM application.
NOTE: The discount/markup ‘discount code’ functionality will not work without until the online search engine version is updated within your website.
Distribution Configuration
Discounts: A new configuration drop down menu named, ‘Base After Discounts’, has been added to the office configuration. This new configuration drop down menu will drive whether the discount amount applied to a short term reservation will be included or excluded when calculating the reservation management fee. The options within the ‘Base After Discounts’ drop down menu are ‘Net’ and ‘Gross’.
(Select the System Configuration main menu option > Select the Company menu option > Select the Offices tab > Highlight an Office entry > Select the Edit button)
Net – When the ‘Net’ option is selected from the ‘Base After Discounts’ drop down menu the management fee will calculate based on the rental amount minus the discount amount.
Example: A short term reservation is created with a rental amount of $1000 and a management fee amount of 20%. A discount amount of $200 is applied to the short term reservation. Upon distribution the management fee amount will calculate against the rental amount minus the discount, 20% x $800 = $160.
The owner statement will display as follows:
Gross – When the ‘Gross’ option is selected from the ‘Base After Discounts’ drop down menu the management fee will calculate based on the rental amount. The discount amount is disregarded when calculating the management fee.
Example: A short term reservation is created with a rental amount of $1000 and a management fee amount of 20%. A discount amount of $200 is applied to the short term reservation. Upon distribution the management fee amount will calculate against the rental amount, 20% x $1000 = $200.
The owner statement will display as follows:
Markups: The markup amount applied to short term reservations cannot be configured to be included or excluded when calculating the management fee. Currently, markups applied to short term reservations will distribute to the management account configured within the office configuration. Markups do NOT distribute to the owner’s account as additional rent. Markups only distribute to the office configured management account as originally designed. The ability to configure the account a markup distributes to and whether a reservation’s management fee calculates including or not including the markup amount will be developed within a future release.
(Select the System Configuration main menu option > Select the Company menu option > Select the Offices tab > Highlight an Office entry > Select the Edit button)
Markups do not display on owner statements. Short term reservations with a markup applied will distribute to the account setup as the management account within office configuration. The following short term audit trail illustrates the markup distribution.
How Discounts and Markups Display Within the Rent
This section will review how discounts and markups display within different modules of the admin console and how they display when creating a new reservation from the online search engine.
This section will review how discounts and markups display:
On short term reservations.
When a ‘New Short Term’ availability search is performed.
When a new reservation is created from one of the calendar views (By Property, Tape Chart, Annual Calendar).
When creating a new reservation from the online search engine.
Discounts and Markups on a short term reservation
Discount: The reservation’s discount amount will display in the ‘Discount’ field on the reservation’s ‘General’ tab. The discount amount can be manually edited at any time. When manually editing a reservation’s discount amount please remember to select the reservation ‘Save’ button.
Markup: The reservation’s markup amount will display in the ‘Markup’ field on the reservation’s ‘General’ tab. The markup amount can be manually edited at any time. When manually editing a reservation’s markup amount please remember to select the reservation ‘Save’ button.
Discounts and Markups within the ‘New Short Term’ availability search results
Discount: When performing an availability search using the ‘New Short Term’ functionality, the rent amounts returned will include the discount amount. A reservation with a rent amount of $1000 and a $200 discount will display a rent amount of $800.
Markup: When performing an availability search using the ‘New Short Term’ functionality, the rent amounts returned will include the markup amount. A reservation with a rent amount of $1000 and a $100 markup will display a rent amount of $1100.
Discounts and Markups when creating a reservation from a calendar
Discount: When creating a new reservation from a calendar, the discount amount will display under the rent amount.
Markup: When creating a new reservation from a calendar, the markup amount will be included within the rent amount. A reservation with a rent amount of $1000 and a $100 markup will display a rent amount of $1100.
Discounts and Markups when creating a reservation from the online search engine
Discount: Selecting the ‘Calculate Price’ button from the availability search results and the property detail pages opens the calculate price pop up window. Within the calculate price pop up window, the original rent amount and a separate discount amount entry will display.
On the book it page, the original rent amount and a separate discount amount entry will display in the same manner as they do within the calculate price pop up window.
After creating a new reservation from the online search engine, the reservation confirmation page displays. The original rent amount and a separate discount amount entry will display on the reservation confirmation page.
When a reservation is created from the online search engine a reservation confirmation email is automatically sent to the guest. Within the reservation confirmation email the original rent amount and a separate discount amount entry will display.
Markup: Selecting the ‘Calculate Price’ button from the availability search results and the property detail pages opens the calculate price pop up window. Within the calculate price pop up window, the markup amount is added to the rent amount. If a property’s original rent amount is $1000 and a markup of $100 has been applied to the property, the rent amount will display as $1100.
The rent and markup sum amount will display in this manner on all pages of the online search engine. This includes the book it page, the reservation confirmation page, and within the reservation confirmation email.