A rate plan is a combination of rules that allows you to offer a mix of different rates, cancellation policies, and meal options to attract a wider variety of guests. This best practices article will offer tips on how to increase occupancy and revenue and provide our recommended setup if using auto payments.
Increase occupancy and revenue
To increase occupancy and revenue, Booking.com recommends combining the following three items in Guesty for the relevant listings, but a as general rule, it is recommended to combine at least two of them:
- A free cancellation rate plan
- A non-refundable rate plan
- Upcoming availability rules (learn more)
Note:
On average, Booking.com partners who activate all three of the above see a 5% increase in bookings, an 11% increase in visibility, and a 9% reduction in cancellations.
Avoid refund friction
When creating a rate plan, we recommend checking your auto payments to make sure you will have the money needed to refund the guest on time, if they cancel their reservation.
For listings that have a rate plan with a refundable cancellation policy, we recommend setting up auto payments to collect the entire payout or enough of it to cover the potential refund before the guest is eligible to receive that refund. Collecting payment at booking confirmation is the simplest solution, but you could also collect X days before check-in. In that case, we recommend collecting the payment at least one day before the guest is eligible to receive their refund.
Example: If the rate plan's cancellation policy says the guest gets a 50% refund when canceling 5 days (or less) before check-in, collect at least 50% of the reservation's total 6 days before check-in.
For listings that have a rate plan with a non-refundable cancellation policy, we recommend setting up auto payments to collect the entire payout or a percentage of it at booking confirmation, to secure the payment in advance and minimize potential loss if the guest cancels.
Refunds are never issued automatically in Guesty. You need to refund the guest manually if they cancel the reservation and are eligible for a refund. Stripe fees are still charged when the refund is made, even though revenue has not been generated from the reservation.