What is a release period?
A release period sets the minimum number of days before check-in that a booking must be made. This restriction requires guests to book a certain number of days in advance, such as seven days or one month before their stay. This is also known as an ‘advance purchase’ restriction or ‘minimum advance reservation’ restriction.
Common use cases:
Setting discounted rates (non-refundable rates or early-bird discounts) that must be booked a specific number of days in advance (example: 30 days an advance)
Managing last minute reservations by requiring at least one day’s notice
Controlling same-day bookings through a release period or the channel extranet settings
Managing same-day bookings for any direct booking rates
Setting a release period
When you set a release period on a rate plan, it applies to all associated room rates and channel rates.
Navigate to Rooms and rates
Edit an existing rate plan or create a new one
In the Release period field, enter the minimum number of advance booking days (1-180)
Overriding release periods
You can override the release period for specific room rates or channel rates:
Navigate to Rooms and rates
Locate the room rate or channel rate
Click the lock icon next to the Release period field
Enter the new value to override the rate plan or room rate value
Monitoring release periods
To check if a rate is within the release period (unavailable for booking):
Navigate to Distribution > Inventory
Look for cells highlighted in orange
These indicate dates where the rate cannot be booked due to the minimum advance booking restriction
For example, if a rate has a minimum advance booking restriction of 2 days, today and tomorrow’s cells will appear orange