Overview

Direct booking controls allow you to sell your direct booking rates by setting restrictions, like date ranges and discounts, which only apply to your booking engine.

Direct booking controls

Applicable dates

This defines the stay period during which your rate plan can be booked on your booking engine:

Create date-specific promotions (holidays, events, seasons)
Set multiple date ranges with day-of-week options
Include exclusion periods for blackout dates

Example: For Valentine's Day, restrict bookings to stays on February 14th or allow check-ins on that day with longer stays.

Advertised dates

This period determines when your rate plan is visible on your direct booking engine:

Set the selling window for special promotions
Configure multiple booking periods with day-of-week options
Exclude specific periods from availability

Example: Make your Valentine's promotion bookable from January 1st to February 14th only.

Maximum advance booking dates

Limit how far in advance rates can be booked:

Create last-minute deals with short booking windows
Set longer advance periods for standard rates
Complement minimum advance booking periods (release periods)

Example: Set "2 days before check-in" for last-minute deals and "90 days before check-in" for standard bookings.

Dynamic discounts

Automate discounts based on booking criteria:

Length of stay discounts to encourage longer stays
Package deals to boost average booking value
Stay-pay deals (e.g., stay 3 nights, pay for 2)

Highlight rate plans on your booking engine

The Highlight rate plan on direct booking engine option lets you display your best rate plans and their inclusions and discounts at the top of your booking engine, helping to attract more direct bookings.

Restrict rates to mobile devices

You can offer direct booking promotions exclusively to mobile users by enabling the Restrict rate to mobile device toggle. This allows you to set up mobile-only rate plans for your booking engine.

Restrict rate to a promotion code

To show a rate only with a promotion code, enable the Restrict rate toggle when editing a direct booking rate. This allows you to create exclusive offers. If the toggle is disabled, the rate will be visible on your booking engine.

Before enabling the toggle, you will need to create a promotion code and assign it to this rate plan.