NightsBridge V6 Tutorials

Common NightsBridge terms and definitions

This is a list of industry terms and how we use them at NightsBridge. It also contains some words we use frequently at NightsBridge and in our articles.  

Term How we use the term at NightsBridge
Corporate or meal allowances
  • Corporate allowance are additional meal options that a corporate agent can include in a booking.
  • Corporate allowance are paid for by the company on whose behalf the agent is making the booking. 
  • The property will indicate on NightsBridge when being set up which meal offerings they can provide for corporate guests.
  • Meal allowances can include breakfast, lunch or dinner options.
Extras
  • Extras are offerings a property makes available to guests, in addition to the room they are booking. 
  • These optional extras are provided to guests, to upsell their experience and for the property to earn extra revenue. 
  • Extras are booked separately from the room. This makes extras different from packages.
Extranet
  • An extranet is a type of connection we have with the large international sites, where we push updates for their rates and availability to them. We use their APIs (Application Programming Interface), so that their database can be updated with the latest information. 
  • Local sites ask NightsBridge for live rates and availability whereas extranets reference their own database. 
Override rate
  • An override rate allows you to change your rates by a fixed amount.  It overrides your standard rates for that particular room type and period.

Package

  • A package deal is where you give the guest extras with their booking to increase the value offering for the guest.
  • A package can also be used for a fixed amount of nights deal e.g. stay for 3 days and pay for 2.
Rack
  • Rack is your standard rate sheet that you make available to the general public.
  • This rate should include a 15% channel commission as the channels take their commission off the rates that you send them.
Rate discount
  • A rate discount allows you to decrease or increase your rates by a certain percentage.
  • You can add extra criteria to your rate discounts e.g. early bird/last minute lead times, minimum length of stay and a promotion code.
Rate sheet
  • A rate sheet is the set of rates that you have for your room types and meal plans, across different seasons throughout the year. 

Special

  • A special is a way to offer a better value for money deal to the guests and attract guests to book your property.  
  • On the NightsBridge booking form, the specials are aimed at increasing conversion for direct bookings.
  • Specials can either be package deals or discounted rates.
Standard Tour Operator (STO) Rates
  • Standard Tour Operator (STO) rates are a different set of rates that you agree with a particular company/agent/operator and are not available to the general public.
  • These rates are generally lower than your standard rates as they exclude the commission that you agreed with the company/agent/operator.
  • When the company/agent/operator books with the property, they would include their commission in the booking total, when they invoice the guest. The property will invoice the company/agent/operator their nett rates (standard rates less commission), and will be paid this amount.
  • At NightsBridge, we also use also use the term "STO" to describe the way you apply different rules for specific channels through rate sheets. These can include different rates, currency, meal plans and room types, cancellation policies and close outs.
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