Why is there a difference between the reservation price in my PMS and in the channel?

Slight differences in reservation prices are normal and may sometimes happen. There are a lot of possible reasons to that and they are entirely dependent on the configuration you have - the PMS you are using and the channel you are receiving reservations from. Read the below article to get a better understanding of discrepancies in reservation prices.

Reasons for discrepancies

The most common reason for reservation discrepancies are delays in synchronization. It may happen that the prices change quite frequently in your PMS and they are not yet synchronized when a reservation is made. Moreover, even when prices get synchronized to Rentals United, not all channels quote us to confirm the prices right before the booking is made. Some channels just use the prices retrieved from us in the most recent synchronization run. We try to provide the most recent information on synchronization frequency for both PMSs and channels in PMS Integrations and Channel Integrations.

 

Another explanation price discrepancies is that channels have their own ways of calculating prices. Typically, channels receive from us all the booking price components separately and calculate the final reservation price based on the information and rules we provide. These components include (but are not limited to):

  • base price

  • fees and taxes

  • mark-up value

Additionally to that, the way how channels calculate the final price varies from channel to channel. Not all channels follow the same rules and not all the channels have the same capabilities. For example, you may have percentage taxes applied to some of the price components only while the channel may be able to apply a percentage tax to final reservation price. The price difference will be slight in this case.

 

Depending on how the channel works, it may include commission on top of the booking price. If you do not want to pay commission, you most probably are using the mark-up feature to increase the prices, so that the commission value is covered. Practically, if your rate is 100 USD and the channel commission is 10%, the channel takes 10 USD from this booking and the actual revenue for you is 90 USD. If you will mark up the prices by 10%. The price shared with the channel now is 110 USD now. The 10% booking commission is 11 USD and the actual revenue for you is 99 USD.

 

In the end, your PMS may not allow us to overwrite the reservation price for you. It means that you will always see the reservation price as it was set up in your PMS while guest typically books the price which is available at the moment of booking in the sales channel.

Avoiding discrepancies

If Rentals United cannot insert the actual prices into your PMS, the suggested solution is to apply the same reservation price calculation logic as the channel has. You need to reach out to your PMS and check if it is possible to create an alternative calculation logic. If it is, note that the logic will be different for each channel. You can break it down yourself based on the reservation price breakdown provided by the channel. Our Rentals United Support Team can also help you.

For example, below you can see the steps to follow to understand how reservation prices are calculated for and in Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy.

How to calculate reservation price for Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy:

  • Take the price from Rentals United (you can check it in Multicalendar)

  • Add the mark-up you set for Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy (note that mark-up is calculated on the rent value only)

  • Add fees and taxes

How to re-create the Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy logic:

  • Take the price from Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy

  • Deduct the channel commission

  • Deduct processing fee (calculated from rent, fees and taxes)

Note: The mark-up and commission may not be the same values!

If your PMS does not allow for alternative calculation logic, you need to update the reservation price manually in your PMS.