Industry Dictionary

Channel Manager → A software that allows for distribution of hotels/apartments/ B&B's and other type of accommodation onto websites (channels) where the traveller can book.

 

PMS → Property Management System. A computerised system/software that facilitates the management of properties, equipment, legalities, personnel and calendars. This includes bookings, client, communications, accounting calendars prices, statistics property information and more.

 

iCal  is a media type which allows users to store and exchange calendaring and scheduling information such as events, to-dos, journal entries, and free/busy information.

 

One-way Communication → One-way communication is linear and limited because it occurs in a straight line from sender to receiver and serves to inform, persuade or command.

 

Two-way Communication → Two-way communication always includes feedback from the receiver to the sender and lets the sender know the message has been received accurately.

 

Static Content → Suitable for the contents that never or rarely need to be updated. Such as descriptions, size, location and images.

 

Dynamic Content → Is content that changes based on user access time, user preferences, and personal information. This includes availability and pricing.

 

Pay per ModelPay-per-sale or PPS (sometimes referred to as cost-per-sale or CPS) is an online advertisement pricing system where the publisher or website owner is paid on the basis of the number of sales that are directly generated by an advertisement. It is a variant of the CPA (cost per action) model, where the advertiser pays the publisher and/or website owner in proportion to the number of actions committed by the readers or visitors to the website.

 

Push Channel →  Pushing means adding information yourself and being the one who provides the information. Basically a request that sends information to the RU XML API.

When a Sales Channel is a push channel, it means we push information to them. This makes them independent from us.

 

Pull Channel → Pulling means that you get the information yourself from someone. A request that gets information from the RU XML API.

When a Sales Channel is a pull channel, it means they pull from us. This means they rely on us.

 

Push PMS → The PMS dictates what they want in RU. They define what the property looks like, the prices and the availability, but they also retrieve reservations from RU. Manual changes are either impossible, or overwritten by the PMS. Any changes originate from the PMS. PMS also has to get reservations from us.

 

Pull PMS → The PMS has properties that we take from them. We take as much information about properties as possible from them. If something is not provided by the pull PMS, we use some default values that we have established as neutral. We send relevant changes instantly, but pull information once every hour.

 

XML → It stands for "Extensible Markup Language" which builds web pages.

 

HA-XML → It's the standard format created by HomeAway for receiving listings from Property Managers and Property Management Software Companies.

 

APIAn application-programming interface (API) is a set of programming instructions and standards for accessing a Web-based software application or Web tool. A software company releases its API to the public so that other software developers can design products that are powered by its service.

 

Integration → When you enable a connection, or the communication between RU's API, or the API of the PM is completed.  

 

Scale-up (mark up) → It's a percentage you can add on top of your rates which RU will add before pushing the net rates to the channels. When clients want to receive their full net amount. Basically the amount added by a seller to the cost of a commodity to cover expenses and profit in fixing the selling price.

 

Scale-down → A reduction in price, usually to encourage buying.

 

Down Payment → Commitment payment, pre-payment.

 

Rack Rates →  Terms used in the hotel industry to describe the cost to a customer that request accommodations for the same day without prior booking arrangements . The rack rate price tends to be more expensive than the rate that the customer could have received if he/she used a travel agency or third-party service. Rack rates can vary based on the day that the room is requested.

 

BAR RatesBAR stands for Best Available Rate which is the lowest rate of the day that is available for guests to book. The BAR rates are available to the general public, does not require pre-payment and does not impose cancellation or change penalties and/or fees, other than those imposed as a result of a hotel property's normal cancellation policy.

 

Net Rates →  The Net Rate is the price without the commission of the travel agent. The distributor can mark-up this price with the margin he wishes to make, or an amount which is contractually agreed. Hotel distribution partners which typically work with net room rates are: Merchant Model OTA. Wholesalers.

 

Rate Parity →  Maintaining consistent rates for the same product in all online distribution channels – Expedia, Booking.com, Airbnb, etc. – regardless of what commission the OTA makes.

 

PCI compliance  → Payment card industry compliance; is adherent to a set of specific security standards that were developed to protect card information during and after a financial transaction. PCI compliance is required by all card brands.

 

PTBA → It stands for “Preparation Time Before Arrival”. The minimum number of days in advance a booking has to be made. Allows Property Managers to have better control on last minute bookings in order to be able prepare property for guest’s arrival.

 

Mapping → Mapping is a process on which you connect an already existing property in an HRS to one of your Rentals United listings. With this connection method, we only synchronise daily rates, availability and minimum stay.

 

HRS → Hotel Reservation Sites. These sites include Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda, etc., and specialise in selling inventory in mass. Guests may not always know exactly which property they are staying in as they do not book a specific room.

 

VRS → Vacation Rentals Sites. These sites include Misterb&b, LaComunity, Airbnb, etc. and they specialise in selling specific inventory. Guests should always know exactly what property they will be staying in.

 

One-Way Connection → Rentals United provide the listing information to the channel, however they do not return feedback about reservations.

 

Two-Way Connection → We provide information about the listings and the channel returns all reservations, synchronising them with Rentals United, including any change in booking status. All the sales channels connected to Rentals United use this connection method.

 

Pricing Tool/Engine → A system (PriceLabs, Beyond Pricing) that analyses many factors to optimise your pricing in your given market, listing type, or location. For example, if you list a studio in Barcelona at 20EUR, the pricing engine will analyse all studios in Barcelona and increase or decrease your price to make it more competitive.

 

LOS Pricing → Length of Stay Pricing. Pricing that takes into account the amount of days booked and then provides a certain price for those days. This can be used to create discount in cases where the longer the guest stays, the cheaper it is per night.

 

Multi-Unit → Multi-unit is a set of indistinguishable properties. The decision of which specific property will be rented lies in the hands of the property owner. A good example of a multi-unit property is a set of identical hotel rooms.

 

Assigned/Advertiser ID → This is a 6 digit number assigned to each account created in Rentals United account. This number can also be used to link your HomeAway connection by providing the ID with the account currency, eg. rentalsunited_000000_EUR.

 

Changeover days → Implementing this setting allows you to select days of the week on which guests can never check-in or check-out.

 

Weekend Pricing → Weekend pricing allows you to add different price per night for Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

 

Stripe → The Payment processor that is fully integrated with Rentals United allowing clients to charge their guest’s credit card details.

 

‘Book Now’ Feature → This features allows your guests to book with you directly using our optimised and mobile friendly "book now" pages.



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