1. Cloudbeds
  2. PIE - Price Intelligence Engine
  3. PIE Rate Management

Create, edit or delete occupancy-based rules/alerts in PIE

Juss Reyes
Updated

Overview

Occupancy-based rules are triggered by changes in occupancy and affect your daily rates. PIE also allows you to set a rule to suggest price changes, which must be manually accepted or will automatically change your prices based on the parameters set in the rule.

This article explains how to create, edit, or delete occupancy-based rules/alerts and includes important information to keep in mind when managing them.

Learn more about Rules and Alerts.

Important considerations

  • When an occupancy rule is created, the change can be applied to the dates that already meet the conditions specified in the rule (i.,e if a rule is set to increase the price by $10 when occupancy is >30%, the user can select whether he wants all dates that are already above 30% to increase or not)
  • If the occupancy rule is triggered, the room rate is changed, then if the occupancy drops back to unsatisfying condition. The price will revert back to the original amount (reverting rules always happen in the opposite order from how they were applied, according to the current occupancy state)
    • If the rule is set to be applied automatically - It will be reverted automatically
    • If the rule is set to be applied manually - The system will suggest to revert it back manually
  • If a rule has applied a rate change and the user wants to revert it back (occupancy still satisfies the rule condition), there is no setting to revert the rate back to the original value. Update the rate manually via the Rate manager in PIE or in the Cloudbeds Calendar/Availability Matrix (check the original rate in the Activity log)
  • Any time your occupancy changes, this type of rule can be triggered. The following actions may trigger an occupancy rule: reservation created/modified/canceled/deleted; accommodation type added/removed; quantity of rooms modified; rooms linked/unlinked, or changed via Shared Inventory.
  • The occupancy rate percentage is calculated considering the number of rooms occupied and the total number of rooms in the property inventory; minus the blocked rooms and the rooms that are currently out of service. The formula to calculate this percentage is:

Hotel's Occupancy Percentage =
Number of Rooms Occupied / (Total Number of Rooms - Blocked room - Total Out of Service ) *100

  • Note that the calendar occupancy also considers calendar blocks (blocked dates, out-of-service, and courtesy holds)

Manage occupancy-based rules/alerts

Create an occupancy-based rule

Step 1 - Set your price limits

  • Before you create a rule, set your lowest and highest price limits on the Rules and Alerts page.
  • Setting min/max limits prevents the system from recommending/applying prices outside of the selected parameters.
  • You will not be able to create an automated rule before these parameters are configured.
  1. In the PIE section of your Main Menu Main menu icon.png, click on the Rules and Alerts page and click on Edit to set your price limits.
  2. Edit your Master Price Limits. You can also add your price limits per accommodation type (optional)
  3. Save

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Step 2 - Create the new rule

  1. Scroll down in the same Rules and Alerts page and click on +Create new Rule/Alert.

 

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Step 3 - Add the rule/alert details

  1. Select Occupancy-based Rule/Alert in the Type drop-down menu
  2. Set a rule name
  3. Select whether the rule should be applied:
    • Overall occupancy - The rule will be triggered when overall occupancy reaches a certain number. Rate changes will be applied to all accommodations
    • Individual room type occupancy - The rule will be triggered when the selected accommodation(s) individual occupancy reaches a certain number. Rate changes will be applied only to the selected accommodation(s)
    • Combined room type occupancy - The rule will be triggered when the selected accommodation(s) combined occupancy reaches a certain number. Rate changes will be applied only to the selected accommodation(s)
  4. Select the applicable parameters
  5. Click to Save

Occupancy-based rule example

  • If you are creating an occupancy-based rule to trigger a rate increase when the occupancy is over 50%, you may want this rule to apply only for dates that are further than a week out rather than increasing tomorrow's rate when only at 50% occupancy.
  • To do this, you can specify to only apply this rule from 7 days out.

 

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Step 4 - Rule rounding, schedule, and activation

  1. Rounding (optional): Enter a value for rounding that will ensure that the resulting rates are consistent with your current pricing structure. 

    For example, entering 9 will result in your recommended/updated rates ending with 9 (i.e., $89, $99, $109, etc.). Entering 00 will result in the following pricing structure: 1100, 1200, 1300, etc. Once you enter the value in the Round to nearest field, you will immediately see an example of your prices.

    ⚠️ Important: The system will round to the nearest "lowest" option. This way, users can decide what range they prefer to use to round the rates. Example: If the rounding value is .49, and the current rate drops to 28.25, the system will not round this to 28.49 but to 27.49, dropping the rate every time.
  2. Schedule: Select to have the rule always active or running on a specific schedule If you select Specific date range, you will need to select start and end dates as well as days of the week when the rule will be active. Add several date ranges if needed
  3. Activation: Select to require manual confirmation of the rule (you will need to manually confirm each rate change on Rate Manager) or automatically apply the rule (allow the system to make rate changes immediately when the rule is triggered)
  4. Remember to save your parameters
  • By selecting the Automatically Apply Rule option, you give the system permission to make automatic rate changes based on your parameters.

  • If there are dates with occupancy that already meet the condition set in the rule, the system will allow the user to choose whether to apply the rule to these dates.

  • It is not possible to include accommodation types that are linked together in the Rules and Alerts. The system will ask you to change the selection and review your Shared Inventory settings.

Edit an occupancy-based rule
  1. Access the Rules and Alerts page
  2. Find the desired rule and click on the Edit Pencil icon.png option
  3. Make necessary changes in the corresponding sections
  4. Save

 

Delete an occupancy-based rule/alert
  1. Go to the Rules and Alerts page
  2. Click on the Delete ❌ icon
  3. Click on Delete to confirm the removal

 

Frequently asked questions

How to change the mode from manual to auto for an existing occupancy-based rule?
  1. Access Rules and Alerts page
  2. Find the desired rule and click on Edit Pencil icon.png, as described in Editing an occupancy-based rule section. This will open the modal with the Rule details.
  3. Scroll down to the Activation section and select Automatically apply rule
  4. Click Save

  • If there are any current pending price recommendations that were previously generated by this rule, you will see a popup notification. To apply those recommendations, click Apply. Otherwise, click Remove. This will delete all existing pending suggestions.

  • Remember: By selecting this automatic option, you are giving the system permission to make automatic rate changes based on your parameters.

What happens once the occupancy-based rule is triggered?

Once an automated rule is triggered:

  • The system will update the prices for you, based on the parameters specified in the rule settings (including rounding and min/max price limits).
  • You are allowed to create any combination of occupancy rules. For example:
    • You are able to create an occupancy rule to Raise the rate by $ 15.00 when occupancy is greater than 30.00 %, which would be applied to all dates.
    • An occupancy rule to Lower the rate by $ 15.00 when occupancy is less than 40.00 % can be applied within 5 days.
  • Rules are triggered according to the direction of occupancy.
  • If more than 1 rule is to be triggered at the same time, decreasing rules go first.

The same applies to the process of reverting an occupancy rule:

  • Rules are reverted according to the direction of occupancy.
  • If there’s more than 1 rule to be reverted at the same time, then they’re reverted according to the order of their trigger.

Once a manual rule is triggered:

  • On the Rate Manager calendar view, you will see a notification with the suggested price change.
  • You can approve or deny the suggestion based on your preferences/pricing strategy.
  • Click on the cell above the alert to open the Accommodation details window. Here, you may also apply or deny the rule or make additional modifications to the prices or stay restrictions.
  • Filter out occupancy-based rules triggered/applied during a specific date range in the Rate Manager list view, and accept or deny it accordingly.
  • Once a rule is applied, the price can't be reverted back in one click. Manually update the price from the Rate Manager/Calendar/Availability Matrix to the desired value.
  • If the occupancy rule is triggered (the room rate is changed), then if the occupancy drops back to unsatisfying condition, the price will revert back to the original amount (reverting rules always happen in the opposite order from how they were applied, according to the current occupancy state)
    • If the rule is set to be applied automatically > It will be reverted automatically
    • If the rule is set to be applied manually > The system will suggest reverting it back manually.
How does the system calculate the price if there are several rules created for one room type?

The occupancy-based rule is working on an accumulative basis. That means that the rate will be increased/decreased based on the current room rate for the current date

Example:

  • 2 rules are created for today: To increase the rate by 5.00 if the occupancy is greater than 60%, to increase the rate by 10.00 when the occupancy is greater than 80%.
  • The base rate is 100.00 for today.

Case 1 (if the rules are approved automatically):

  • Occupancy reaches 61% - the system will increase the rate to 105.00 (current rate 100.00 + 5.00).
  • When the occupancy reaches 81% - the system will increase the rate to 115.00 (current rate 105.00 + 10.00)

Case 2 (if the rules are approved manually):

  • Occupancy reaches 61% - the system triggers the rule and suggests approving the new price - 105.00 (current rate 100.00 + 5.00).
  • The user denies this rule or ignores it.
  • The room rate remains 100.00.
  • Then the occupancy reaches 81%.
  • The system triggers a new rule and suggests increasing the price to 110.00 (current rate 100.00 + 10.00)
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