In this chapter, we're talking about Rate Types! We know from research and client feedback that having at least two years of published rates is the best. The act of "extending" your rate calendar is simply adding pricing for dates in the future. This is something that will need to be done regularly, because pricing doesn't get added onto the calendar on it's own. You can set pricing up to 6 years into the future, but it's difficult to predict what your pricing should be more than 2 years out.
Task: Program three months of pricing at the end of your calendar every three months. We highly recommend you put a reminder on your calendar so this is completed.
In ThinkReservations, pricing and availability go hand-in-hand. If you have 21 months of pricing set, then you have 21 months of availability. As you add pricing for more months - say, an additional 3 months - you'll extend availability to 24 months. However, since the calendar moves forward daily, you'll return to 21 months of availability after 3 months unless additional pricing is added.
Setting three months of pricing every three months is a great balance of the amount of work and the frequency of the work. If you feel that extending your calendar four times a year is too far apart for you to remember the process, you can simply perform the steps more frequently. The good news is that if you do it monthly, for example, then you would only need to set a month's worth of rates. Truly it's up to you how often, as long as you understand your role in maintaining the calendar and how far out you need to book guests.
High-level overview:
Navigate to Settings > Rate Types > click on a "base rate" to update.
Click on the "Rates & Restrictions" tab near the top to get to the edit rate calendar.
Jump to a date in the future when your pricing ends. You will see a double dash -- where there is no pricing yet set.
Set rates:
Manually using your keyboard and mouse (like a spreadsheet)
Using the Copy tool
Using the Modify tool
By downloading/uploading a spreadsheet
Save your changes after you visually inspect your changes.
Next: Chapter 9