Hotel Revenue Management Glossary

A block of rooms set aside for a specific channel, group, or wholesaler at agreed rates and release terms.

Allotments are how hotels pre-commit inventory to tour operators, corporate accounts, or OTAs without overselling. Each comes with a release date - the cutoff after which unsold rooms return to general inventory. Watching wash on group allotments (the percent that never gets picked up) is one of the most overlooked levers in revenue.

The lowest unrestricted rate available to the public on a given night, used as the published benchmark across all channels.

BAR is the rate most consumers see first - and the rate parity contracts hold you to. BAR-by-day-of-week (BAR1, BAR2, etc.) creates fences that move with demand without breaking parity. A poorly managed BAR is the fastest way to leak margin to OTAs while losing direct bookings.

A pricing strategy where rates flex in real time based on demand, pace, comp-set rates, and lead time.

Dynamic pricing replaces static rate calendars with rules that respond to live demand signals. The goal isn't always higher rates - sometimes it's the discipline to hold a rate when the system says it should drop. Done well, it captures 5-15% more RevPAR; done blindly, it trains every customer to wait for the dip.

A discounted rate offered for non-refundable bookings made well in advance of arrival.

Early-bird rates lock in revenue early and lengthen the booking window - useful for new properties, off-season demand generation, and forecasting confidence. The discount typically runs 10-15% in exchange for a non-refundable, prepaid commitment. Be careful with cannibalization - every early-bird booking is a regular-rate booking that didn't happen.

Pricing rules that require a minimum number of nights to book, used to protect compression dates from one-night stays.

LOS restrictions ('MinLOS 3' on a Saturday during a sold-out concert weekend) push bookers to take Friday and Sunday too. Used surgically, they extend ALOS and lift weekend revenue. Used clumsily, they kill conversions and shove demand to the comp set. Test by day-of-week, not blanket weeks.

A rate priced below cost to attract bookings and recover margin through ancillary spend, repeat stays, or compression nights.

Loss leaders are dangerous. They train OTAs to prefer your hotel, train guests to expect the rate, and feed back into your STR average - depressing your benchmark. Use sparingly: a 2-night opening rate for a new property, a true off-season liquidation. Never as a habit.

A pricing structure that sets distinct base rates for business-driven mid-week and leisure-driven weekend nights.

Hotels with mixed transient demand price Mon-Wed lower (corporate) and Fri-Sun higher (leisure). Resorts and boutiques often invert it. The decision points: comp-set behavior, segment mix by day, and group displacement risk. Many properties leave 2-4% RevPAR on the table because they price by week, not by night.

A contractual obligation requiring a hotel to publish identical rates across all public channels for the same room and date.

Rate parity is the OTA's protection against being undercut. Most contracts require parity on public, unrestricted rates. Member rates, private channels, and corporate rates are typically exempt - the workaround most direct-booking strategies exploit. Break parity in public and the OTAs will downrank you, raise commission, or cancel.

Automated monitoring of comp-set rates across OTAs and brand sites to inform your own pricing decisions.

Rate shoppers - OTA Insight, Lighthouse Rate Insight, RateGain - pull comp-set rates every few hours across channels. The output feeds your dynamic pricing model and BAR-by-day-of-week strategy. Don't blindly match: shop intelligently. A comp drop that's 24 hours old is signal; one that's 4 weeks old is noise.

The transition period between peak and off-season - typically softer demand at compromised rates.

Shoulder periods are where bad pricing strategies get exposed. Discount too early and you cannibalize peak; hold rate too long and you sit empty. The shoulder is also where channel mix shifts - direct softens first, OTAs hold longer. Build a separate shoulder strategy, don't shoehorn peak rules.

The discipline of selling the right room to the right customer at the right price at the right time.

Yield management is the foundational philosophy hotel revenue management is built on. It's the umbrella over dynamic pricing, LOS restrictions, segment optimization, and channel mix decisions. Modern revenue management is yield management plus AI math - but the principles haven't changed since American Airlines invented the discipline in the 1980s.