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Help with stacking promotions

Hey Guys, am playing around with promotions right now. Here what I've added:

[Peak Months Promo] For the months of July, August and September (peak summer months), I've added a 20% non refundable discount promotion.

[Last Minute Promo] If check in date is within 21 days of the booking, then apply a 10% discount

[Last Minute Promo] If check in date is within 14 days of the booking, then apply a 5% discount

[Last Minute Promo] If check in date is within 7 days of the booking, then apply a 5% discount

My thinking is that I want these promotions to stack, so for example if the guest is booking with 1 week of check in, he should receive all the 'last minute' discounts of 10% 5% and 5% to make a total of 20% discount. 

However I just discovered the following in the partnerhelp pages:

"If you have multiple active promotions and a guest is eligible for more than one, the promotion with the highest discount will be offered."

So I'm guessing what I am trying to do won't work, as the original 'Peak months' promotion would simply override the other ones? Am I correct in this?

Thanks for you help

 


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AG Lodging 4 years ago

If there are different POLICIES, more than one prices will be displayed and the guest can choose. In your case, you have cheaper nonrefundable and a more expensive refundable offer.

We had a similar case and here is a answer fromm Booking support team:

> The reason both of the prices are showing is because they have two different policies. .
> Unfortunately because the policies are different it will list both prices. We apologize for
> any inconvenience this may cause. A good thing to note is that the lowest price will
> always show first when searching for properties.

As you see, guest will see both cheaper nonrefundable and a more expensive refundable one, but the cheaper will be shown first.

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David 4 years ago

Thanks AG. Are policies and promotions the same or are we talking about different things?

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AG Lodging 4 years ago

No, these are different things. However, when there are multiple promotions with different policies, guests can choose which one they want (in your case; cheaper nonrefundable or a more expensive refundable).

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fluff 4 years ago

Basically BDC does not stack promos.

To achieve what you want you will need to set up 3 last-minute promos and control them with the dates the guest can book them.

Sooooooo,

If booked a minimum of 1 day before 20%

If booked a minimum of 14 days before 15%

If booked a minimum of 21 days before 10%

You will also need to set a maximum date to fit your requirement.

Basically approaching your idea from the opposite end to make it fit.

This is also better for you as it avoids bookers leaving the booking to later in order to get the best discount that you needn't have given because they simply won't see the ones that don't apply. Instead only those rooms that you have not managed to sell until the enth hour will sell at the better/best discount, if you catch my drift.

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David 4 years ago

@Fluff

Thanks very much for your in depth answer and understanding of my question.

I can't seem to find the 'minimum of x days before' option, but I've made the below changes following your advice. Do you think this is correct?

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fluff 4 years ago

Apologies for leaving you in the lurch! I hope you have already sorted this because I lost track of your question.

Anyway, just in case you're still in limbo;

The amount of days bookable in advance comes up at the very beginning of setting up the offer as below.

Be aware this is asking how LONG (as apposed to SHORT) they can book in advance.

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David 4 years ago

@Fluff my turn to apologise for not responding!

I have set up the discounts as shown in the screenshot I posted above, and so far it seems to be working as I'm getting more last minute bookings and filling my empty nights. So great news.

However just today I got a booking where the guest receive a HUGE discount, because they apparently used their Genius rate PLUS an additional 10% for booking via mobile PLUS the 15% last minute (2 weeks) discount I set up.

Luckily its only for 1 night, and I've asked BDC to remove the mobile discount. I had no idea that the mobile 'opportunity' would stack with the Genius discount. Daylight robbery if you ask me!

FYI here's what it says in the booking confirmation:

Standard Rate, 15% - Last Minute 2 Weeks (Standard Rate -15%), Genius Rate 15% (Standard Rate -15%), APP Rate on Genius 15% (Standard Rate -10%)

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fluff 4 years ago

Yes! That's absolutely correct. It's the promotions you set yourself that are not stackable, maybe I could have been clearer on that but didn't think of it in view of your original question.

Mobile discount and Genius discount are overriding discounts that always come off whatever rate-with-your-promo you have set.

As I've said in other threads, I see no reason of benefit to us for having a mobile discount when we have these potential guests already. We have also ceased with Genius for 2 reasons;

1) The requirement for a booker to be a Genius member is pathetically low. In my view Genius should be reserved for GENUINE regular travellers, those who have at least 3 confirmed stays within a 12 month rolling period (they should also be obliged to review every establishment they go to).

2) in our experience the majority of cancellations/no-shows and troublesome guests came from the Genius system (not so other OTA member schemes).

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David 4 years ago

Yep, I find booking.com so convoluted versus the user friendliness of Airbnb. I guess its because they expect a more full time reservations employee to be managing it, instead of small time hosts like myself. However saying that, I get around 60% of my booking from BDC over Airbnb or Homeaway, so I can't really stop it.

Your assessment of the Genius is interesting. I think its a huge discount being offered (which we can't even change below the minimum), and the fact that BDC doesn't absorb any of the discount really is quite unfair. Here are my statistics of the genius program in the last year. Do you think its worth it for me?

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M Adamopoulou 4 years ago

Thanks guys...very helpful information. fluff your analysis and suggestions to David have been so helpful to me.

I have also joined Genius and PPP and offer promotions. I realised that some Genius guests get discounts more than 30-40%, my goodness at least it was for a few nights. I have noticed that promotions with extra free nights results to more discount so I have deactivated promotion with extra free nights.

Thanks David for this post...and wish you find what suits you best.