Availability Chart
Complete oversight of property inventory by date range in RMS.
Table of Contents
Key FeaturesNavigationView OptionsAvailability BreakdownViewing AvailabilityArea Availability vs Category AvailabilityBook by CategoryCategory OverbookingOversell AllotmentsQuick Reference GuideAdd ReservationThe Availability Chart provides complete oversight of property inventory the viewed date range.
Availability shown includes a physical area count as well as the category availability for the viewed date range with options to also show the rate or average daily rate (ADR).
Category availability shown will reflect any Category Overbooking, Oversell Allotments, Group Allotments, Channel Allotments, and Travel Agent Allotments based on the selected view.
An availability breakdown is displayed at the bottom of the Availability Chart with a summary of accommodation inventory booked, day use inventory booked, areas on maintenance, remaining available inventory, current occupancy percentage, and a total guest count.
The occupancy percentage shown is determined by the Occupancy Calculation Rule setup on the property to base occupancy calculations on individual category occupancy or the total property occupancy. The Occupancy Calculation Rule also includes the option to define if a maintenance reservation contributes to the calculation of occupied areas for reporting purposes. A maintenance reservation will always deduct from actual available inventory when determining if a reservation can be created in the category.
A reservation can be created directly from the Availability Chart for the selected dates with an option to open Quick Quote.
Navigation
Go to Charts > Availability Chart in the side menu of RMS or select the 'Availability Chart' icon in the Toolbar Menu.
Users with access to multiple properties on their Security Profile will be shown 'Initialisation Options' to make a property selection before the Availability Chart is loaded.
Select a date using the 'Calendar' icon or scroll the viewed date range using the and icons.
View Options
Go to Charts > Availability Chart in the side menu of RMS or select the 'Availability Chart' icon in the Toolbar Menu.
The 'Property' filter can be used to change which property is displayed.
The 'Availability Option' will determine which inventory is displayed and can be changed between 'Full Availability' or 'House Available'.
The 'Stats' filter can be used to limit viewed inventory to only include inventory based on the Area Statistics setting.
The preset 'Days' buttons can be used to change how many dates are displayed in a single view.
The 'Category Class' filter can be used to limit displayed categories to the selected Category Classifications and will show when active.
The 'Data Window' icon will toggle the display of the pop-up data window when hovering over a category or date and will show when active.
The 'Attributes' filter can be used to limit the displayed categories based on property, category, or area attributes and will show when actively filtered.
The 'Options' icon includes additional view options to change the information displayed on the Availability Chart and will be individual to the current user.
Availability Chart Options include the ability to customise the number of days displayed, the number of categories displayed, and the width of the category name column to accommodate longer or shorter category descriptions.
Additional options enable changing the Availability Chart to include a Special Events row, display the rate with availability, include a cell breakdown for displayed inventory, or show the average daily rate.
The Special Events row will display at the top of the Availability Chart and show any existing Special Events at the property with the ability to add, edit, or delete a Special Event.
The 'Show Rate' option will change each category row to be expandable to display the available rate types and rate amounts for that category.
The 'Show Cell Breakdown' option changes the Availability Chart to include a count of quote reservations, unconfirmed reservations, confirmed reservations, and available inventory per date.
The 'Show ADR' option will add a new row to the availability breakdown that displays the average daily rate for all reservations across the property per day.
Availability Breakdown
The Availability Breakdown is displayed at the bottom of the Availability Chart to provide a summary of information for the viewed dates.
The 'Booked', 'Day Use', and 'Maintenance' rows display a count of reservations for accommodation, day use categories, and maintenance per date.
The 'Available' row displays the total available inventory for the date and will reflect any allotments, category overbooking, and oversell allotments based on the selected view of 'Full Availability' or 'House Available'.
The 'Occupancy' row shows the occupancy percentage per date using the Occupancy Calculation Rule set at the property.
When enabled in the Availability Chart Options the 'Average Daily Rate' row will display a calculated average rate per date using existing reservations.
The 'Pax' row will show the total count of guests on all accommodation reservations and/or the total pax on event reservations.
Viewing Availability
The Availability Chart uses category availability and will display inventory differently based on the the category setup, use of allotments, the view selected, and whether or not overbooking is enabled.
Category availability uses the collective inventory in a category to determine the number of reservations that could be created on the date viewed. Area availability represents the physical vacancy of individual areas and can be viewed on the Booking Chart.
The 'Full Availability' view option will show the maximum inventory capacity including any Oversell Allotments less existing reservations and maintenance reservations. 'Full Availability' includes inventory from any guaranteed allotments.
'House Available' deducts any guaranteed allotments from the 'Full Availability' to only show the capacity available without restriction. As guaranteed allotments are released the 'House Available' figures may rise without any changes to 'Full Availability'.
Area Availability vs Category Availability
Area availability represents the physical vacancy of individual areas whilst category availability uses the collective inventory in a category to determine the number of reservations that could be created on the date viewed.
The Availability Chart, Rate Manager, Book by Category, and connected online channels including the RMS Internet Booking Engine all use category availability. The Booking Chart is a visual representation of area availability based on allocated reservations.
Aligning area availability with category availability when not using Book by Category maximises the availability of individual areas for multi-night reservations, improving occupancy opportunities. Not aligning area availability with category availability can prevent a reservation being saved due to the area allocations on existing reservations.
The below example demonstrates the difference between area availability and category availability and how to bring them into alignment.
Example
The category availability for the Acacia Cabin on the 1st - 5th June shows as '1' on the Availability Chart.
Viewing the individual area availability on the Booking Chart for this category there is no single area available across the date range.
Moving reservations on the Booking Chart to close gaps and increase individual area availability will ensure that new reservations can be created for multiple dates with an area assigned at the time of reservation creation.
The area availability now matches the category availability, maximising occupancy opportunities.
Book by Category
Book by Category enables creating a reservation without an area assigned using the category availability.
Areas can be allocated any time between initial reservation creation up to reservation arrival.
Area allocation closer to reservation arrival will automatically reduce the occurrence of area availability and category availability being out of sync as shown in the above example.
Book by Category includes the ability to allow Category Overbooking and use Oversell Allotments with category availability displayed differently based on the options used.
Category Overbooking
Category availability on the Availability Chart when using Category Overbooking will be different to only using Book by Category or Oversell Allotments.
The total number of physical areas in a category is shown next to the category description and will always match the maximum number of availability shown for the category.
When the number of reservations in the category matches the number of physical areas in the category or a Stop Sell is applied the availability will show as '0'.
Any overbookings in the category will be shown as a negative value to indicate the number of reservations beyond the physical capacity of the category.
If 'Do Not Overbook Property' is enabled the total number of reservations at the property and the maximum number of reservations shown in the 'Booked' row can be expected to not exceed the total count of physical areas at the property.
If Property Overbooking is enabled the number of reservations shown in the 'Booked' row can be expected to increase above the total count of physical areas at the property by the number of excess reservations up to the overbooking limits set.
If using Maximum Property Oversell to limit the number of reservations above the physical capacity at the property the maximum number of reservations and the highest value to be expected in the 'Booked' row would be the total count of physical areas plus the Maximum Property Oversell value set.
If the Maximum Property Oversell limit is less than the sum of the Category Overbooking limits the category availability shown will reflect the remaining number of reservations in the category until the property overbooking limit is reached and sets them all to '0'.
Oversell Allotments
Category availability shown on the Availability Chart when using Oversell Allotments reflects the remaining number of reservations that could be made in the category for the viewed date.
This is different to the way category availability is displayed when only using Category Overbooking or Book by Category.
The Oversell Allotment will increase the category availability to the limit set resulting in an availability number that is higher than the physical area count shown next to the category description.
Reservations created in the category will deduct from this increased inventory counting down to '0'.
When availability reaches zero this indicates that all available inventory including any Oversell Allotments have been used for that date.
Quick Reference Guide
Category Availability |
Area Availability |
Book by Category |
Category Overbooking |
Oversell Allotments |
---|---|---|---|---|
Maximum Availability |
Category availability matches the total physical area count. | Category availability matches the total physical area count. | Category availability matches the total physical area count. | Category availability is the total physical area count plus any oversell allotment value set. |
Remaining Availability |
Matches the remaining physical areas. Area allocation may need changing on reservations to make continuous availability in one area. |
Remaining category availability. | Remaining category availability. | Remaining number of reservations that can be made in the category. |
'0' Availability |
Total number of reservations matches the physical area count. or A stop sell exists. |
Total number of reservations matches the physical area count. or A stop sell exists. |
Total number of reservations matches the physical area count. or A stop sell exists. |
No more reservations can be made in the category. |
Overbooking |
N/A | N/A | Shows category availability as a negative value for each reservation beyond the physical capacity. | Included in countdown to '0'. |
Add Reservation
- Go to Charts > Availability Chart in the side menu of RMS.
- Select a Property.
- Select an Availability View.
- Select a Date.
- Click and draw across Category Dates.
- Select 'Add Reservation' or 'Add Quote Reservation'.
- Enter the Guest Details.
- Select and enter the Reservation Details.
- Save/Exit.
Go to Charts > Availability Chart in the side menu of RMS.
Select a Property.
Select an Availability View.
Select a Date.
Click and draw across Category Dates.
Select 'Add Reservation' or 'Quote Reservation'.
Enter the Guest Details.
Select and enter the Reservation Details.
Select the 'Save/Exit' icon to create the reservation and return to the Availability Chart.
Changes to availability for a new reservation saved in 'Unconfirmed' or 'Confirmed' status will be reflected on the Availability Chart.