How to Map and Manage Room Rates in SiteMinder Channel Manager

Topics Covered:

1. Map your rate to a PMS
2. Map your rate to a channel
3. Map your rate to multiple rates of a channel
4. Disconnect your rate from a channel
5. Enable mapped rates with status "Updates Disabled"

---

Important Note:

Before you start mapping a rate to a channel, ensure that the rate is already added in:

1. The extranet of the channel.
2. Your Property Management System (PMS), if applicable.

---

1. Map Your Rate to a PMS

If you do not have a PMS connection, you can skip to the next section, "Map Your Rate to a Channel". If you do have a PMS, you must map the rate to your PMS before mapping it to a channel.

Steps to map a rate to a PMS:

1. Click on Distribution > Connectivities, then click on the name of your connected system.
2. Click on Rooms and Rates Mappings
3. Under the Mapping status, click on Unmapped to see all rates which needs to be mapped 
4. Click on Map to [PMS name] and enter the required codes:
   • Room Code and Inventory Code: These codes always are the same
   • Rate Code: This code is different from the room and inventory codes.
     
     Please make sure, that when you have already added these codes in your PMS, there are entered here the same. Otherwise updates will not come through and reservations can't be delivered or will result in unnecessary error messages.
     
     If you have not entered these codes in your PMS, then add them in your PMS the same way or send them to your PMS provider, so they can enter the codes for you.
5. After entering the codes, click Save.
6. Once the codes are entered in Siteminder and in your PMS, send updates with the latest rates, restrictions and availability. When the update is succesfull, you can check if all information has gone through correctly under Distribution > Inventory.

Note: When no channels are mapped to a rate, then the Inventory will only show the rates at first, after the updates are send. Restrictions of the rate will only show under Inventory, when 1 or more channels are mapped with this rate.
The advise is (if possible) to map all channels where you want to sell this rate, before sending the first update from your PMS. Then you can check all information send at once.

Important: To help avoid overbookings or missed reservations, ensure that all of your rates are mapped with your PMS, RMS or CRS under Distribution > Connectivities.

If there are still unmapped rates:

• Availability, rate and restriction updates send from your PMS, RMS or CRS, will not be sent to Siteminder Channel Manager or to your connected channels and vice versa.
• If a unmapped rate is booked via a connected channel, the reservation will not be sent throught to your PMS, RMS or CRS.
   

---

2. Map Your Rate to a Channel

Before mapping your rates to a channel, please ensure that the rate is added and activated in your system, your channel manager and at the channel. To map a rate to a channel:

1. Go to Distribution > Channels
2. Under My Channels, click on the 3 dots and select Edit room rates mapping or directly click on 0 mapped
   
   If the channel you want to map a rate with, doesn't show under My Channels, then the channel needs to be connected first, before you can start mapping the rate(s).
   To connect the channel, you go to Distribution > Channels > All Channels. Search for the channel and click on '>' at the channel you want to connect. Follow the steps and enter the details which are requested. After the connection is succesfull, you will find the channel under My Channels.
   
   Please make sure, that the connected channel, has made a connection with Siteminder in their extranet. If this is not done yet in their extranet, it won't be possible to map rates.
   
   
3. Under Mapping status, select Unmapped
4. Under Start updating channel, select Yes, when you directly want to send updates to the channel for this rate, once it is mapped.
5. Under Mapped to, from the drop down list, select the channel rate which you want the map with your rate in Siteminder. After you have selected the channel rate, below this rate you will see, what (rates, availability and restrictions) will be send to the channel. When marked green, those details will be send to the channel, the ones marked red, are not going to be send to the channel.
6. Click on Save to finalize the mapping. Repeat the above steps, till all rates are mapped to the channel.
7. Once all rates are mapped, under Mapping Status, select Mapped and review if all rates are mapped correctly. Under Distribution > Inventory you can check if availability, rates and restrictions are correctly loaded for this rate. When this is not correct yet, send an update from your PMS, RMS or CRS, to get the latest information loaded. When all is loaded correctly, you can enable the channel (only applicable when adding a new channel).
8. To enable the channel, go to Distribution > Channels > My channels. Click on the 3 dots, select Update channel settings and click on the button Enable the connection to [channel name]. Updates will now be sent from the channel manager to the channel.

Please Note:

• The room rate pricing in the inventory grid will be applied to each channel by default.
• Restrictions are not automatically set when connecting a room rate to a new channel, so ensure these are updated either through the PMS or manually.

---

3. Map Your Rate to Multiple Rates of a Channel

In some cases, a single rate in your channel manager may need to be mapped to multiple rates from the same channel. This is common with channels like Expedia or when using special packages or corporate rates.

Steps:

1. Go to Distribution > Channels
2. Under My Channels, click on the 3 dots and select Edit room rates mapping 
3. Under Mapping Status, select Mapped
4. Click on the rate under Channel manager rate and click on click Map to [Channel Name]
5. Under Start updating channel, select Yes, when you directly want to send updates to the channel for this rate, once it is mapped.
6. Under Mapped to, from the drop down list, select the channel rate which you want the map with your rate in Siteminder.
7. Click on Save to finalize the mapping. Now you will see that 2 rates of the channel are mapped

Repeat these steps for each additional rate you need to map to the same channel manager rate.

---

4. Disconnect Your Rate from a Channel

When disconnecting a rate from a channel:

• The rate will no longer be mapped and the channel will no longer receive updates for that rate, but remains active on the channel. First remove the rate from the extranet of the channel, before disconnecting the rate in the channel manager.
  Keep in mind that until the rate is deleted in the channel's extranet, it still can be booked by the channel which can result in overbookings.

Steps to disconnect a rate:

1. Go to Distribution > Channels section in the menu and select the channel (e.g., Hoteliers.com).
2. Under My Channels, click on the 3 dots and select Edit room rates mapping 
3. Under Mapping Status, select Mapped
4. Click on the channel rate and select Disconnect from channel
5. A warning message will appear, click on the Disconnect button to complete the disconnection.

---

5. Enable Mapped Rates with Status "Updates Disabled"

Sometimes, when updates are sent to a channel, the channel may reject the update, causing the rate to be flagged as "Updates Disabled." You will receive an email notification when this happens.

To enable the updates again:

1. Go to Distribution > Channels section and look for the channel where the rate is disabled.
2. Click on the disabled rate and select Configure
3. Review the red error message to understand why the updates were disabled. Fix the issue if applicable.
4. Once the issue is resolved, set Start updating channel to Yes and click Save.
5. The latest update will now be sent to the channel.

---

Questions?

If you have any questions about mapping rates to your PMS or a channel, please contact our support team by emailing support@smarthotel.nl. Be sure to mention that your inquiry is regarding the SiteMinder Channel Manager.