Set Up Fair Rates

A fair is a short period of unusually high demand caused by a trade show, exhibition, festival, or major local event. During a fair, you typically want higher prices, stricter minimum stays, and tighter control over which rate plans are bookable. This guide explains the two approaches for handling fair periods in Apaleo and walks through how to set each one up.

In this article

• Before you begin
• Choosing your approach
• Approach A: Update your existing rate plans
• Approach B: Create a dedicated fair rate plan
• Distributing fair rates to channels
• Reusing fair rate plans for future events
• FAQ

Before you begin

You need the Revenue Manager or Property Admin role to set prices and restrictions on rate plans.

Confirm the fair dates before you start. Both approaches require entering a specific date range, and updating that range later across multiple rate plans takes more effort than getting it right the first time.

If you are using Approach B (a dedicated fair rate plan), your existing rate plans must already be set up before you begin, because you will apply Closed restrictions to them during the fair period.

Choosing your approach

There is no single correct approach. The right choice depends on how your rate plan structure is organised and how often you run fair periods.

	Approach A: Update existing plans	Approach B: Dedicated fair rate plan
Best for	Properties with a clean derived rate hierarchy where one base plan drives all others	Properties with multiple events per year, or where fair pricing is significantly different from normal pricing
Setup effort	Lower for the first event. Update prices and restrictions on the base plan only.	Higher initially. Requires creating a new rate plan and closing all others for the fair period.
Ongoing effort	Each event requires updating the base plan again.	Lower for repeat events. Update prices and dates on the fair plan; no need to touch other plans.
Rate plan list impact	No additional rate plans created.	One or more additional fair rate plans in the list.
Channel visibility	All existing rate plans remain visible on all channels during the fair, at updated prices.	Only the fair rate plan is visible during the event period. All other plans are closed.

Approach A: Update your existing rate plans

This approach works best when your rate plans are organised in a derived hierarchy. You set the fair price on your base rate plan, and all derived plans update automatically. You then apply a minimum stay restriction to the base plan for the fair dates.

Step 1: Set fair prices on the base rate plan

1. Go to Rates > Rate plans and select the Prices tab.
2. Find the base rate plan for the room type you want to update.
3. Select the three-dot menu on the row and choose Prices.
4. Enter the fair period as the date range.
5. Select Set single price and enter the fair price for single occupancy.
6. Select Apply.

Because all other rate plans for that room type derive from this base, their prices for the fair period update automatically. You do not need to update each derived plan separately.

The Prices dialog showing the fair period date range and the updated single occupancy price for the base rate plan.

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If your rate plans are not in a derived hierarchy and each plan manages its own prices, repeat the price update for every rate plan you want to adjust for the fair period. The bulk edit feature on the List tab can help: filter by unit group type, select all relevant plans, and use Actions > Edit > Rate plan restrictions to apply a minimum stay across all of them in one action.

Step 2: Apply a minimum stay restriction

1. On the Prices tab, select the three-dot menu on the base rate plan row and choose Restrictions.
2. Enter the fair period as the date range.
3. Set Minimum length of stay to Set and enter the number of nights guests must stay when arriving during the fair.
4. Leave all other restrictions on Keep.
5. Select Apply restrictions.

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The minimum stay restriction is arrival-based. It applies to any guest checking in on the restricted dates, not to guests who are already staying through from a prior night. A guest who arrived the day before the fair is not affected.

Step 3: Verify the changes

1. On the Prices tab, scroll to the fair period dates.
2. Confirm the updated prices are showing correctly on the base plan and all derived plans.
3. Confirm the restriction is visible. Cells with an active Closed or minimum stay restriction show an indicator on hover.

Approach B: Create a dedicated fair rate plan

This approach creates a separate rate plan specifically for the fair period and closes all other rate plans on those dates, making the fair plan the only bookable option during the event.

Step 1: Create the fair rate plan

1. Go to Rates > Rate plans and select + New rate plan.
2. Follow the standard rate plan creation steps. Use a clear name and code that identifies this as a fair rate plan, for example FAIR_DBL or EVENT_SUI.
3. Set the policies, guarantee, channels, and other configuration as you would for any rate plan.
4. Under Booking periods, add the fair period dates as the booking window. This ensures the plan is only bookable during the event window.
5. Save the rate plan.

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If you have multiple room types, create one fair rate plan per room type. You can then create derived fair plans from each base fair plan if you need flexible and non-refundable variants, exactly as you would for your standard rate plans.

Step 2: Set fair prices

1. Go to the Prices tab and find the new fair rate plan row.
2. Select the three-dot menu and choose Prices.
3. Enter the fair period as the date range and set the fair price.
4. Optionally set a minimum stay restriction via the three-dot menu > Restrictions for the same date range.
5. Select Apply.

The Prices tab showing the fair rate plan row with prices set for the fair period dates.

Step 3: Close all other rate plans for the fair period

To make the fair plan the only bookable option, apply a Closed restriction to all your other rate plans for the fair dates.

1. On the List tab, enter select mode by selecting the dotted-square icon in the column header.
2. Select all rate plans that should be closed during the fair. Use Filter to narrow by unit group type if needed, then select all visible plans.
3. Select Actions > Edit > Rate plan restrictions. This opens the bulk restrictions dialog.
4. Wait. This dialog controls advance booking windows, not date-level restrictions. For date-level closures, use the Prices tab instead.

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Date-level Closed restrictions are applied from the Prices tab, not the List tab bulk edit. The List tab bulk edit only covers advance booking windows (minimum/maximum advance booking and late booking until). To close specific dates across multiple plans, use the Prices tab select mode and apply restrictions from there.

4. Switch to the Prices tab.
5. Enter select mode using the dotted-square icon.
6. Select all rate plans that should be closed. Deselect the fair rate plan so it remains open.
7. Open the shared three-dot menu and choose Restrictions.
8. Enter the fair period as the date range.
9. Set Closed to Set. Leave all other restrictions on Keep.
10. Select Apply restrictions.

The Prices tab in select mode with multiple rate plans selected and the Restrictions dialog open, showing Closed set to Set for the fair period.

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Double-check that the fair rate plan itself is not selected before applying the Closed restriction. If it is accidentally included, your fair plan will also be closed and no rate plan will be bookable during the event.

Step 4: Verify the setup

1. On the Prices tab, scroll to the fair period.
2. Confirm that all standard rate plan cells show the Closed indicator for those dates.
3. Confirm that the fair rate plan cells show the correct prices and no Closed restriction.
4. Optionally, test by creating a reservation for the fair dates. Only the fair rate plan should appear in the offers list.

Distributing fair rates to channels

For both approaches, fair rate changes are pushed to connected channels automatically as long as the rate plans are already mapped in your channel manager. No additional setup is required in Apaleo.

If you created a new fair rate plan (Approach B), you may need to map it in your channel manager before it becomes visible on OTAs. This step happens in your channel manager, not in Apaleo. Contact your channel manager's support team if you are unsure how to map a new rate plan.

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Map and test the fair rate plan in your channel manager well before the event. Last-minute mapping changes can take time to propagate across OTAs and may result in the fair rate not appearing in time.

Reusing fair rate plans for future events

A fair rate plan created with Approach B can be reused for future events without creating a new plan each time.

1. Open the fair rate plan from the list.
2. Update the Booking periods to cover the new event window.
3. Save the rate plan.
4. On the Prices tab, update the prices for the new fair period using the Prices dialog.
5. Update the minimum stay restriction for the new dates if it differs from the previous event.
6. Apply or remove the Closed restriction on your standard rate plans for the new fair dates.

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When updating the Closed restriction on standard rate plans for a new fair period, use Remove on the old dates first to clear last year's closure, then apply Set on the new dates. This avoids accidentally leaving old Closed restrictions in place.

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FAQ

Do I need to create a separate fair rate plan for each room type?

For Approach B, yes. A rate plan is tied to a single unit group, so you need one fair rate plan per room type you want to sell during the fair. If you use a derived hierarchy, create one base fair plan per room type and derive flexible or non-refundable variants from it, just as you would for your standard plans.

Can I prepare fair rates in advance without them going live immediately?

Yes. You can set prices and restrictions for future dates at any time. They will only affect bookings for those dates once the booking window opens. To control exactly when the fair rate plan becomes bookable, set a booking period with a specific start date in the Distribution section of the rate plan.

Will my channel manager and OTAs automatically show the updated fair prices?

For existing rate plans (Approach A), yes. Price and restriction changes on rate plans that are already mapped in your channel manager are pushed automatically. For new fair rate plans (Approach B), you need to map the new plan in your channel manager first before it becomes visible on OTAs. Apaleo itself does not handle the channel manager mapping step.

After the fair, do I need to manually remove the higher prices?

For Approach A, yes. You need to update prices on the base rate plan back to your standard rates for the dates after the fair. For Approach B, no action is needed on prices: the fair rate plan is automatically hidden once its booking period ends. You do need to remove the Closed restriction from your standard rate plans for the post-fair dates so they become bookable again.

A guest already has a reservation during the fair period at a lower price. Do the new prices affect their booking?

No. Price and restriction changes never apply retroactively to existing reservations. Guests who booked before the fair prices were set keep their original rate. Only new reservations created after the price change will see the fair pricing.