2 Oct 2025

Product Spotlight: Setting a promotional booking window

Anthony Jones

Anthony Jones

In hospitality, timing is everything.

Some guests book months in advance, others decide the night before. Understanding and controlling this behaviour helps you avoid missed opportunities and maximise profit.

The RMS Booking Window capability allows you to make rates available for a specific booking window, enabling you to effectively market your inventory and improve certainty with your cashflow.

A booking window will limit the date range that a certain rate (e.g. promotional rate) can be booked in. For Example: You may have a discounted rate over Thanksgiving or Christmas, however your guests can only get this rate if they book their stay in the first half of October.

Why Booking Window matters

  • Maximise profit- Capture both early planners and last-minute bookers by aligning availability and rates with guest behaviour.
  • Improve cash flow certainty- Control when rates can be booked to drive earlier commitments and better revenue forecasting.
  • Boost marketing impact- Tie promotional rates to a defined booking window (e.g. "Book by October for Christmas savings") to create urgency and increase uptake.

Make it work for key periods

Events, holidays, and promotions often shift booking behaviour – utilising RMS Booking Window capability can help drive demand and improve cashflow.

  • Major events (concerts, sports finals, festivals): Guests book earlier than usual, so a longer booking window can help you capture demand without selling out too fast.
  • Holiday seasons (Christmas, Easter, summer school breaks): Families plan far in advance - but holding back some inventory for late-booking couples can maximise revenue.
  • Promotional campaigns (special deals, flash sales): A shorter booking window can create urgency and drive quick conversions.

By tailoring your booking window around these periods, you can balance early certainty with late-stage revenue gains.

booking window

How RMS helps

RMS makes it easy to apply Booking Window rules across your property:

  • Set global policies or customise by room type, rate plan, or channel
  • Decide how far in advance guests can book
  • Protect premium inventory while opening up flexible, last-minute options for standard rooms

Flexible by design

The RMS Booking Window is simple to configure and works across all distribution channels. You can apply settings globally or tailor them by room type, rate plan, or channel, ensuring your availability strategy matches your business goals.

Smarter timing, stronger results

With RMS, you're not just managing availability - you're managing strategy. The Booking Window feature helps you align guest behaviour with your revenue goals, ensuring the right rooms are booked at the right time, at the right price.