Enforcing a minimum duration of stay
There are multiple ways to set or influence a minimum number of nights that can be booked by guests. There are settings per type, for the entire park, as well as pricing strategies. Which is best for you, depends on the level of flexibility you want.
Which settings and how they interact
If more than one of the settings listed applies to a type that a guest is trying to book, the setting with the highest number of minimum nights is applied.
This means that if the price list says that the minimum is 2 nights, but the type says that the minimum is 3 nights, the minimum applied is 3.
Administration setting for minimum nights
In the administration settings for your park, there are general booking settings available that you can use to set a minimum number of nights that applies to any and all reservations that come in.
Read more: Administration settings for bookings
Type setting for minimum nights
In the settings of your types, a minimum number of nights is also determined.
Edit any type and scroll down to the 'Availability' section to find this setting.
Leave it at the same number set for the entire administration, or set a higher number to enforce a longer minimum duration of stay that only applies to reservations on this type.
Take into account that this setting is not always synchronized via channels.
Arrival and departure schemes
An arrival and departure scheme is first and foremost meant to control on which days your reception desk is the busiest. However, if you only allow a very limited schedule of when guests are able to check in or out, you are effectively enforcing a minimum duration of stay. Read more: Using arrival and departure schemes
Example:
The applicable arrival and departure scheme allows check-in only on Saturdays, throughout the months July and August. At the same time, check-out is only allowed on Mondays and Fridays.
This means that guests cannot book any shorter stays than Saturday to Monday in July and August; effectively enforcing a 2-night minimum during this period.
Price list 1: LOS pricing for fixed number of nights
LOS pricing is pricing based on length of stay; i.e. a 7-night stay has a base price of EUR 1000. If a price list only contains LOS prices, the smallest LOS becomes your minimum.
Read more: Setting up base rates
Example:
The applicable price list contains columns for LOS prices for 3 nights, 5 nights, and 7 nights.
This means that there is no valid price for stays of only 1 or 2 nights. Without a valid price, such a stay cannot be booked by guests; which creates a minimum duration of stay.
Price list 2: A price rule to apply a minimum to night prices
When using night prices, you can still enforce a minimum duration of stay via a price list.
Add a price rule to the list that stipulates that night prices only become active (valid) after a minimum number of nights is selected.
Read more: Dynamic pricing with pricing rules
NOTE for both price list strategies:
LOS prices and price rules are not always compatible with channels. This means that a minimum number of nights enforced via a price list may not apply to bookings via channels.
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