Private rates

Private rates are a type of rate rule that lets you offer reduced rates for members of an audience list or loyalty program. For example, you might have a standard rate of $150, but a private rate of $135 for members of a loyalty program.

Private rates have various UI treatments that allow you to display exclusive discount pricing to eligible users. For more information about these options, refer to Private rates details and examples.

Create private rates

To use private rates:

For each private rate, add a new rate rule that defines the rate criteria in the rate rules XML file. For details, refer to Rate Rules XML Reference.

Key Point: It is recommended that you send single member rate price for the cheapest room bundle first, followed by the remaining room bundle pricing. Multiple member rate pricing is not allowed.
Add the private rates to the appropriate itineraries in your price feed. To do this, use the same syntax as Conditional Rates. Set the rate_rule_id attribute to the ID in the <Rate> element.
Update your landing page file (if necessary) to verify eligible users can book the discount rate through a deep link to your website. The landing page URL is generated by the public rate. The rate rules for private rates populates in the CLOSE-RATE-RULE-IDS and the IF-CLOSE-RATE-RULE-IDS resolves to true.

Example

Basic Private rate

The following is a basic private rates example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Transaction>
  <Result>
    <Property>1234</Property>
    <Checkin>2023-05-23</Checkin>
    <Nights>1</Nights>

    <!-- An eligible non-hidden rate is required in order to display the UI treatment. -->
    <!-- This example uses a public rate, but a conditional rate where the
        user meets all conditions could also be used. -->
    <!-- This would be the strikethrough price. -->
    <Baserate currency="USD">200.00</Baserate>
    <Tax currency="USD">20.00</Tax>
    <OtherFees currency="USD">1.00</OtherFees>

    <Rates>
      <Rate rate_rule_id="sample_qr">
        <!-- Price will not be displayed, but is required for calculating discounts. -->
        <Baserate currency="USD">180.00</Baserate>
        <Tax currency="USD">18.00</Tax>
        <Custom1>ratecode123</Custom1>
      </Rate>
    </Rates>

  </Result>
</Transaction>

Conditional private rates

The following example shows conditional rates for US users only.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Transaction>
  <Result>
    <Property>1234</Property>
    <Checkin>2025-08-23</Checkin>
    <Nights>1</Nights>
    <Baserate currency="USD">200.00</Baserate>
    <Tax currency="USD">20.00</Tax>
    <OtherFees currency="USD">1.00</OtherFees>
    <Rates>
      <Rate rate_rule_id="sample_qr">
        <Baserate currency="USD">180.00</Baserate>
        <Tax currency="USD">18.00</Tax>
        <Custom1>ratecode123</Custom1>
        <RateRuleSettings>
          <RateRule id="US_users">
            <UserRateCondition>
              <UserCountry>US</UserCountry>
            </UserRateCondition>
          </RateRule>
        </RateRuleSettings>
      </Rate>
    </Rates>
  </Result>
</Transaction>

Refer to Rate Rules XML reference for more examples.