Rate Dates

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(This is a continuation of the Edit Rate Definition Dialog documentation -- see that topic for more information.)

You can define the dates for which any rate is applicable. This will be used whenever selecting a rate for a reservation, and will only show the rates that are applicable on at least one day of the reservation. For instance, if a reservation includes a holiday, you will see both the normal rate and the holiday rate in the selection list. Likewise, when you select the holiday rate, the quantity that appears for the number of days will be just the number of days that the reservation date occurs on the rate's applicable dates.

For example, if the reservation is for 5 days and includes 3 holiday days (e.g. for a holiday weekend rate), then the holiday rate will be multiplied by 3 days and the normal rate will be multiplied by 2 days (assuming the rate's dates are defined to me mutually exclusive). Although you will have to select both rates, the numbers will be handled for you automatically.

Defining dates for a Rate definition is just like defining dates that a Site is available.

Season Dates Applicable

This field is used to specify the dates for which the rate is applicable. Dates in this field and the other two Special Dates fields can be entered as single dates or as date ranges. You can also enter dates without the year if you want to specify dates that apply the same to every year, but this only applies to the Season Dates, not the Special Dates. If you leave this field blank, it means that the rate is applicable all year long (so there's no need to enter 1/1 to 12/31).

Note that the dates in these fields will be entered in the "regional" format according to your computer's settings -- for instance, month/day for U.S., and day/month for Canadian, etc. U.S. format is used in the examples.

There is no limit to the number of dates or date ranges you can enter, and the field will scroll as needed. Separate each date range with a comma. A space after the comma is optional (it will be inserted automatically when displayed). The format of a date is fairly flexible as long as if follows the month/day/year convention. Each range should include two dates separated by the word "to", and there must be a space on each side of "to". Here are some examples of valid range entries:

1/1 to 9/30, 11/1 to 12/31 (note there are no years, so it applies to every year)

1/2/2018 to 4/3/18 (years can be 2 or 4 digits)

10-5-19, 10-7-19 to 12-31-19 (single dates can be entered, and you can use the dash in a date)

If one date in a range has the year, they must both have the year! For instance range of 10/22/24 to 12/31 is not valid.

Regardless of the date format you use, it will be changed to a common format (like mm/dd/yyyy) after you save the information. If you make a mistake in an entry, it will warn you when you click Save and ask you to fix it.

You can clear out old date ranges once that year has passed (and add new ones for upcoming years). Unlike the dates for Sites, there is no need to keep old dates in the lists since you probably won't be adding transactions to old reservations.

Wrap-around seasons -- If the range you want to enter "wraps around" the end of the year, such as December to February, it must be entered in two segments if you don't include the year in the dates. So instead for a season of 12/1 to 2/28, enter it as 12/1 to 12/31, 1/1 to 2/28.

Important -- When defining rates for different seasons, make sure that there are no gaps or else there may be times when no rates appear (or they don't multiply by the correct number of dates). Likewise it's a good idea to avoid overlapping. Therefore if you have a special holiday rate with a Season Date of 7/4, then your normal rate definition should have 7/4 in its Special Dates Not Applicable Field to exclude that date from the normal rate.

Special Dates Applicable

Special Dates Applicable take precedence over season dates in determining if a rate is applicable. Even if you have specific seasons, there may be times when you want to make some rates applicable out of season. You could just adjust the Season Dates if you enter the dates for each year separately, but if you use the same Season Dates every year (entered without years, like 3/1 to 9/30) then you need to enter any exceptions in this field.

The Special Dates Applicable field follows the same formatting as Season Dates, with the exception that they should always have a year in them. (Otherwise you would be better off adjusting the Season Dates.) It's OK to have dates here that are considered applicable by the season dates anyway, but it would add work for the software so it's best to avoid overlapping dates.

Note -- Since this is an exception list, you can't just put the normally applicable dates here -- use the Season Dates field for the normal range. The Special Dates Applicable list simply overrides "out of season" dates to be applicable.

Special Dates Not Applicable

This is the highest priority of the date fields. If a date is included here, the rate will be considered not applicable on this date even if the same date is in both of the Dates Applicable lists above. Dates in this list should always have years in them.

Days of the Week Applicable

These checkboxes allow you to indicate which days of the week the rate is applicable on, which is handy for specifying weekday / weekend rates. Note that the days of the week selected can be overridden by Special Dates Applicable or Special Dates Not Applicable, so take care in specifying special dates in these cases.