Revenue metrics
What is BAR (best available rate)?
BAR, or best available rate, is the lowest rate a hotel offers to the general public for a given date without restrictions such as prepayment or a minimum stay. It changes with demand, and most other rate plans are set as a discount or premium to it.
How BAR is used
Hotels raise BAR on busy dates and lower it on quiet ones. Rate plans such as advance purchase, corporate or member rates are then derived from BAR, so changing one number updates them all. Keeping BAR consistent across channels is what rate parity is about.
In StaySynq
StaySynq supports derived rate plans, so rates set as a percentage of a master rate update together and sync to your channel manager.
Common questions
Is BAR the same as rack rate?
No. Rack rate is the fixed full price. BAR is the lowest unrestricted price on a particular day and moves with demand.
Related terms
- Rack rateA rack rate is the full published price of a hotel room, before any discount, package or negotiated rate. Few guests pay it, but it acts as the reference point from which corporate, promotional and OTA rates are discounted.
- Rate parityRate parity is the practice of offering the same price for the same room, dates and conditions on every public sales channel, including OTAs and the hotel's own website. Many OTA contracts require it, and visible differences can push a hotel down in OTA search results.
- ADR (average daily rate)ADR, or average daily rate, is the average price a hotel earns for each room it sells in a period. It is calculated by dividing room revenue by the number of room nights sold. ADR shows how well you are pricing, but says nothing about how many rooms stayed empty.
- Channel managerA channel manager is software that connects a hotel to its online travel agencies (OTAs). It sends the hotel's rates and availability to every channel at once and passes bookings, changes and cancellations back, so the same room is not sold twice.
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