The standard MultiAvailability transaction checks availability and returns the minimum and maximum available rates for a set of properties for a particular stay (arrival/departure dates, number of guests etc).
The RateSearch element is used to request availability for specific rate plans. Normally only standard publicly available rates will be requested if RateSearch is omitted. The following requests promotional rates, using the standard rate plan “PRO” and also a corporate rate “PEG” with corporate customer number “654321”.
The MatchingQualifier attribute specifies whether the rate range and overall property availability should just relate to the requested rate plans (value “Exact”); or whether it should also include public rates if the requested rate is not available (“ExactOrPublic”); or whether it should include both the requested rates and public rates (“ExactAndPublic”). The response will indicate the availability status of each requested rate plan:
It is also possible to specify how the rate range in the response should be calculated if there are rate changes - e.g. average, highest, first night or most frequent.
The response should indicate how the price range was calculated using the PriceRange/@CalculationMethod attribute in the response. This should be the same as the requested calculation method, but it may not be, depending on the capabilities of the hotel’s CRS. An example response is below:
Although not commonly used, it is also possible to supply the required rate range in the request message – this can be the maximum rate, minimum rate or both. If supplied, the hotel’s CRS should only check availability for rates within this range. The following example is requesting availability for rates between €100 and €300 per night:
The following request includes the minimum request parameters (property codes, guest counts, number of rooms and dates of stay). In this example, only 3 properties are requested (up to 200 are supported).
The following is an example where a specific rate type is requested (“PRO”):
<HotelML xmlns="
http://www.xpegs.com/v2001Q3/HotelML
">
<Head>
<Process DataPath="/HotelML/Form/MultiAvailability"
Function="TI_MultiAvailabilityV1_1" Token="1306337276803"/>
<Route Destination="00" Source="01"/>
</Head>
<Form>
<MultiAvailability>
<Property xml:lang="en" Code="UI;17032"/>
<Property xml:lang="en" Code="UI;41130"/>
<Property xml:lang="en" Code="UI;04939"/>
<RateCriteria MatchingQualifier="ExactOrPublic" NumberOfAdults="2" NumberOfChildren="1" NumberOfRooms="1">
<DateRange InDate="2011-07-01" OutDate="2011-07-04"/>
<RateSearch RatePlanCode="PRO" RatePlanType="Standard"/>
</RateCriteria>
</MultiAvailability>
</Form>
</HotelML>
The corresponding response message is shown below. The following should be noted:
Property UI;04939 is available, as well as the requested rate plan. The rate range will be for the requested rate plan only.
For property UI;17032, the requested rate plan is unavailable but there are other rates available (AvailabilityStatus=”Alternate”). Note that the request message had MatchingQualifier=”ExactOrPublic” which means that the public rates should be returned only if the requested rate plan is unavailable. The rate range is therefore for the public rates.
Property UI;41130 has no availability matching the request criteria.
