Split stay in bookings

What is a split stay?

A split stay allows for a stay that includes a change of accommodation during the booking period. This option is specially designed for situations where continuous availability in a single accommodation type is not possible, but the stay can be completed by changing rooms.

Practical example:

Suppose we search from July 1st to July 8th, 7 nights for 2 adults.

The booking engine cannot cover the entire stay in a single room, but offers the option of a split stay as follows:

- July 1st to July 5th → Superior Room

- July 5th to July 8th → Junior suite

How to activate split stay in your engine? 

1. Go to Configuration Manager > Behavior > Search Results List Configuration. 

2. There you will find a dropdown menu with 4 options for split stay:

• Do not show (default option): Split stay options will not be offered under any circumstances.
• When unavailable - display the most economical option: If the engine cannot find availability for the entire stay in a single accommodation type, it will offer the most economical split stay option.
• When unavailable - display all options: Same as the previous option, but it will display up to 5 split stay options, if available.
• When available - display the most economical option:  Even if there is availability in a single accommodation, if a more economical split stay option exists, it will also be offered.
• When available - only offer split stay if there are no more economical accommodations. In this case, DO NOT offer a split stay if the engine is configured not to offer it when a more economical option without a split stay is available.    

Important Considerations:

1. A single room change: Only one room change per stay is allowed.

2. Restrictions: Restrictions of the inventory lines involved in the accommodation change are respected. Only those rates that comply with these restrictions will be offered.

3. Price: In the first stage of booking (Step 1), the displayed price will be the sum of both rooms, divided by the number of nights.

4. Listing Order: Split stay options will be displayed respecting the price order or the order established in the accommodation type listing. If the behavior configuration is "by position in the accommodation type listing", the order of the first room will be used to determine its position in the listing.

5. Assisted booking: The assisted booking flow will be reused. However, when selecting a split stay, it will be filtered so that clicking on VIEW RATES opens step 2: inventory_selection.

6. Multiple booking:  

   The booking will be registered as a multiple booking with an "M" and two "P" identifiers. This allows for partial cancellation of the booking if necessary.

7. Duplicate extras:  If both rooms have mandatory extras (such as dinners or taxes), these will be duplicated on the invoice.  

Example:

   - Double Room from October 1st to October 3rd, has a mandatory extra of "Gastro Dinner €25" per person (€50 total).

   - Superior Room from October 3rd to October 5th, also has the extra of "Gastro Dinner €25" (€50 total).

   In this case, the engine will act as if it were a booking for 4 people instead of 2, duplicating the charge for extras.

How is it displayed on the engine's front-end?

On the engine's front-end, the split stay option will be reflected in the search results with the details of the room change specified for the customer. Additionally, the customer will be able to see the breakdown of the rooms and the corresponding dates for each, along with the applied rates and extras.