Intro to product managementCopy link

A "product" is defined as a unique combination of unit (room type) and rate plan.

• A unit (previously referred to as "room type") describes the configuration of a specific room category or class in our system. Units belong to properties, and rate plans are mapped under each unit. A unit contains information such as bed types, smoking preferences, occupancy settings by age categories, and so on. Once unit is created, Expedia generates a unit ID that cannot be changed.

  Note: Property inventory can be updated using the Availability and Rates API. Fees collected on-site can be added or updated with Partner Central or the Property API.

• A rate plan is a set of attributes that describes the pricing information of a unit. It consists of the room’s rate and its policies (fees, cancellation penalties, length-of stay, and advance purchase options). Be aware that units can have multiple rate plans, but each rate plan ID can only belong to one unit. Also, our rate plans are different and separate from supplier rate plan codes. For properties using the Expedia Traveler Preference (ETP) business model, rates have two IDs - one for Merchant (Expedia Collect) and one for Agency (Hotel Collect). Agency rate plans always have an "A" at the end of the rate plan ID.

• Unit spaces can be used if there are multiple rooms (bedrooms and living rooms) within a unit. Unit spaces are optional, though if used, bedding information provided in unit spaces overrides bedding information provided at the unit level. Once spaces are added to a unit, bedding must be maintained on the space level. Once a unit space is added to a unit, at least one space must exist (the last unit space cannot be deleted).

The product management capability provides the ability to create products as follows:

• Manage rate plans, including
  • Creating rate plans and attaching a cancellation policy, fee set, value-adds (special features to include with a rate, such as breakfast, internet, or parking), and restrictions (such as min/max nights or stay dates). Note that commission is automatically attached to rate plans by Expedia Group.
  • Retrieving a single rate plan (including the associated cancellation policies and fee sets).
  • Retrieving a list of rate plans associated with a unit.
  • Modifying existing rate plans.
  • Deleting rate plans.
• Manage cancellation policies, including creating, retrieving, and updating policies at a property level.
• Manage fee sets, including creating, retrieving, and updating fees at the property level. Fee sets define service and extra person fees.
• Manage units, including creating units with amenities, retrieving, and updating units, including their names, descriptions, and amenities.
• Manage unit spaces, including creating spaces, updating spaces (to add bedding), and removing spaces from units.
• Retrieving property-level information for one or more properties, including units and rate plans associated with a property.

The property management capability supports multiple pricing models and pricing attributes:

• Per day for base occupancy (per day pricing model)
• Per day for base occupancy and per length of stay (per day, length of stay pricing model)
• Per day by occupancy (occupancy-based pricing model)

And the capability supports multiple rate plan types including

• Standalone
• Package
• Business
• B2B distribution
• Package distribution

Limitations

Be aware of these as you integrate the product management capability:

• The rate limit is currently set to five transactions per second (TPS).
• Inventory availability cannot be updated using this capability. Use your current implementation of the Availability and Rates API to send updates.
• Property-level information cannot be managed using the product management capability; property-level information is read only.
• To manage reservations, use your current implementation of the Booking Notification API, Booking Retrieval and Booking Confirmation APIs, or Reservation management capability.

Workflow

Create products as follows:

1. Create the following components in any order:
   • Fee sets using the createFeeSet mutation
   • Cancellation policies using the createCancellationPolicyConfig mutation
   • Units using the createUnit mutation

Use the metadata query to determine all of the supported values for fields that can be set on a cancellation policy, unit (unit), and unit space. And at any time, you can use the property query to review what has been created for a property.

2. Create unit spaces (bedrooms and living rooms), if any, and associate them with units using the createUnitSpaces mutation.

   Note: Refer to updateUnitSpaces mutation to information about adding or removing amenities from a unit.

3. Create rate plans and associate each rate plan with a unit, cancellation policy, and fee set (optional) using the createRatePlan mutation. After at least one active standalone rate plan associated with a unit, the unit becomes active.

Then, to manage products after creation, use these queries and mutations:

• policies query, to retrieve cancellation policy details
• ratePlan query, to retrieve details about a rate plans
• ratePlans query, to retrieve details about one or more of a property's rate plans
• feeSets query, to retrieve fee sets
• unit query or units query, to information about a single or multiple units
• replaceCancellationPolicyConfig mutation, to replace a cancellation policy
• replaceFeeSet mutation, to replace a fee set
• updateRatePlan mutation, to update rate plan details
• updateUnit mutation, to update a unit
• updateUnitSpaces mutation, to update unit spaces
• deleteRatePlan mutation, to delete a rate plan
• deleteUnitSpace mutation, to delete a space

Minimum certification requirements

To complete certification for the messaging capability, you must prove that your software can perform the following:

-need cert reqs from TAM, see https://jira.expedia.biz/browse/APIPB-1427 -

Comparison to Product API

The following table shows which product management features are currently available in Product API.