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These terms are used in this implementation documentation:

Affiliate virtual credit card (VCC)

Digital credit cards that are often used in corporate travel for travel expenses. Find details here

Agency

Type of business model. See "Hotel Collect (HC)".

Base occupancy

The number of guests contracted as the standard number of guests per room. Used particularly by the Per-day pricing model.

Base rate

The rate for the base occupancy configured in the Expedia system.

Best available rate (BAR)

Lowest public rate for any given room type made available by the property through any distribution channel.

Booking date

The day when a traveler makes a reservation on the shopping site. For example, a traveler could book a room on October 3 for a stay on October 20.

Boolean

Values used by APIs to qualify elements that can only have two possible values: true or false.

Business model

Determines how the property is sold on Expedia () which payment path is offered to the traveler (pay now or pay later). Providers need to know which business model their properties use in order to develop their interface accordingly. Also known as "distribution model". See "Expedia Traveler Preference (ETP)", "Expedia Collect (EC)", and "Hotel Collect (HC)" for the information on each model.

Central reservation system (CRS)

Reservation software used by lodging partners to manage property information, such as inventory and rates, so that properties can manage guest reservations and the booking process in real time.

Channel manager (CM)

An entity that manages online distribution channels in order to sell accommodations inventory and manage reservations.

Closed to arrival (CTA)

A restriction to a rate plan where the property is unavailable for check-in on a specific date. A guest's stay must start on an earlier or later date in order to access the rate plan.

Closed to departure (CTD)

A restriction to a rate plan where the property is unavailable for checkout on a specific date. A guest's stay must end on an earlier or later date in order to access the rate plan.

Compensation

The amount that Expedia retains when passing payment to the hotel under Expedia Collect AND the payment that properties make to Expedia under Hotel Collect.

Connectivity Account Managers (CAMs)

Expedia personnel who manage commercial relationships between Expedia Group (EG) and our 450+ connectivity providers. They optimize connected properties' performance by driving the adoption of API solutions in alignment with EG Business objectives, and they identify mutually beneficial goals, including strategic projects and business development initiatives that go beyond core connectivity. Also referred to a "Lodging Connectivity Account Managers (LCAMs)".

Connectivity provider

Any partner who provides a solution for connecting to Expedia through one or more APIs. This includes property management systems, channel managers, central reservation systems, and vacation rental management systems.

Connectivity Partner Program (CPP)

An Expedia program for connectivity providers that recognizes and rewards top partners for maintaining high-quality connections and helping lodging partners grow their businesses on the Expedia Group marketplace. Find details here.

Cost

Label used within a message to denote the rate submitted by the supplier.

Engagement Managers (EMs)

Expedia personnel who manage the API adoption process from kickoff to launch, improve integration processes, and perform regression testing and validation. Also referred to as "Integration Engagement Managers (IEMs)".

Cut-off

The number of days prior to a guest's arrival when Expedia must stop displaying available rooms for that date. A cut-off of 1 means that the shopping site will make rooms available until midnight the day before arrival, in the local time zone of the property. A cut-off of 0 means that the property can be booked until 11pm on the day of arrival, in property’s local time zone. Cut-off changes aren’t supported through Expedia QuickConnect and are only available on Expedia Extranet.

Day-of-arrival pricing (DOA)

A pricing attribute that can be enabled by Expedia (at the demand of the property) on a rate plan, where the guest pays the same rate for each day of stay. To make an exception, the property can set a "rate change flag" that forces a particular rate starting on a particular day and continuing through the rest of the stay. Day-of-arrival pricing can be enabled for rate plans using any of the pricing models and can be enabled without the per-day length-of-stay pricing (PDP + LOS), but this is not common.

Derived rate

Assumed rate based on when flex products are enabled; only one rate needs to be updated, either net rate for Expedia Collect or sell rate for Hotel Collect. The corresponding rate will be derived for the other product.

Distribution model

See "business model".

Dual

Type of business model. See "Expedia Traveler Preference (ETP)".

EC Updated

A way for Expedia to return gross amounts to the partner on Expedia Collect (EC) bookings. By default, Expedia Collect bookings are sent with net rates, but in certain regions where there are jurisdictional requirements for the hoteliers to pay taxes on EC bookings, the sell (or lowest available) rate is sent instead. Expedia will still collect the full amount upfront, but the property can choose whether to receive gross or net payments. Also referred to as “Enhanced EC”.

Expedia Collect (EC)

Business model in which Expedia collects payment from travelers at the time of booking. This model is sometimes called "Pay Now" or "Merchant", depending on context.

Expedia flexible rate (EFR)

A tool that enables properties to improve their rank in search results for a set period by increasing the compensation they will pay to Expedia. Bookings made for dates configured with EFR will contain a special promotion name prefixed by “EFR” and a corresponding reduced rate (net rate and/or sell rate) in the booking retrieval response.

Expedia Pay

A web-based application that allows a property to invoice Expedia for Expedia Collect bookings and then receive payment. Invoicing can only be done after the traveler checks out of the property.

Expedia QuickConnect (EQC)

Connectivity solution that provides these interfaces to partners:
- Availability and Rates API
- Booking Retrieval API
- Booking Confirmation API

Expedia special rate (ESR)

Program name for Expedia contracted properties.

Expedia Traveler Preference (ETP)

Business model that enables travelers to choose to pay online during booking or on property directly during their stay. Also known as “Flex” or “Dual”.

Expedia Virtual Card (EVC)

Payment option that allows direct contracted properties to receive payment from Expedia Group with a virtual credit card. At the time of booking, Expedia Group generates a distinct virtual credit card number authorized for the transaction, and the virtual credit card details are provided electronically to the property to be used for payment. Expedia virtual cards are supported by the Booking Notification and Booking Retrieval APIs, and they are activated at the check-in time or booking creation time based on eligibility.

Extensible Markup Language (XML)

Refer to http://www.w3.org/XML/ for more information about this language.

Extra person fee

The amount added on top of the rate for additional guests above the set base occupancy. This is managed and controlled solely through Partner Central.

Flex

Type of business model. See "Expedia Traveler Preference (ETP)".

Integration Engagement Managers (IEMs)

Expedia personnel who manage the certification process for our connectivity partners who are adopting a new API or rolling out new feature adoption.

Hotel Collect (HC)

Business model in which a property collects payment from the traveler. This method is also known as "Pay Later" and is sometimes referred to as "HC," "Agency," or "Property Collect," depending on the context. This business model allows travelers to book same-day and next-day reservations on Expedia sites without a credit card.

Hotel extranet

See "Partner Central".

Hotel production report

A report that shows how many rooms have been sold on Expedia (but not Hotels.com) and compares it to its competitors.

Last room availability (LRA)

When a property has rooms to sell, they must make those rooms available on Expedia.

Length of stay (LOS)

Pricing model that provides stay rates based on the length of the guest's stay. For properties onboarded onto Expedia sites, this is a restriction set at the rate plan level whereby the minimum or maximum nights stay are defined for a traveler to benefit from the rate. If minimum LOS is set to 3 for a particular day and a traveler wants to book a room for 2 nights, they would not see any availability for that property on the site. Similarly, maximum LOS can be set.

For properties onboarded onto Vrbo sites, this model defines stay rates that are computed total rental rates based on the arrival date, duration of a guest’s stay, and occupancy.

See also "Per-day length-of-stay pricing (PDP + LOS)".

Lowest available rate (LAR)

The lowest publicly available rate for a room. Providing Expedia with LAR removes the need for a property or management system to calculate the net rate for Expedia Collect.

Market manager

Expedia employee who develops and updates business contracts with properties.

Merchant

Type of business model. See "Expedia Collect (EC)".

Net rate

Rate acquisition type (RAT) where rates received from the partner are the amounts displayed on Expedia Collect booking notifications. This is the cost of the room rates, excluding taxes and Expedia Group commission. This is the total amount the partner gets after taxes and Expedia Group commissions are paid.

Occupancy-based pricing (OBP)

Pricing model based on the number of travelers staying in the room. Expedia Group recommends that properties define a rate for each applicable occupancy. If a rate is not defined for a given occupancy, the rate for the next higher occupancy will be charged.

Package

A rate type that offers pricing (usually discounted) to Expedia customers who book a combination of rooms, flights, car rentals, or other products. Package pricing is “opaque”, meaning the specific rates for each part of the package are hidden, and customers can only see the combined price. Also referred as “P” or “PKG”.

Partner Central

Primary system (https://www.expediaPartnercentral.com) for lodging partners to manage reservations, availability, inventory, rates, reports, payments, and more. Replaced hotelextranet.com. Sometimes referred to as "Expedia Partner Central (EPC)".

Partner Test Services (PTS) tool

Tool provided by Expedia to external partners implementing Booking Notification API. This tool follows Booking Notification API test plan simulating reservations. Tool is accessed via https://eps-ec-pts.us-west-2.int.expedia.com/. See details on Tool usage at PTS for Booking Notification Testing section.

Payment card industry (PCI) compliance

Technical and operational standards that partners follow to secure and protect credit card data provided by travelers and transmitted through card processing transactions. PCI standards for compliance are developed and managed by the PCI Security Standards Council.

Pending booking

A booking that has been completed at an Expedia point of sale and that has not expired nor yet been confirmed by the partner.

Per-day length-of-stay pricing (PDP + LOS)

Pricing model where the price is based on the number of days the room is booked, per arrival date. For each date of a year, properties can send up to 28 rates. The price guests will pay depends on the number of days they will stay at the property. If LOS pricing is enabled, day-of-arrival pricing (DOA) must be enabled because length-of-stay pricing is based on the traveler’s day of arrival.

Per-day pricing (PDP)

Pricing model where a price is assigned to a room for each day for the base occupancy. Though commonly configured for two occupants, the base number can be customized by rate plan in Partner Central or Product API. A single traveler will always be quoted the rate for the base number of occupants, whereas travelers above that base occupancy number are charged extra-person fees if configured.

PMIS

Proprietary or custom management system that is developed by a PM (instead of purchasing a software product from a PMS).

PMS

Property management system that manages all aspects of property operations, including reservations, check-in/checkout, room assignment, rates management, and billing. In the case of vacation rental properties, PMSs are used by integrated property managers to list and manage properties.

PMSC

Connectivity provider that integrates with Expedia APIs so that property managers can manage properties on Expedia sites through the software.

Point of sale

A shopping website where the booking originated, such as Expedia.com, Orbitz.com, and Hotels.com. For more information, visit POS element.

Pricing model

A way for a property to structure the pricing for its rate plans. See "Per-day pricing (PDP)", "Per-day length-of-stay pricing (PDP + LOS)", "Day-of-arrival pricing", and "Occupancy-based pricing (OBP)".

Rate acquisition type (RAT)

How Expedia treats the rate amounts pushed via the Availability and Rates API. See "Sell rate", "Lowest available rate (LAR)", and "Net rate".

Rate change indicator

Used in conjunction with day-of-arrival pricing (DOA); indicates if a rate change should be applied on a specific date regardless of the arrival day rate.

Rate plan

Set of information that determines the rates, restrictions (such as booking window or minimum length of stay), cancellation policy, and meal plan for a rate. Three types are defined: Standalone (also known as "S" or "SA"), Package("P" or "PKG"), or Corporate ("C" or "CORP"). A room type can have multiple rate plans.

Rate plan linkage

A feature allowing properties to define parent-child relationships between 2 different rate plans. The relationship can link rate values and restrictions. Once a rate plan linkage rule is defined, the portions of the child rate plan that are linked cannot be actively managed anymore. Only the parent can be managed: the child will have its rates and/or restrictions derived from updates made to the parent.

Rate verification

Policy in which Expedia ensures that products are not sold outside of minimum and maximum rate thresholds. For rate changes that are outside of an acceptable threshold, the Availability and Rates API returns a warning response and does not process the rate update.

Room type

Single bookable unit in a property. It includes the room name, type of beds, smoking restrictions, and the number of guests per room. The number of rooms available to book and restrictions at the room level are defined at this level.

Standalone

A rate plan type for a room-only booking, which does not include any flight, car rental, or other Expedia product in addition to the property booking. Also referred as “S” or “SA”.

Stay date

The day a guest is staying at the hotel. Arrival date is the first day of the stay. See also “Booking date”.

Sell rate

Rate acquisition type in which the property sells a room to the traveler in Hotel Collect. It is the room rate, including taxes and Expedia Group commission. This is the total cost to travelers.

Technical Relationship Managers (TRMs)

Expedia personnel who manage technical relationships between Expedia Group (EG) and connectivity partners. TRMs optimize partners' performance by driving the adoption of API solutions, enhancing API implementations, and providing partner technical education and support. They identify mutually beneficial goals, including strategic projects and technical initiatives to further enhance our partner's integration with Expedia Group.

Unit

A single unit that is available for travelers to rent. In a hotel or condominium (property), a unit is one room or condo. For a stand-alone property, the unit and property are one in the same.

Update count

The number of distinct data elements being changed by a message. Each individual rate, restriction, or status change for one stay date is counted as one update. Applies to the Availability and Rates API.

Value add

An amenity that is added to a rate plan, such as “free breakfast”, “free parking”, or “massage at the spa”.

Value add promotions (VAP)

Promotions that are created by properties for a target book/travel window and applied to specific rate plans in order to provide travelers with an additional value, such as early check-in or free breakfast, instead of a discounted rate that traditional promotions support. If a property is connected with a system provider that has completed VAP certification, properties can access this feature in Expedia Partner Central.

Virtual credit card (VCC)

See "Affiliate virtual credit card".

XML schema definition (XSD)

A text-based format that defines validation rules and form for an XML file.