Open Pricing

Open Pricing is a modern revenue management approach in which each rate plan, room type, and channel is priced independently and continuously, rather than tied to fixed BAR-level "buckets." Instead of opening or closing discount tiers based on demand, an open pricing engine adjusts the actual price of each combination in real time.

How it differs from traditional pricing

Traditional yield management used a fixed ladder of rates (BAR, BAR-10%, BAR-15%, etc.) and managed demand by opening or closing those rate buckets. Open pricing breaks the ladder:

• Each rate plan is priced independently — non-refundable doesn't have to be a fixed % off BAR
• Each room type is priced independently — suites can scale faster than standards
• Each segment can be priced independently — corporate, leisure, group can move asymmetrically

Why it matters

Open pricing captures more revenue at the margin. When demand spikes, an open pricing engine can raise standard rooms aggressively while holding suites flat (or vice versa) to maximize total revenue, rather than moving everything in lockstep. It's the philosophical opposite of "close the cheap rate plan" — under open pricing, you almost never close anything; you simply price it accurately.