What is the meaning / definition of Best Available Rate in the hospitality industry?
BAR stands for Best Available Rate which is the lowest rate of the day that is available for guests to book. The BAR rates are available to the general public, does not require pre-payment and does not impose cancellation or change penalties and/or fees, other than those imposed as a result of a hotel property’s normal cancellation policy.
Best-available-rate (BAR) pricing is an attempt to reduce confusion for hotel guests caused by complex rate strategies with many different prices. The BAR rate is in essence the lowest rate available for each date, and is offered to the guest.
As a result, instead of paying the same price for each room-night, the guest could pay different prices each night. The rate distributed will fluctuate to be the same as unrestricted rates available publicly on any other channel, including online retailers, hotel web sites, the GDS, the CRO or the hotel directly. This practice creates transparency in terms of the prices the hotel is offering direct on its own website versus prices on third party website, such as OTA.
Combined with a BAR rate strategy, a hotel usually also incorporates a guarantee to always lower the best price directly. This is called Best Rate Guarantee or BRG.
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