What is a hotel allotment and how do I manage it in a travel agency?
Allotment is the trade term for a block of rooms or seats that a supplier holds at the agency's disposal. The hard part is not the concept but the release date: after it, unsold rooms go back to the hotel.
Short answer
- An allotment is a block of rooms or seats a supplier holds for your agency at a negotiated rate.
- The block is valid until the release date; rooms unsold by then go back to the hotel.
- You manage an allotment by tracking the total, what you have used and how long is left until release.
- In 4AgencyTravel, a confirmed booking draws from the chosen allocation and cannot exceed the block.
- Releasing rooms stays a manual decision, helped by a list on the dashboard.
What an allotment means
The agency agrees with the hotel on a number of rooms for given dates at a set price. You can sell them to your clients without asking for availability every time. The contract also fixes the release date. The exact term differs from contract to contract, so read it in your own contract rather than assuming it.
Worked example (illustrative)
Example: you hold a block of 10 double rooms for a week in July, with release on 15 June. By 1 June you have confirmed 6 bookings. 4 rooms are still free, and two weeks before release you must decide: sell them or hand them back.
Block status (example values)
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Block total | 10 rooms |
| Used | 6 rooms |
| Left | 4 rooms |
| Release date | 15 June |
What the product does not do
- It does not release rooms automatically on the release date: you do it manually.
- It does not sync with the hotel's system or a GDS.
- It does not forecast how many rooms will stay unsold.
Common mistakes
- Keeping the release date only in a personal calendar and missing it.
- Selling more rooms than the block holds.
- Keeping allotments in a spreadsheet separate from bookings, with numbers that drift apart.
How 4AgencyTravel helps
- You link the allocation to a supplier and contract: type (room or seat), total, release date.
- On confirmation you choose the allocation the booking draws from; the software rejects a draw above the block total.
- The dashboard lists allocations with an approaching release date that are not fully used (it sends no notifications).
- With the release action you shrink the block to what you have used.