How do I add seasonal pricing (weekend rates, holidays, custom prices)?
WP Booking System lets you charge different prices for different dates, making it easy to create seasonal rates, weekend prices, holiday pricing and other custom rates.
Each calendar has a Default Price. You can then override that price for individual dates or use the Bulk Editor to update many dates at once.
For example, you could charge:
- €100 per night during the low season;
- €150 per night during July and August;
- €175 per night on summer weekends;
- €220 per night over New Year.
Set the default price
Every calendar can have a Default Price.
Go to:
WP Booking System → Calendars
and open the calendar you want to edit.
Set the Default Price to the standard rate that should apply when a date does not have its own custom price.
For example:
Default Price → €100
Dates that have not been given another price will use €100.
This gives you a base rate before you add seasonal or special pricing.
Change the price of an individual date
Open your calendar in:
WP Booking System → Calendars
Each date has a Price field when pricing is enabled.
The field initially displays the calendar’s Default Price, but you can replace it with a custom price.
For example:
December 31 → €250
January 1 → €250
This is useful for:
- public holidays;
- special events;
- New Year’s Eve;
- individual high-demand dates;
- one-off price adjustments.
After making your changes, click Save Calendar.
Set seasonal prices with the Bulk Editor
For a longer period, it is much faster to use the calendar’s Bulk Editor.
For example, suppose your normal price is €100 but you want to charge €150 from July 1 through August 31.
Open the calendar and use the Bulk Editor:
- Set Start Date → July 1.
- Set End Date → August 31.
- Enter Price → €150.
- Click Bulk Edit.
- Review the updated dates.
- Click Save Calendar.
Every date in that period will now use €150 instead of the Default Price.
You can repeat this for as many periods as you need.
Example seasonal pricing setup
A holiday rental could use:
Low season
Default Price:
€90 per night
Spring
April 1 – May 31:
€110 per night
Summer
June 1 – August 31:
€160 per night
Autumn
September 1 – October 31:
€120 per night
Christmas and New Year
December 23 – January 2:
€190 per night
You do not need to create separate calendars or forms for these seasons.
The prices are stored directly on the dates in the same calendar.
Set weekend prices
The Bulk Editor can also update only specific weekdays within a date range.
For example, suppose your normal summer price is €150 per night, but Friday and Saturday should cost €175.
First set the summer price:
June 1 – August 31 → €150
Then use the Bulk Editor again:
- Set the same summer Start Date and End Date.
- Enter Price → €175.
- Select the weekdays you want to change.
- For example, select Friday and Saturday.
- Click Bulk Edit.
- Click Save Calendar.
Only the selected weekdays within that period will receive the new price.
This allows you to combine seasonal and weekend pricing without creating a separate pricing system.
Can weekend prices be different in each season?
Yes.
Because prices are stored for individual dates, you can apply different weekend prices to different periods.
For example:
Low season
Monday–Thursday → €90
Friday–Sunday → €110
High season
Monday–Thursday → €160
Friday–Sunday → €190
Set the general seasonal price first, then use another Bulk Edit for the relevant weekend days within that season.
Add holiday pricing
For a single holiday or a short period, you can either edit the individual dates or use the Bulk Editor.
For example:
December 24 – December 26 → €200
December 31 – January 1 → €250
If only one date needs changing, editing that date directly is usually faster.
If several consecutive dates share the same price, use the Bulk Editor.
How do overlapping seasonal and weekend prices work?
WP Booking System does not stack separate pricing rules on top of each other.
Each calendar date ultimately has one price.
For example, there is no automatic calculation such as:
Summer price + 20% weekend surcharge + holiday surcharge.
Instead, you set the final price that should apply to each date.
This means the order in which you use the Bulk Editor matters.
Example
First you set:
July 1 – August 31 → €150
Then you set:
Saturdays during July 1 – August 31 → €180
The Saturdays will use €180, while the other summer dates remain €150.
If you later bulk edit the entire July–August period back to €150, those Saturday prices will also be overwritten.
For this reason, a good workflow is:
- Set broad seasonal prices first.
- Apply weekend prices second.
- Apply individual holiday or special-event prices last.
Use Ignore Empty Fields when bulk editing prices
The Bulk Editor can modify more than just prices.
Depending on your setup, it can also change information such as:
- availability;
- descriptions;
- inventory;
- tooltips.
If you only want to change prices, keep Ignore empty fields enabled.
This tells WP Booking System to leave the other date information unchanged.
For example, if the Price field contains €150 but Availability is left empty, the existing availability will remain unchanged.
This is particularly important when updating prices on a calendar that already contains bookings or manually configured availability.
Can I undo a Bulk Edit?
Yes.
After performing a Bulk Edit, WP Booking System provides an Undo option for the most recent bulk change.
This can be useful if you selected the wrong date range or entered the wrong price.
However, the Undo option is only available while you remain on the calendar editing page.
If you refresh the page or navigate away, the Undo option will no longer be available.
Always review a large pricing change before leaving the page.
Remember to save the calendar
Changes made with the date editor or Bulk Editor are not permanently saved until you click:
Save Calendar
After changing seasonal, weekend or holiday prices, save the calendar before leaving the page.
Use nights instead of days for accommodation pricing
If you charge accommodation by the night, use:
Selection Style → Split
when embedding the calendar.
With Split selection, the first and last selected dates act as check-in and check-out dates, and pricing is calculated in nights.
For example:
July 10 → check-in
July 15 → check-out
The booking represents 5 nights.
If you use:
Selection Style → Normal
WP Booking System treats the selected dates as full days instead.
Choose the selection style that matches the way you advertise your prices.
Can I show daily prices directly on the calendar?
Yes.
When embedding the calendar, enable:
Show Prices
If you use the shortcode directly:
show_prices="yes"
For example:
Customers will then be able to see the price assigned to each date directly on the calendar.
This can be useful when your prices vary significantly between weekdays, weekends or seasons.
Can different properties have different seasonal prices?
Yes.
Pricing belongs to the calendar.
If you have separate calendars for different properties or resources, each calendar can have its own:
- Default Price;
- seasonal prices;
- weekend prices;
- holiday prices;
- individual date prices.
For example:
Apartment A
Default → €100
Summer → €150
Villa B
Default → €220
Summer → €350
The two calendars are completely independent.
Can I set a holiday minimum stay as well?
Yes, but minimum-stay rules are separate from pricing.
For example, you may want:
December 30 – January 2 → €250 per night
and also require:
Minimum stay → 3 nights
The price is configured on the calendar dates.
More advanced seasonal minimum-stay rules can be configured using the Booking Restrictions add-on.
This allows you to combine special pricing with booking requirements for the same period.
Example: summer pricing with expensive weekends
Suppose you normally charge:
€100 per night
but want:
- June → €130;
- July and August → €160;
- Friday and Saturday in July and August → €190.
Configure it in this order.
Step 1
Set the calendar Default Price:
€100
Step 2
Bulk Edit:
June 1 – June 30 → €130
Step 3
Bulk Edit:
July 1 – August 31 → €160
Step 4
Bulk Edit July 1 – August 31 again, selecting only Friday and Saturday:
€190
The resulting calendar will contain the correct final price on every date.
Example: Christmas and New Year
Suppose your normal December price is €120.
You could set:
December 20 – December 27 → €180
December 28 – January 2 → €220
After applying the broader seasonal prices, you could also manually change:
December 31 → €280
if New Year’s Eve requires a special rate.
Because each date has its own final price, you have full control over these exceptions.
Test the pricing before publishing
After changing your rates, test several date ranges from the front end.
Check:
A normal booking
Select dates that use only the Default Price.
A seasonal booking
Select a range entirely inside one season.
A weekend booking
Select a range containing your higher-priced weekend dates.
A booking crossing two seasons
For example:
August 29 – September 3
Confirm that each night uses the price assigned to its corresponding date.
A holiday booking
Select a range containing your special holiday prices.
Make sure the total reflects the values configured in the calendar.
Why is the wrong price showing?
If a date displays an unexpected price, open the calendar in the WordPress dashboard and check that date’s Price field.
Remember that a previous Bulk Edit may have overridden its price.
Also check:
- that you edited the correct calendar;
- that the calendar was saved;
- that pricing is enabled;
- whether you are using Normal or Split selection;
- whether extras, taxes or other pricing fields are being added to the booking total.
Do seasonal prices repeat automatically every year?
No.
Seasonal prices are assigned to actual calendar dates.
For example, setting:
July 1, 2026 – August 31, 2026
does not automatically configure the same dates in 2027.
You should review and configure future seasonal prices as your booking calendar extends into new years.
This also gives you the flexibility to change your rates from one season to the next.
Summary
Seasonal pricing in WP Booking System is based on prices assigned directly to calendar dates.
Start with a Default Price, then use:
- the date editor for individual custom prices;
- the Bulk Editor for seasons;
- weekday filtering in the Bulk Editor for weekend rates;
- individual or short-range overrides for holidays.
There are no separate pricing rules that stack together. Each date has one final price, so apply broad seasonal prices first and more specific weekend or holiday prices afterwards.
For accommodation priced by night, use Split selection so the booking total is calculated according to nights rather than full calendar days.
