Overview
Before Price Match uses a promo code, Triptease checks that the code actually works on your booking engine. It does this by looking up your cheapest available rate without the code, then again with the code applied, and comparing the two. If the discount does not behave as expected, the check fails. A failed check is Triptease telling you the code cannot be relied on to discount the right rate by the right amount.
How it works
Triptease runs the check across a range of sample stays — different check-in dates and stay lengths, including multi-night stays — because a code can behave differently depending on the dates and length of stay. For each stay you can open View details to see the price without the code, the price with the code, the Expected change, and the Observed change.
A check fails for one of these reasons:
No change in the cheapest rate after applying the code. The observed discount is 0%. This usually means the code is invalid or expired, another discount is already active on that rate, or the code does not apply to your cheapest rate.
The discount does not match the code's percentage. For example, a 5% code produced a 3% discount, or a discount much larger than 5%. This usually means the code applied to a different rate than the cheapest one, or the discount value set for the code does not match how it is configured in your booking engine.
Applying the code removed all available rates. The code caused your booking engine to return no bookable rates for that stay, so there is nothing to sell at the discounted price.
The code discounted a rate it should not have. If you use rate filters to target specific rates, the check fails when the code discounts a rate you have excluded rather than the one you are targeting.
Most failures are fixed in your booking engine: confirm the code is active, applies to all room types and to your lowest public rate, and stacks on top of any existing discounts. After you make a change, use Recheck to test it again.
Common questions
Q: My code works when I test it in my booking engine. Why does Triptease say it failed?
A: Triptease checks several stays, including longer, multi-night stays and dates further out. A code can work for a one-night stay you tested by hand but fail on a stay where a different rate is cheapest, or where the code cannot apply. Open View details to see exactly which stay failed.
Q: The check says the discount does not match the expected percentage. What does that mean?
A: Triptease expected, say, a 5% discount for a 5% code, but saw a different amount. This normally means the code discounted a different rate than your cheapest one, or the percentage set against the code does not match your booking engine setup.
Q: What should I do when a code fails?
A: Check the code in your booking engine — it should be active, apply to all room types and your lowest public rate, and stack on existing discounts. Fix the setup there, then use Recheck to test the code again.