Hotel Rate Plans: How to Set Up EP, CP, MAP and AP on OTAs in India

You Have Rooms. Now How Do You Sell Them?

You have just listed your hotel on MakeMyTrip. Your room is ready. But when you look at how other hotels appear on the search results page, you notice something: the same hotel is showing up multiple times in the results, at different prices. One row says "Room Only at ₹2,400". Another says "Room with Breakfast at ₹2,750". Another says "Breakfast and Dinner at ₹3,200". These are not different rooms. They are the same room, sold under different rate plans.

• A rate plan is a predefined package that bundles your room with a specific set of services: meals, packages, inclusions.
• Every plan you create becomes a separate listing row on OTAs like MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, and Booking.com.
• Guests pick the plan that suits their trip: a business traveller picks EP, a family on a resort holiday picks MAP.
• From the hotel's side, rate plans help you sell your restaurant services at the time of booking, not just at checkout.

The Four Main Rate Plans

Here are the four standard plans used by every hotel in India and worldwide.

RO, BB, HB and FB: The International Codes for the Same Plans

Indian OTAs use EP, CP, MAP and AP. International platforms like Booking.com, Agoda and Expedia use board basis codes instead: RO, BB, HB and FB. These are the same four plans under different names. If you list on both Indian and international channels, you are selling one inventory set described two ways, and mixing them up is one of the most common causes of a guest arriving expecting a meal you never sold them.

Indian Code	International Code	Full Name	Meals Included
EP	RO	Room Only	None
CP	BB	Bed and Breakfast	Breakfast
MAP	HB	Half Board	Breakfast plus one meal, usually dinner
AP	FB	Full Board	Breakfast, lunch and dinner

You will also see these codes inside your channel manager when you map rate plans across channels, and on the OTA extranet when you set what each plan includes. A channel manager is the software that keeps your rates and availability in sync across every platform you sell on. Map EP to RO, CP to BB, MAP to HB and AP to FB, and your inventory stays consistent everywhere.

Which Plan Should Your Property Lead With?

The right default depends less on what you can cook and more on what is within walking distance of your gate. If guests have twenty places to eat nearby, meals bundled into the rate are a hard sell. If the nearest restaurant is forty minutes away on a hill road, guests will pay for the certainty.

Property Type	Lead With	Why
City business hotel	EP or CP	Guests eat out or claim meals on expenses. Breakfast is the only meal worth bundling.
Hill station and resort property	MAP	Guests stay on property in the evening. Dinner included removes a decision they do not want to make after a day out.
Wildlife lodge or remote stay	AP	There is nowhere else to eat. Safari timings also make fixed meal slots easier for everyone.
Homestay or small guesthouse	CP or MAPAI	Home-cooked Indian meals are the draw. Bundling them is the product, not an add-on.
Pilgrimage town property	CPAI or MAPAI	Guests expect vegetarian Indian food and predictable pricing over choice.

How to Price Each Rate Plan

The most common question new hoteliers ask is: how much more should I charge for CP versus EP? Here is a practical framework using rupee examples. Your starting point is always the BAR (Best Available Rate), which becomes your EP base.

Before you fix that EP base, check what comparable hotels near you charge. You can see where comparable hotels are priced using a matched set built from star class, guest rating and amenities, which reports the median rate and where yours falls against it.

Plan	What to Add	Example (EP base = ₹2,400)	Pricing Logic
EP	Nothing	₹2,400	Base room rate only
CP	60 to 80% of breakfast walk-in price	₹2,650 to ₹2,720	If breakfast walk-in = ₹350, add ₹210 to ₹280
MAP	CP uplift + 60 to 80% of dinner walk-in	₹3,100 to ₹3,300	Adds dinner value on top of CP
AP	MAP uplift + 50 to 60% of lunch walk-in	₹3,500 to ₹3,800	Lunch is lowest-value meal; discount it most

Indian Variants: CPAI, MAPAI, APAI

In India, you will often see rate plans with an "AI" suffix. It stands for "All Indian" and means the meals included are Indian cuisine.

Plan Code	Full Name	What It Means
CPAI	Continental Plan All Indian	Room with Indian breakfast buffet (idli, dosa, paratha, poha)
MAPAI	Modified American Plan All Indian	Room with Indian breakfast and Indian dinner buffet
APAI	American Plan All Indian	Room with all three Indian meals daily

Step-by-Step: How to Add Rate Plans on MakeMyTrip and Booking.com

Here is how to actually add rate plans to your OTA listings.

On MakeMyTrip Partner Central

1. Log into MMT Partner Central (partners.makemytrip.com)
2. Go to Property Setup, then Rate Plans
3. Click Add New Rate Plan
4. Choose the plan type: EP, CP, MAP, or AP (MMT labels these as Room Only, Breakfast Included, etc.)
5. Set the price differential above your base EP rate
6. Add a clear description (e.g., "Complimentary Indian breakfast buffet for 2 guests")
7. Save. The plan will appear as a separate row on your listing within a few hours

On Booking.com Extranet

1. Log into your Booking.com Extranet
2. Go to Rates and Availability, then Rate Plans
3. Click Add Rate Plan
4. Select the meal type from the dropdown (Booking.com calls them "Meal Plans")
5. Set your price: either a fixed amount above the base rate or a percentage
6. Write a short description guests will see at booking
7. Save and publish

OTA Commission on Rate Plans: What You Actually Earn

This is something many new hoteliers miss: OTAs charge their commission on the full booking amount, including the meal component.

• If your OTA commission is 18% and you sell a CP plan at ₹2,700 (room ₹2,400 + breakfast ₹300), you pay ₹486 in commission on the full ₹2,700.
• The commission is not just on the room portion. It applies to meals, packages, and any extras bundled into the plan.
• This means higher-value plans (MAP, AP) earn you more gross revenue but also cost more in commission.
• Calculate your net yield per plan before deciding which to push heavily on high-commission OTAs.

Plan	Example Rate	18% Commission	Net to Hotel
EP	₹2,400	₹432	₹1,968
CP	₹2,700	₹486	₹2,214
MAP	₹3,200	₹576	₹2,624
AP	₹3,800	₹684	₹3,116

Which Rate Plan Converts Best on Which OTA?

• MakeMyTrip and Goibibo: CP and MAP convert best. Domestic leisure travellers on these platforms prefer meals included, especially families and couples on weekend breaks.
• Booking.com: EP converts best for international guests; CP is strong for domestic leisure. List all plans and let the platform's algorithm serve the right plan to the right guest.
• Agoda: Similar to Booking.com. EP and CP dominate. MAP works well for resort properties.
• Direct booking channel: Always push MAP or AP here. Guests who book direct are usually higher intent and open to spending more. Bundle meals to increase booking value.

Special and Package Rate Plans

Beyond the standard EP, CP, MAP, AP plans, hotels can create custom package plans that bundle other services into the room rate.

• Honeymoon Package: room plus breakfast plus flower decoration, welcome cake, and couples spa. Common in hill stations and beach resorts.
• Adventure Package: room plus breakfast plus guided trekking or wildlife safari. Popular in Coorg, Uttarakhand, and Ranthambore.
• Long Stay Plan: weekly or monthly rates with meals included, suited for corporate guests or extended stays.
• Festive Packages: room plus gala dinner on Diwali, New Year, Christmas. Priced at a significant premium.
• Family Package: two rooms plus all meals for a group of four, priced to incentivise family bookings.

Frequently Asked Questions