Cutoff date

How does the cutoff date work?

The group contract sets the cutoff date. Blocks says cutoff dates are typically 21–30 days before the event and calls them one of the most critical deadlines in room block management. For a TMC or DMC, it is the date your rooming list has to be close to final. Names that arrive later get in only if the hotel agrees to take them.

We think the cutoff is the date that sets your attrition exposure. Canary Technologies notes that industry estimates hover around an 80% attrition block, so a group can release up to 20% of its rooms without penalty. Rooms still unassigned at cutoff are the ones most likely to push you below that line. Some contracts credit resold rooms against the charge. A sample clause on Law Insider states that returned group rooms shall be the last in the Hotel's inventory to be sold, which limits what that credit is worth.

Some contracts use more than one cutoff. Blocks describes rolling attrition, where the allowed shortfall is measured and tightened in stages as the event approaches. That leaves you several deadlines to track for one block.

What should you check before signing?

• Whether late names after cutoff still get the group rate and count toward pickup.
• Whether the contract has one cutoff or a staged release schedule.

In our view, you should plan the attendee chasing schedule backwards from the cutoff, because the event date comes too late to help. For the full penalty maths, see Hotel attrition clauses explained, with a worked penalty example.