Spot Rates vs Seasonal Rates

from what I've read, it seems that Spot Rates are used to update Seasonal Rates. In the sense that the base rate is set using Seasonal Rates and then a Spot Rate will affect just the given date.

But when importing from a spreadsheet vs VRBO it seems rates are handled differently

a) importing from VRBO (via OR page) rates end up as spot rates
b) importing from a spreadsheet rates end up as seasonal

Can y'all give some insight into the best approach here? My goal is to maintain a permanent spreadsheet with dates per night.

Yep, I just answered you on the other forum post about this.

Yes, you are exactly right. Our spreadsheet import is for seasonal rates. The built-in VRBO import creates spot rates. This is because VRBO's entire new rate system runs on spot (or nightly) rates, not periods.

Both seasonal and spot rates have their place. The difference is in the variance - how often do you change them?

Do they go up and down constantly based on market/demand factors? Do you have an algorithim or service (eg. PriceLabs) that is constantly adjusting them for you? If so, use spot rates.

Most users have seasonal periods (high, low, holidays, etc) that they define the nightly rate and weekly rate for. Then they come back and layer spot rates on top of that for different days during the year or create specific date seasons for certain hot periods.