Marketing And Policies

Go to SETUP | SETTINGS |MARKETING AND POLICIES to set your Guarantee, Deposit, Cancellation and Lead Time settings and to enter Policy and Marketing messages.

The Guarantee/Deposit term settings determine the deposit or guarantee required from guests when booking online, and the cancellation period and terms.

The Deposit and Cancellation Policies listed at top of the Marketing Messages display automatically to customers on your website as the Deposit and Cancellation Policies which the guests must accept to complete the booking. They also display on the "BookingCenter Default Confirmation Letter" (if selected) which is automatically sent when guest makes a booking on your website. See detail below, the fields used on Booking Engine and Default Confirmation Letter are marked in red with (Booking Engine) . To see where these policies display on your Booking Engine, see Booking Engine | Policies

Other Marketing Messages are are optonal fields that can inserted into your Letters using merge fields which means the information will automatically appear.

NOTE: If you are using an OTA Direct Connection (Booking.com, Expedia, etc.) and/or a XML or partner Booking Engine (such as Odysys, BookingSuite, Easy InnKeeping, etc) as your interface, then marketing and policies are controlled in the extranet or interface of the connection.

To edit Marketing and Policies, click Edit at the lower right of the screen, make changes and then click save. See iinstructions below.

Settings Tab

Guarantee/Deposit and Cancellation Terms Settings

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Bookings at my property require. (Booking Engine) - This setting determines the guarantee or deposit required for bookings made at the Front Desk (manually entered0 and for online bookings taken on your website. For example, if you only require a valid credi card at time of booking, then choose "Credit Card Guarantee". If you require a 1 night deposit, then choose "1 Night Deposit".

No deposit: Does not require any desposit or Credit Card Guarantee.
Credit card guarantee: Checking this box will require the guest to enter valid credit card information when booking. If you require a deposit, then use this information to make deposit in the Guest Folio.
1-night deposit: this setting will automatically calculate a deposit of 1 Night (Rate of first nighto f stay)
Percentage deposit of %: Enter a percentage amount of deposit. For example, if you require 50% deposit, then enter 50.
Flat Deposit Amount: such as a $100 deposit to guarantee the booking.

Guests must confirm at least (days in advance)
Minimum Booking Lead Time (hours in advance) (Booking Engine) Enter your minimum booking lead time in HOURS (24 hr increments). For example, 24 hours = 1 day, 48 hours = 2 days , etc.
Note, for any OTA that you have a direct relationship with - Booking.com, Expedia, Priceline, etc - this value will NOT ‘flow over’ to the OTA. The only systems that this "Minimum Booking Lead Time“ can seamlessly is the BookingCenter Booking Engine/GDS/Pegasus systems. All OTAs and other travel systems you have a direct contract with MUST be setup to enforce your Minimum Booking Lead Time policy in the system itself. For example, if you have a contract with Booking.com, you must set your Minimum Booking Lead Time in Booking.com, as BookingCenter will not send these values. We always recommend to TEST the OTAs setting for after requesting it from your market manager, as that will prove it was set properly.

Cancellation Policy (Booking Engine) – First choose the time period of the cancellation policy in either hours or days prior to or after arrival. You can also choose no cancellation policy or always a cancellation policy.
- For example, "if not cancelled X hours prior to arrival" is chosen, then the number entered would be calculated in hours.
Cancellation Type: Choose "Number of Nights", "Flat Rate" or "Percentage
Allow cancellations within the penalty period – Do you want to allow cancellations within the cancellation period you have set. Typcially this is set to No.
where X is (hours / days / time): Choose the penalty period in hours or days for your cancellation policy.
Cancellation Amount: Enter the amount of your cancellation fee based on the "Cancellation Type" you have chosen. For example, if you chose "Number of Nights", and need a 1 Night Deposit as a cancellation fee, then enter 1. If your cancellation is $50, then choose "Flat Rate" in Cancellation Type and enter 50.

Smoking Policy: Choose the type of Smoking Policy you have.

Pet Policy: Choose the type of Pet Policy you have.

Messaging

These fields are used to display your Policies and Marketing messages. Some of the fields are required and will display automatically on the Bookng Engine

Other Marketing Messages are are optonal fields that can inserted into your Letters using merge fields which means the information will automatically appear. The fields used on Booking Engine and Default Confirmation Letter are marked in red with (Booking Engine) .

The Deposit and Confirmation Policy Message, Cancellation and Privacy Policies listed display automatically to customers on your website as the Deposit and Cancellation Policies which the guests must accept to complete the booking. They also display on the "BookingCenter Default Confirmation Letter" (if selected) which is automatically sent when guest makes a booking on your website. if you have chosen the setting "Guest Must Agree to Terms" in Booking Engine Settings. If you want the policies displayed and require the guest to accepat, then you must make sure this setting is checked.

Deposit and Confirmation Policy Message (Booking Engine) – Explain in 'your own words' the policies for advance deposits, or guarantee requirements and any other special conditions specific to your property.

Cancellation Policy Message(Booking Engine) - Explain in 'your own words' the cancellation policy, terms and penatlies.

Restrictions: (shows page 1 on Booking Engine) Restrictions (Booking Engine) – Displays a small message on the first enquiry screen to warn guests of special conditions.

Site Description (Booking Engine) - Displays on the first page of Booking Engine Template 01 and 02 "Hotel Description" option.

Marketing Message (Booking Engine) - Displays on the first page of Booking Engine Template 01 and 02 "Hotel Description" option.

Privacy Policy (Booking Engine) - Displays on the first page of Booking Engine Template 01 and 02 "Hotel Description" option.

Location Description - Optional field that can be inserted in as a merge field in Letters.

Customer Reviews - Optional field that can be inserted in as a merge field in Letters.

Driving Directions - Optional field that can be inserted in as a merge field in Letters.

Registration Message – Optional field that can be inserted in as a merge field in Letters.

"Thank you for Booking" Message – this message appears at the top of the automated guest booking confirmation e-mail on the Legacy Booking Engine This is a good place to include a contact phone number along with a personalized message.

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