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.

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 the Settings here, click Edit at the lower right of the screen, make changes and then click save. See image below.

For details on each section and how to Edit the information, see the links below.

In this section

Bookings at my property require. - 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.

Guests must confirm at least (days in advance)
Minimum Booking Lead Time (hours in advance) 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 – if you tick this box, a menu appears below the calendar so that guests can see availability for specific Room Types. Useful for properties with many room types, or properties where each room type is a unique room such as a Vacation Rental or a B&B with theme rooms.
Cancellation Type: Don't prompt for number of guests on enquiry page – Every Room Type has a Maximum Capacity. If you prompt for 'the number of guests' on the enquiry page, then results will be limited to Room Types with capacity to match the number of guests. In fact, guests often book several rooms; if you limit the available options to rooms that match the group capacity then you may miss out on bookings. For example, 4 people may prefer to book 2 Double Rooms (max capacity 2) rather than a Family Room (max capacity 4).
Allow cancellations within the penalty period – This flag determines if the booking engine exposes Guest Types during the booking process.
where X is (hours / days / time)
Cancellation Amount

Smoking Policy

To see the details of each section, click on the title and a list will expand:

The booking system holds enough information about your property to build a mini-website. This information may be linked to some agent websites. This information is also used to complete listings on GDS websites like Yahoo Travel, Orbitz, Expedia and others. Please complete this information to the best of your ability.

Deposit, Confirmation, and Cancellation Policy Message(GDS) – explain in 'your own words' policies for advance deposits, conditions for cancellations and refunds and any special conditions specific to your property. Be sure to tick the box, "Guest Must Agree to Terms", in Booking Engine Settings if you want the guest to confirm they agree to your terms.
*Tip Confirmed Bookings vs. Enquiries - if you are not able to provide immediate confirmation for bookings then you should include a statement in your terms and conditions that 'all bookings must be confirmed before they are final'.
This Policy Message displays on the confirmation screen, phone or fax form, on the Site Profile page and GDS listings, at the bottom of the guest booking confirmation e-mail, and in the guest booking details.

Restrictions – Displays a small message on the first enquiry screen to warn guests of special conditions.
Please note that it is forbidden to place phone numbers, website addresses or e-mail addresses in any description except the 'Thank you for Booking Message'. If you are listed on the GDS, it is forbidden to use html tags.

Site Description - Displays on the home page of Booking Engine Templates when using the Hotel Description option.
Marketing Message
Location Description
Customer Reviews
Driving Directions
Registration Message – not used, please ignore.

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

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