In this article, you will find answers to some of the frequently asked questions about Booking.com:
1. How did a reservation from Booking.com come into ThinkReservations without a credit card or deposit?
When a reservation is made on Booking.com, Booking.com does not wait to see if the credit card is valid before accepting the reservation. This is the case even when Booking.com validates the credit card. They simply make sure it appears to be a credit card number. Once Booking.com sends the reservation information to ThinkReservations, it's created in your ThinkReservations account, and the credit card information is sent to your processor to validate the card and, if applicable, charge the deposit.
If ThinkReservations finds that the card is not valid or if the charge is declined, the following will occur automatically:
1. ThinkReservations sends an email to the property to let you know that this reservation came through with an invalid card. You have some options in these cases:
You can cancel the reservation if the guest doesn't upload new credit card data on Booking.com within 24 hours. Optionally, you might contact the guest, get a different card, and run it in ThinkReservations while you have them on the phone. You'll know that you can cancel the reservation within Booking.com when "Ready to cancel" shows the status of this reservation in the reservation overview table in your Booking.com account.
If the guest has updated the card, it will say, "Updated credit card".
Check to make sure the guest hasn't updated their card information and had the card retained, and a deposit charged before you cancel the reservation is Booking.com.To cancel:
Open the reservation on Booking.com's Extranet, and you will be able to cancel with a button. As soon as you do, the reservation in ThinkReservations will be canceled. Don't forget to refund the guest if they have a refund coming to them.
2. ThinkReservations also simultaneously sends a notification to Booking.com to alert them that an invalid credit card was received. This starts the 24-hour timer. This triggers an email from Booking.com to be sent to the guest. If the guest has a Booking.com account, a notification will be put into their account as well. Their message includes a link for the guest to click through to update their credit card information on Booking.com. If this is done, Booking.com sends the updated credit card number to ThinkReservations, the card is retained, and the payment, if applicable, is charged.*
*Please note that in these instances, ThinkReservations does not currently have a way of alerting our customers that the credit card number has been updated. There may be times when you'll check the reservation and see that a credit card is retained and a deposit has been paid. No further action is needed.
2. Why have I received a Booking.com reservation with a lower room rate than it should be?
There are several reasons why the rate would be different than what you might expect.
A common reason the rate is lowered is because of a promotion on Booking.com that you might not be aware of. Check out the reservation on Booking.com for details about what, if any, promotions were given for the reservation in question. You will need to click Show Details on the reservation inside of your Booking.com Extranet to see this. You can disable these promotions from within your Booking.com account settings if you'd like. If you need assistance with this, you should reach out to your Booking.com Market Manager or send an inbox message from within the Booking.com Extranet.
If you participate in the Genius program, the reservation could be for a "Genius Guest." A genius booking is generally where Booking.com takes the rate we provide and lowers it by a percentage. We find that sometimes properties are not aware they are enrolled in this program. Please reach out to Booking.com support if you would like to opt out.
Perhaps the additional guest fees are not set up properly on Booking.com. Booking.com does not receive information from ThinkReservations regarding additional guest fees. These need to be configured in your Booking.com account. If they are not configured, here is an example of what occurs:
A guest makes a single night reservation for three people to stay in a room that is normally $150 per night, double occupancy. The additional guest fee is configured in ThinkReservations as $50 per person per night. Because additional guest fees were not configured in Booking.com, the guest was able to make the reservation for $150 for three guests instead of $200 for three guests. When ThinkReservations receives the reservation, and we see that the total paid for three guests was $150, ThinkReservations will update the pricing to set aside $50 for the additional guest fee. The result will appear as if the room rate were $100, and the additional guest fee was $50, as intended, for the total price of $150.
To prevent this, and other potential policy inconsistencies, from occurring, It is important to make sure all of the following are configured in your Booking.com account, as this information is not synced:
Extra guest fees
Child occupancy settings and fees
Cancellation policy
Meal plan
Minimum notice for online reservations
Room photos and descriptions
You can now set this up within Booking.com by going to Rates & Availability, then Calendar. Under each room type's rate type, you'll see an icon that resembles a person and the words set up next to that if it's never been set up, or a number with the word edit next to it. Clicking on this will allow you to set up the base occupancy for the unit, determine how you handle extra guests, and determine what that fee would be. Please note that if you have more than just one extra guest, you need to add the 'per guest' fee together for that.
Example: Your unit's base occupancy is two, your maximum occupancy is four, and your extra-person fee is set to $50.00 per person per night. When you set this up in Booking.com, you'll set the third-person cost to $50 and the fourth-person cost to $100.
3. What does Not XML mean? Why aren't all of my rate plans mapped?
Booking.com has a feature that allows properties to create a rate plan based on an existing Booking.com rate plan. Booking calls these "Non-XML Rate Plans." This is similar to ThinkReservations' derived rate feature. The benefit is that pricing for this new rate plan is connected to another. The problem is that restrictions, like minimum nights through, are not! This means you could have an issue where you're expecting their system to enforce the restrictions that you've put in place on the mapped rate type within ThinkReservations, but because those restrictions don't cascade from the 'XML' rate plans to the 'Non-XML rate plans', this won't happen. These rate plans are not connected to the ThinkReservations channel manager.
It's a problematic oversight on Booking's part, not to mention the lack of linked restrictions for these "Not XML" rate plans and to not link restrictions by default. If you would like to offer an alternative price option where creating an additional rate plan on Booking seems like a good idea, please keep these two considerations in mind.
Consider making this rate plan within Booking.com a 'Set up as a new rate plan' instead of 'Based on one of my current rate plans' and then mapping that 'New rate plan' to a rate type within ThinkReservations.
Make sure that you have set the restriction for this rate plan on Booking.com and know that anything that you have in place that is above this restriction's value will not be applied. (Ex: Two-night minimum on the rate plan, but you want a three-night minimum on Memorial Day Weekend)
Work with Booking support to ensure that restrictions are connected for these rate plans. In our experience, Booking support can make some back-end changes that link restrictions to these rate plans.
Only XML rate plans can be mapped to ThinkReservations, so we cannot see these other rate plans.
Restrictions for "Not XML" rate plans can only be updated manually from within Booking's Extranet (unless linked by Booking support staff.)
You can identify these rate plans on the Booking.com Extranet by going to Rates & Availability > Calendar. Next to the rate plan name, "Not XML" will appear.
Hovering over the flag will tell you the following:
This rate plan isn't linked to your connectivity provider and is based on your Standard Rate. To update this rate plan's prices, edit your Standard Rate, then this one will be updated automatically. You'll still receive reservations through your connectivity provider.
On the Rate Plans page, only Rate Plans that are listed as Mapped from ThinkReservations are mapped.
4. Booking.com reservations don't allow me to see the real guest email address. How can I effectively market to these guests in the future?
This is a feature Booking.com has implemented to protect the guest's email address. We suggest reaching out to the guest directly to obtain this information and update the guest file. You can also get this from the guest directly while they're on-site. Another way you can do this is by creating a new email template in your ThinkReservations account that can be sent to guests after you see their Booking.com reservation come through. We have a sample that we think you'll find really helpful to get you started, located here: Booking.com/Expedia Information Request Email
If you need a refresher on creating new email templates, please click here or contact us at support@thinkreservations.com and let us know you'd like the Booking.com Info Request Template set up.*
*If you also connect with Expedia through ThinkReservations, setting up a similar template for those reservations may be just as helpful!
5. What happens when a Booking.com reservation is canceled?
Booking.com will send ThinkReservations an update to have the reservations canceled when a guest cancels a reservation or when you or your staff cancel from within the Booking.com Extranet. Guests should cancel their reservation through the channel where it was originally made. If a Booking.com reservation is canceled this way, Booking.com alerts ThinkReservations and the reservation is then canceled within your ThinkReservations account. We also send an email to let you know. Booking.com will add a cancellation fee line item to the reservation if applicable. Refunds, if necessary, must be handled manually.
If you mark a reservation as a no-show on Booking.com, you will need to manually cancel in ThinkReservations. Booking.com doesn't treat a no-show as a cancellation.
If you cancel a reservation in ThinkReservations but not on Booking.com, you are setting yourself up for a potentially very large problem! This is because Booking.com doesn't allow the channel manager to cancel a booking.
Warning: When you cancel an OTA reservation in ThinkReservations, the reservation on the OTA is not updated to reflect this. In fact, it could be reopened automatically. Cancel on the OTA to prevent issues.
You should only cancel a Booking.com reservation in ThinkReservations if it was made before you connected to ThinkReservations' channel manager or if it is a no-show.
6. Why did I receive an email from Booking.com about a canceled reservation, but the reservation is still active in ThinkReservations?
The reservation in question is likely a reservation that was imported from your previous system and isn't linked to the ThinkReservations like new reservations are.
Because we cannot automatically cancel the reservation for you, please log in to your Booking.com Extranet account, verify the reservation details, and compare them with the reservation in your ThinkReservations account. Then, manually cancel the reservation, add any applicable cancellation fee, and refund the guest if necessary. Reservations marked as a "No-Show" will not be canceled in ThinkReservations and need to be manually canceled.
7. Can I change the name of the rooms that I have on Booking.com?
If you ask Booking.com, they will typically allow you to specify a unique name for your rooms. Generally, the options for the room names that Booking.com provides work, but if not, they can update these for you at their discretion.
8. If I mark a reservation as a no-show on Booking.com, will it automatically cancel in ThinkReservations?
No. Booking.com doesn't consider "No Show" flagged reservations as cancellations. You'll need to manually cancel the reservations within your ThinkReservations account.
9. Can I charge for breakfast, resort fees, or anything similar to my Booking.com guests?
Booking.com supports charging for Breakfast at a fee. This is set up on Booking.com under Property > Facilities & Services. If you offer a meal add-on, make sure you have an item with the same name within ThinkReservations:
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
The meal's price can be $0, and we will correct the price when we get the pricing from Booking.com, but the name must be exactly as above. The item does not need to be added to the rate type.
10. A Booking.com guest wants to stay longer. Should I modify the reservation in ThinkReservations?
If you modify an OTA reservation in any way, these changes are not communicated to Booking.com. If the guest modifies their reservation within Booking.com, the bill will revert to what Booking.com has for the reservation, deleting the change(s) you've made to the bill.
Booking.com also periodically audits reservations, and changes made to the bill on the ThinkReservations account will revert to what Booking.com has for the reservation if they send a modification request for any reservation.
If the guest would like to lengthen their stay, please create a new separate reservation for this. This ensures that you are not paying commissions on sales won by your property. However, if the guest shortens their stay, make sure they update the reservation within Booking.com so you aren't paying commissions for those extra days.
Note: Ideally, the guest would inform Booking.com of this modification, but that doesn't always occur. If the guest doesn't update the reservation by the end of the month, make sure you update the booking within Booking.com or reach out to Booking.com and let them know the guest didn't stay the entirety of their reservation and it needs to be adjusted.
11. A Booking.com guest wants to add or purchase items or packages from me. Should I modify the reservation in ThinkReservations?
If you modify an OTA reservation in any way, these changes are not communicated to Booking.com. If the guest modifies their reservation within Booking.com, the bill will revert to what Booking.com has for the reservation, deleting the change(s) you've made to the bill.
Booking.com also periodically audits reservations, and changes made to the bill on the ThinkReservations account will revert to what Booking.com has for the reservation if they send a modification request for any reservation.
Notes are not removed when a reservation is updated. We recommend creating a separate invoice to charge your guests for any items or packages. Use the notes section to alert you and your staff that there is another bill with items for the guest. In turn, use the notes on the new bill to mention the confirmation ID of the overnight reservation. This prevents the risk of having purchased items removed from the bill.
12. Can I give Booking.com guests a different confirmation email?
Guests who book through an OTA like Booking.com will still get the same confirmation email and other automatic emails as set in the Email Rules. Because they get the same confirmation email, you may want to make sure your policies include an extra line with a disclaimer. Example: Please note that if you booked through a third party, such as an Online Travel Agency like Booking.com, Expedia, etc..., you are beholden to the booking and cancellation policies you agreed to when booking with them.
This is helpful as most businesses have a stricter cancellation policy for OTAs than for those booking directly. You can manually trigger an additional email for Booking.com if you need to.
13. Why doesn't this Booking.com reservation have the guest's full address?
Booking.com doesn't always collect the guest's full address. You may have an exception on your Booking.com account that says you don't require a guest address when booking.com. Sometimes we have seen where Booking.com doesn't ask for the State. Please reach out to Booking.com and ask if they can adjust these settings for you.
14. How can I encourage guests to book direct instead of with an OTA?
Generally, guests who book through an OTA are not going to visit your website. Therefore, they don't know that the pricing and policies you offer on your own website differ from what they see on the OTA. It's not common knowledge that properties pay large commissions to accept these reservations. However, you do have quite a bit of control over your OTA reservations. You can only provide availability for rooms and dates when you need help. If you get an OTA reservation, it's because you provided the OTA availability for that room and date. You are not forced to give the OTA any availability. You also set the price. If you don't like the net rate you get after commissions for OTA reservations, you can adjust it. Make sure that you are still netting a profit for OTA reservations. If you aren't, then you have incorrectly set your rates and availability.
Having said that, prospective guests will sometimes navigate to your site. Also, you want to prevent guests who start on your side from going back to the OTA to book. This is done by having a sort of "book-direct" campaign on your website and advertising your property and website.
Here are some tips:
Technically, the rates, availability, and restrictions have to be the same as what you have on your own website. However, ThinkReservations does not enforce this. Booking.com and Expedia have told us they would rather have a client than lose one because of rate parity that they don't even enforce. Booking.com checks Expedia and vice-versa, but they don't check your own website.
Have your policies more strict on OTAs. If they are looking at your website and the OTA, the policies shouldn't encourage them to book with the OTA but rather encourage them to book with you directly.
Only ask for help from the OTA's when you need it. You can cherry-pick what rooms and days to give availability to the OTAs as often as you wish.
Set minimum night stay requirements with the OTA's so that when they do book, especially during busy seasons, they have to book several days. You likely couldn't do this before, as other channel managers don't support this.
Maybe your least expensive room isn't available, or maybe it's priced the same as the next least expensive room. This is a popular tactic for TripConnect.
Amenities don't have to be the same as when booking direct. So, when you book directly, maybe the guest gets better or free amenities. Maybe you mention this, but in reality, all guests are treated the same.
Free Breakfast
Free Wi-Fi
More room choices
Free cookies/snacks
Early check-in (normal check-in)
Lake check-out (normal check-out)
Coffee/tea/water
Free Parking
Guaranteed room (as opposed to a type.)
Etc.
Consider using TripTease to show prospective guests on your website that the pricing you offer is the same or better than what is seen on the OTAs, so they don't have to check.
Consider using Tipadvisor's TripConnect. Even for clients who don't like Tripadvisor, this is still a very powerful tool for helping guests book directly. ThinkReservations doesn't charge to use this, but we highly recommend it. If you aren't using it, you aren't doing everything you can to get direct bookings.
Show your OTA Rate to your guests. Instead of naming it "OTA RATE," name it "Standard Rate" or something similar. Then, when guests book on your own site, they see they are getting a deal (your normal Best Available Rate). You might even consider renaming your Best Available Rate to "Book Direct Special" or something similar.
Last but not least, simply charge a higher rate to the OTAs. You can use a yield management plan on the OTAs so that the amount you charge varies based on how far out guests are booking and how busy you are.
15. Can I add an item to my OTA Rate in ThinkReservations?
No. OTAs don't currently support this. However, you can add the option for a guest to choose to add a meal, such as breakfast, for a fee on the Booking.com side. If the meal is added, ensure a corresponding item is within your ThinkReservations account, as it will automatically be added to the reservation.
16. How do I contact Booking.com support?
Log in to your Booking.com Extranet by going to https://admin.booking.com. This is not the same login that you would use as a traveler. Once you've logged in, click Inbox in their navigation. Use this to compose a Booking.com message. On the right-hand side of the Booking.com Messages page, you will see contact options.
17. How do I disconnect Booking.com from ThinkReservations?
If you wish to disconnect Booking.com, please reach out to ThinkReservations support for assistance. Please note that disconnecting Booking.com from ThinkReservations will have the following effects:
Rate, availability, and restriction data from ThinkReservations will no longer go to Bookng.com.
Booking.com will no longer send cancellations, reservation updates, or new reservations to ThinkReservations.
Disconnecting Booking.com from ThinkReservations will not remove any rates, availability, or restriction data at Booking.com
Disconnecting Booking.com from ThinkReservations will not cancel your Booking.com account.
If you wish to cancel Booking.com, you will need to contact them for assistance.
18. Taxes are changing for my property. Do I need to update Booking.com?
Yes, you will need to work with Booking.com to ensure that all of your business's taxes are set up and applied as required.
If Booking.com is collecting and remitting the collected taxes, you will want to ensure those taxes do not appear on the bill in ThinkReservations. This is because you don't want to charge your guests taxes that have already been paid. This can be done manually on each affected reservation by going to Actions > Edit Tax Exempt Policy > Select either All taxes exempt, or Specific taxes exempt > If you choose Specific taxes exempt, make sure to check the box for the tax(es) that you want to be exempted. You can also set up a special Rate Type where the taxes that are normally applied are overridden and not included for Booking.com Collect Reservations. Please reach out to ThinkReservations support if you need help.