Important to know:
This article only applies to Direct booking. You may be able to configure cancellation settings for your other connected channels via their extranet.
Guests will only be able to modify and cancel reservations by themselves if Allow guest cancellation is ticked and the cancellation penalty is enabled at both property and room rate level.
To get started, go to Direct booking > Configuration > Cancellation settings.
Property cancellation settings
Property cancellation settings will apply to all room rates (however if needed, you can set a different policy per room rate in Room cancellation settings ).
To configure your Property cancellation settings , go to Direct booking > Configuration > Cancellation settings.
Allow guest cancellation
Enabling Allow guest cancellations will allow your guests to modify or cancel their reservation (as long as the room rate allows guest cancellations).
As long as both the property and the room rate allows cancellations, guests will be able to cancel or modify their reservation by clicking the links in their reservation confirmation e-mail.
Allowing your guests to modify or cancel their reservation themselves will not only help save you time and effort, but will provide a better experience for your guests.
If Allow guest cancellations is not enabled at property level, room rates will not show the Property Cancellation Policy and guests will need to contact your property directly to request to modify or cancel their reservation (unless you override this by setting it up per room rate).
Property cancellation policy
If Allow guest cancellations is enabled, you must configure a Property cancellation policy and Property cancellation penalties.
Include a description for your property’s policy for Direct booking cancellations and modifications, which will be displayed to guests in the following places:
On the guest’s booking confirmation page and confirmation e-mail.
In the room rate’s details on the booking engine.
On your booking engine’s Policies tab.
Property cancellation penalties
Set specific rules as to when customers can cancel or modify their booking and add any penalties that may apply. Please note: penalties shouldn’t be higher than the amount a guest paid for the reservation.
Configure the cancellation penalty:
Default penalty or Select dates — if ‘Default penalty’ is enabled, a penalty will apply to all dates, whereas ‘Select Dates’ lets you choose specific dates.
Your property can only have one Default penalty , which applies to any day with no other set penalty. If you add any date-specific penalties, they will override the Default penalty on the days they are active.
Days prior to check-in and Penalty — this is a single ‘rule’. A rule determines the penalty for cancelling a certain number of days before the check-in date. Example: 14 days prior to check-in, charge a penalty of 30%.
Several types of penalties can be applied:
Fixed amount — charge a flat penalty amount. Example: 30 AUD
Full amount — charge the full cost of the booking
First night — charge the cost of the first night’s stay in the booking
Percentage — charge a percentage of the full cost of the booking. Example: 30%
No penalty — do not charge any penalty
Note:
You can set rules to make rates refundable or non-refundable.
You can add multiple rules — simply click on Add rule. Multiple rules can be used to increase the penalty for cancelling closer to check-in. For example: 14 days prior to check-in, charge a penalty of 30%; and seven days prior to check-in, charge a penalty equal to the full amount.
There can't be two penalties with overlapping dates at the Property cancellation penalties level. You can, however, add multiple rules to a single penalty for the same dates.
You may want to include seasonal information regarding cancellations and modifications (for example, some seasons could be more flexible than others).
Don’t forget to add your custom translations for your cancellation policy (go to Direct booking > Configuration > Translations).
Room cancellation settings
These policies and penalties will apply to specific room rates, during the certain dates that you select.
They will override the Property cancellation settings.
To configure room cancellation policies and penalties, follow these steps:
Go to Direct booking > Configuration > Cancellation settings
Under Room cancellation settings , find the room rate you wish to configure and click on its down arrow > click on the Actions button (...) > Edit cancellation settings.
Configure the Room cancellation policy and Room cancellation penalties in the same way as the Property cancellation settings.
Click Publish changes.
Note:
Guests will only be able to modify and cancel reservations by themselves if Allow guest cancellation is ticked and the cancellation penalty is enabled at both property and room rate level.
Policies and penalties set at the room rate level are date-specific — you need to select the date range for which the room cancellation penalties will apply. If the penalties for a specific room rate apply at all times, you need to select a wide date range (i.e. you can select dates from today until the end of 2099).
Don’t forget to add your custom translations if your room rate has a different policy to your property level cancellation policy (go to Direct booking > Configuration > Translations).
Assign room cancellation settings
Assign cancellation settings allows you to copy the cancellation settings (cancellation policy and penalties) from one room rate to another room rate(s), which can help save you time when assigning the same cancellation settings to multiple room rates.
To assign room cancellation settings, follow these steps:
Go to Direct booking > Configuration > Cancellation settings.
Under Room cancellation settings , find the room rate you wish to configure and click on its down arrow > click on the Actions button (...) > Assign cancellation setting s.
Select the room rate(s) you want to copy the cancellation settings to.
Click Save.