You can set up a deposit for each direct booking rate. Go to Direct booking > Direct booking rates.
About reservation deposits for Direct booking
Direct booking allows you to set up reservation deposits for your direct booking rates to collect a partial or full payment at the time of booking.
A message will be displayed with the rate on your booking engine that a deposit is required at the time of booking. If you have an integrated payment gateway (such as SiteMinder Pay), the deposit will be collected automatically.
Align your deposits with the cancellation penalty for each direct booking rate. Offer both flexible and non-refundable rates to help capture more bookings and maximise your revenue.
Note:
Deposits for your booking engine should be consistent with the deposits set for your connected channels (OTAs). To set up reservation deposits for your connected OTA channels, please refer to their extranet or contact their support team.
To set up a security deposit for your booking engine (such as a deposit for any damages), you can add the policy into your property’s Terms, conditions and privacy policy. Go to Property Settings > Policies > Terms, conditions and privacy policy.
Set up a reservation deposit for a direct booking rate
To set up a reservation deposit for each direct booking rate, follow these steps:
Go to Direct booking > Direct booking rates.
Click on the direct booking rate you want to add a deposit for, then click Edit.
Scroll down to the Additional direct booking controls section and click on the Deposit toggle.
Select a Deposit type (Full amount, First night, Fixed amount, or Percentage). Enter the amount if setting a fixed amount or percentage.
Set the rate’s Reservation policy settings. Select Pre-payment details needed to secure booking in order to collect payment details from the guest at time of booking (for example, if you need to charge the deposit manually).
Click Save.
Note:
Make sure to set up the payment methods your property accepts for direct bookings in Payments > Accepted payments. Accepted payments need to be configured to allow guests to book via your booking engine.
If setting a fixed amount deposit in a dollar value, make sure it is always less than your base rate/rate for the minimum length of stay, so that the deposit amount does not exceed a reservation amount.
How deposits display on your booking engine
On your booking engine, each direct booking rate will show what type of deposit is required (if any).
“Book now, pay later” – this will display as a value add in green if no deposit has been set up. This is the most flexible option for guests.
“Pay today” — this will display when a full amount deposit has been set. Full payment is required at the time of booking.
“One-night deposit required” — a deposit to the value of the first night is due at time of booking. Extras are not included in the amount.
If you have set up a fixed amount or percentage deposit, the specific amount will show.
Guests are also shown the deposit amount in both the booking summary during the booking process and in the confirmation e-mail after the booking has been made.
Process deposits for direct booking rates
If you have an integrated payment gateway (such as SiteMinder Pay) — the guest’s card will be validated and the deposit will be taken automatically at the time of booking.
If you don’t have an integrated payment gateway — you will need to manually take the deposit once a booking is made. In this case, you will still need to set up deposits for each direct booking rate so that the guest is aware of the required deposit.
If you have SiteMinder Pay, note that you cannot use both Automated payments and Deposits for a direct booking rate.