How can I set up pre-authorisation for guests’ credit cards?

Updated 10 months ago
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Regulation changes

To comply with European consumer law, we’re asking all our partners to update their pre-authorisation settings by 1 September 2019.

Under these laws, you’ll need to state whether you pre-authorise your guests’ cards, and if so, by how much and when.

For more information on all the changes you’ll need to make before 1 September, have a look at our article on the new requirements.
 

 

Pre-authorisation lets you hold a (usually small) amount on a guest’s credit card between booking and arrival. This also lets you check if the card is valid. If it isn’t, you can request new details from the guest (to be sent within 24 hours), or make any necessary changes to the booking.

Pre-authorisation is also a good option to help reduce the chance of no-shows. It’s easy to set up, just take a look below:

  1. Log on to your Booking.com extranet.
  2. Click on the ‘Property’ tab in the extranet and select ‘Policies’.
  3. In the blue box, select ‘Set pre-authorisation preferences’, fill out the relevant details and click on ‘Save’.

If the guest’s card is showing as invalid, please read this article.

Please note: Pre-authorisation is not the same as prepayment. Prepayment is when the guest is charged in advance, pre-authorisation is just a hold on their credit card.

To find out more about prepayment, take a look at this article.

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