Handling cancellations and guests cancellation requests

Updated 4 months ago | 2 min read time
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If a guest wants to cancel a booking, you can issue a cancellation request either via the extranet or the Pulse app. By doing so, you avoid paying commission for the cancelled booking. Read more below about the conditions to initiate a cancellation request and how to troubleshoot cancellations.


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Conditions of cancelling a reservation

Depending on your set policies, a guest may be able to cancel their booking using a link in their booking confirmation email or via their Booking.com account. In some cases, you’ll be able to initiate a cancellation request if a guest asks you to do so or if you find yourself in one of the scenarios below: 

Read more below to find out how to cancel a booking upon a guest’s request. 


Cancelling a reservation via the extranet

If a guest asks you to cancel a reservation on their behalf, follow these steps to send a request to cancel the booking via the extranet:

  1. Log in to the extranet
  2. Click on Reservations
  3. Select the reservation you wish to cancel 
  4. Click on Request to cancel reservation
  5. Select a reason for the cancellation
  6. Click Send

Your guest will receive an email with the cancellation request. The reservation will remain active until they’ve accepted the request. Once your guest has accepted the request, you and the guest will receive a cancellation email.


Cancelling a reservation using the Pulse app

If a guest asks you to cancel a reservation on their behalf, follow these steps to inform us of a cancellation using Pulse:

  1. Log in to the Pulse app on your phone
  2. Click Bookings
  3. Select the reservation you wish to cancel
  4. Click Request to cancel reservation
  5. Select a reason for the cancellation
  6. Click Send request

Your guest will receive an email with the cancellation request. The reservation will remain active until they’ve accepted the request. Once your guest has accepted the request, you and the guest will receive a cancellation email.

You can also suggest your guest to change their stay dates so they can keep their booking. For more information on how to make changes to a booking, read our dedicated article here.


Consequences of cancelling a booking for your guest 

We charge commission for reservations made on our platform, including on fees charged on cancellation and/or no-show fees you’ve set for your reservations. We don’t charge commission if you choose to waive any cancellation or no-show fees owed by the guest. 

If you use the Request to cancel a reservation feature, the reservation will be cancelled free of charge. If you want case cancellation fees to apply, you should ask guests to contact our customer service or cancel their reservation directly via their booking confirmation or their account.

In case of cancellations, if you want to make sure that your availability is updated on time, you can use the auto-replenishment feature. It allows you to automatically make the cancelled room or unit available to be booked again by other potential guests.

 

Looking for more information on handling cancellation fees and commission? 

Read more


Troubleshooting cancellations FAQs

  • Cancellation requests can be submitted up to 48 hours before check-in via the extranet or Pulse. If a guest asks you to cancel their reservation less than 48 hours before check-in, please inform them that you can’t handle the request on their behalf and advise them to contact Customer Service. 

    If the request to cancel is made after midnight on the check-in date, then you can use the Mark as a no-show feature on the extranet and charge any set no-show fees.

  • If you’re experiencing unforeseen issues and can’t accommodate your guests, you must report this to our customer service. They will support you with the cancellation request and relocation of the guests, if applicable.

  • If you’ve already requested the payment of the deposit or prepayment fee from your guest and they failed to provide it, you can cancel the reservation using the Request to cancel reservation feature in your extranet. 

    If you have trouble collecting unpaid prepayments and wish to keep the reservation, you can mark the credit card as invalid

    If you use Payments by Booking.com and you receive a cancellation, no-show or modification – and you’re owed money – we’ll send you an email with updated virtual credit card (VCC) details. Read more on setting up a deposit, prepayment policies and fees here.

  • You can report invalid credit cards in the extranet or on the Pulse appRead more about handling invalid credit cards here.

  • To report guest misbehaviour after the check-in date, you can use the Report guest misconduct feature on the extranet. This can be done up to 7 days after checkout.

  • Setting up cancellation policies allows you to let guests know what to expect if they cancel or change their booking. It can also help protect you from a potential loss of income. Read more about setting up cancellation policies here.

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