Smart Flex rezervacije: Najčešća pitanja

Ažurirano prije 1 god. | Vrijeme čitanja: 5 min
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Program ‘Smart Flex rezervacije’ (prethodnog naziva program ‘Rezervacije bez rizika’) pomaže vam ostvariti rezervacije koje inače možda ne biste ostvarili. To činimo tako da putnicima u vaše ime ponudimo fleksibilnija pravila otkazivanja, a pritom smanjimo gnjavažu za vas. Dodatne fleksibilne opcije nudimo samo gostima za koje je manja vjerojatnost otkazivanja. Ako gost otkaže, potražit ćemo zamjenu. Ako ne uspijemo pronaći zamjenu, kompenzirat ćemo vam ta noćenja. Partneri koji sudjeluju u ovom programu povećali su svoju stopu konverzije za do 3%.

Pročitajte ovaj članak da biste saznali više o tome kako funkcionira program ‘Smart Flex rezervacije’.


Sadržaj članka

1. dio: Što mogu očekivati ako se odlučim pridružiti programu ‘Smart Flex rezervacije’?

2. dio: Kako funkcioniraju Smart Flex rezervacije kada dođe do otkazivanja?

3. dio: Kako funkcionira plaćanje?

4. dio: Kako ovaj program funkcionira u mom channel manageru ili sustavu za upravljanje objektom?

5. dio: Kako se pridružiti programu ‘Smart Flex rezervacije’ ili ga napustiti?


 

Managing first Smart Flex Reservations

  • Smart Flex reservations are backed up by our demand data. We use this data on a daily basis to work out when to offer a flexible cancellation policy and who to offer it to. The goal is for you to have the best chance of generating a booking that is less likely to be cancelled. Because of this, it’s possible that you won’t begin receiving Smart Flex reservations immediately after you opt in to the programme.

    Each time you do receive a Smart Flex reservation, you can find it by looking for the Smart Flex tag on the Reservations page in the extranet or on the Bookings page in the Pulse app. If you use a channel manager or property management system, you can identify Smart Flex reservations by checking the cancellation policy field or the comments and remarks area.

  • A Smart Flex reservation works the same as any other booking you receive. The only difference is that it has an extended cancellation period.

    Even so, we’ve added some additional information in the extranet to help you understand everything about the Smart Flex reservations you receive. To find out more, take a look at this video – you can also use the subtitles to watch this in your own language.

     

    Note: we’ll make sure you receive Smart Flex reservations when our data shows it’s most likely that the guest won’t cancel. When you receive Smart Flex reservations, please check the updated details on the Reservation details page in the extranet to make sure you’re aware of the updated cancellation policy.

Smart Flex reservations and cancellations

  • You can check the cancellation policy of a Smart Flex reservation on the Reservations page in the extranet. Click on the booking number of the Smart Flex reservation you’re interested in, then scroll down to the Policies section.

  • If a guest cancels a Smart Flex reservation during the Smart Flex cancellation period, we’ll start searching for a replacement guest for you right away, as long as the room is still open and bookable.

    You may have to remove any minimum length of stay restrictions to increase the possibility of finding a replacement guest for all room nights for the reservation.

  • First, we’ll try to resell all of the cancelled nights at once. If a new guest only books some of those cancelled nights and not others, we’ll continue reselling the remaining nights. To increase the possibility of finding a replacement booking, we recommend removing the restrictions.

    While we’re looking for a replacement guest, we may boost your ranking or use price incentives to make your property more attractive and encourage travellers to book with you. If we do this, we’ll cover any costs involved, and you won’t have to offer any discounts yourself.

    In the end, if we can’t find a replacement guest, we’ll compensate you based on your original cancellation policy.

  • Once we’ve found you a replacement guest, you’ll see that guest’s booking as a new reservation. You can treat it just like any other booking.

    The replacement booking will also be linked to the original Smart Flex reservation. In the extranet, you’ll be able to see the updated reservation number on the Reservation details page of the cancelled Smart Flex reservation. If you use a channel manager or property management system, you’ll be able to see the same information in the comments and remarks area.

  • If we foresee any Force Majeure events, we’ll stop offering free cancellations to guests from the Smart Flex Reservations programme. This way, we prevent new bookings with a higher chance of cancellation. For example, if a new lockdown is announced due to the pandemic, we’ll stop offering free cancellation from the Smart Flex Reservations programme to guests. However, we won’t be responsible for finding a replacement for an existing Smart Flex reservation according to the general terms and conditions for Force Majeure cancellations.

  • If a guest cancels within your own original free cancellation policy period, then the extra free cancellation period offered by the Smart Flex Reservations programme doesn’t apply. The cancellation is therefore treated the same as any other cancellation you might have, the same process as for your normal bookings applies, and we’re not responsible for looking for a replacement.

  • In most cases, Smart Flex finds guests that don’t cancel their reservation and in these instances, no action is required. However, if a Smart Flex reservation is cancelled, you must make sure that the reservation remains open and bookable – with no restrictions in place, such as minimum length of stay. This helps us increase our chances of finding a replacement guest. If these actions aren’t performed and we aren’t able to find a replacement guest because of these limitations, we won’t be able to compensate you for this reservation.

  • To allow us to find you a replacement guest, we work on a night-by-night basis. If the room is still open and bookable, first we’ll try to resell all of the cancelled nights at once. If the replacement guest only books a portion of the cancelled nights, we’ll continue reselling the remaining nights. In this scenario, removing any minimum length of stay restrictions you have in place will increase the possibility of finding a replacement guest.

  • Yes, but keep in mind that if you increase a room’s rate after it’s been cancelled during the Smart Flex cancellation period and we can’t reallocate the room, it may affect your compensation.

  • We use all our insights on traveller behaviour to predict the type of trips that are less likely to get cancelled. The free cancellation options of the Smart Flex Reservations programme are only offered to customers that are booking these trips.

Collecting Smart Flex reservations payments

  • If you collect payments using virtual credit cards or via bank transfer, the process works as normal. You can see the payment details on the Reservation details page in the extranet.

    If you collect payments by charging the guest’s credit card, you’ll be able to validate the card as soon as the cancellation period expires. Then, you’ll have 48 hours to mark the card as valid or invalid. If it’s valid and the reservation details don’t change, you can charge the card during check-in or check-out as you normally would. If the credit card is invalid, then you need to do the following:

    1. Mark the payment as invalid 
    2. Cancel the reservation

    Both actions need to be performed within 48 hours for us to look for a guest replacement.

    Remember that we’ll charge commission on all reservations that earn you revenue, just as we normally would.

  • You can see the payment information for Smart Flex reservations on the Reservation details page in the extranet. In the Smart Flex rooms summary section, you can find out who to charge for the reservation and when.

  • When a guest cancels their reservation during the Smart Flex free cancellation period, you'll need to keep the reservation open and bookable with no restrictions. If you've actioned this and we’re still unable to find a replacement guest, we’ll compensate you based on the original cancellation policy you set. 

    If you normally receive payments using virtual credit cards (VCC), we’ll activate a VCC for this payment after the original stay date of the cancelled reservation. You can see the VCC details in the extranet’s Reservation details page and in your channel manager or property management system.

    If you normally receive payments by bank transfer, we’ll send this payment as a bank transfer. You’ll receive the payment according to your usual payout schedule.

    • When you receive the guest’s credit card, you need to validate/charge the credit card within 48 hours upon receipt. If the credit card is invalid, then you need to do the following:
      • Mark the payment as invalid 
      • Cancel the reservation
    • Both actions need to be performed within 48 hours in order for us to look for a guest replacement.
  • You charge VCC for a Smart Flex reservation in the same way as you do for other bookings. To find out more about how to charge a VCC, take a look at this article.

  • You should validate each guest’s credit card as normal when the cancellation period expires. If it’s invalid, report it as soon as possible. 

    If you need to charge a guest’s credit card for their reservation, you’ll receive access to the credit card details when the Smart Flex cancellation period expires. You should validate it right away. If it’s invalid, you need to cancel the reservation and mark it as invalid. If these actions aren’t performed within 48 hours, you might run into the risk of partial or no replacement found. To find out more about marking credit cards as invalid, take a look at this article.

Understanding how the programme works with a channel manager or property management system (PMS)

  • When you receive a Smart Flex reservation, you can identify it by looking at the cancellation policy field in your channel manager or PMS. If you don’t have a cancellation policy field, look for the words Smart Flex Reservation in the comments and remarks area instead.

  • We’ll include information about Smart Flex reservations in the confirmation, modification and cancellation messages that we’ll send you as normal. All of these messages will contain the words Smart Flex Reservation so that you can easily recognise them.

    To make sure you always see the full details of each booking, we also recommend you regularly check the Reservations page in the extranet.

  • In this situation, we’ll send a cancellation message to your channel manager or PMS. To see the details, look for the words Smart Flex Reservation in either the room description field or the comments and remarks area of your channel manager or PMS.

    We’ll start searching for a replacement guest right away – as long as the room is still open and bookable. We’ll do this by first trying to resell all of the cancelled nights at once. If a new guest only books some of those cancelled nights and not others, we’ll continue reselling the remaining nights. You must ensure that any restrictions such as minimum length of stay are removed to increase the chance of finding a replacement guest. Once we find a replacement guest, you’ll see the guest’s booking as a new reservation. The booking details will contain the words Smart Flex Reservation.

    If we can’t find a replacement guest, even if the rooms are open and bookable with no restrictions in place, we’ll compensate you based on the original cancellation policy you set.

  • If the guest pays for their reservation by credit card, once the Smart Flex cancellation period ends we’ll send you a modification message to ask you to check and validate the credit card details.
    If you collect payments using virtual credit cards or via bank transfer, the process works as normal.

  • You can do this in the same way as you do for other bookings. Read these additional resources on the topic 'Channel Manager: Credit Card'.

Opting in or out of the Smart Flex Reservations programme

  • To opt in to the programme, log in to the extranet, click on Boost performance and then click on Smart Flex Reservations programme.

    If your property isn’t in mainland France, French Guiana, Mayotte, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Pierre and Miquelon or Réunion, then you’ll be enrolled in the Smart Flex Reservations programme automatically.

  • We understand that this programme might not suit your property’s needs right now. If you’d like to opt out, you have two options:

    • If you want to stop using the Smart Flex Reservations programme temporarily, you can opt out for up to three months. After your temporary opt-out period expires, we’ll re-enrol you in the programme automatically.
    • If you want to stop using Smart Flex Reservations for longer than three months, you can opt out indefinitely.

    To opt out either temporarily or permanently, follow those steps:

    1. Log in to the extranet. 
    2. Click on Boost performance and then on Smart Flex Reservations programme
    3. Click on Leave this programme, select Indefinitely or the number of months you’d like to leave for and then click on Save.

       

    Note: If you opt out of Payments by Booking, we’ll also remove you from the Smart Flex Reservations programme. If you later opt back into Payments by Booking, we’ll re-enrol you in the Smart Flex Reservations programme automatically.

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