Knowledgebase: Travel Agents
Online Bookings | GDS and OTA Booking Cancellations and no Shows
Posted by Jesse Chieppa on 26 Apr 2010 07:47 PM

What is the best way to cancel, modify, or 'No Show' a GDS or OTA Booking?

  • If a guest contacts you directly to modify or cancel a future reservation, please direct them to make the modification or cancellation with the agent they created the booking with. For example, if the booking originated with an OTA (Online Travel Agent), then the guest needs to cancel/modify the booking with that OTA.  If the booking was done with a specific travel agent, direct the guest to have that agent/company cancel or modify the booking.

  • If the guest correctly modifies or cancels the booking with the original OTA or Travel Agent, then the change or cancellation will be automatically adjusted in your BookingCenter management tool via the interface.  And you will have no liability from the OTA or Travel Agent.

  • If you cancel or modify the booking on behalf of the guest of a Travel Agent, the booking will become an out-of-channel cancellation/modification.  Your property will be liable for 'out-of-channel cancellation' (OOCC) fee (more details here).

  • To off-set any OOCC fee, we suggest you write in a strict cancellation policy for your property.

  • Once a booking is active (ie, checked in), cancelling it will be treated as an out-of-channel cancellation.

  • Once a Booking has been checked in (ie status is active), if a Guest logs into their OTA account (such as Booking.com) and attempts to alter the booking, we won't alter the booking from the OTA, as this causes more mayhem than benefit for our properties. We reject the message, for example from Booking.com in this case, and the OTA will email you to state that an active Guest is cancelling or editing their Active booking. It's then your staff's responsibility to do what is needed for a guest who is Active - extend them, check them out early, or otherwise help the Guest with an Edit.  
  • Should you need to modify the length of stay of an active booking, simply extend the booking if the guest is staying longer, or check the booking out on the actual departure day if the guest is leaving early.  The final cost of the booking will update and be used as the final cost for commission value.

  • BookingCenter doesn’t relay ’no show' data to travel networks (such as OTA, GDS, etc) as the property staff is expected to document these events and then act on their policy (unique to each property) such as charging a cancellation fee or whatever policy they had in effect at the time of the booking and the channel it was booked.

Online Bookings | Cancellations and Fees

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