Reservations

🇳🇱 Nederlandse vertaling

Within Booking Experts everything revolves around managing reservations. In this support article we explain how to view, edit and cancel reservations.

1. Making a reservation in the back office
2. Making a reservation through the planning board
3. Making a reservation from accommodation calendar
4. Making a reservation via the search & book
5. Making a reservation for the owner in the back office
6. Viewing the reservation
7. Send reservation confirmation
8. Edit reservation
8.1 Changing data
8.2 Change order
8.3 Adjust part (invoice line) of order
8.4 Changing reservation price
9. Cancel reservation
10. Undo reservation
11. Adjust amount of cancellation invoice
12. Tag a reservation
13. Leave a note with the reservation
14. 14. Booking payment summary
15. 15. Different payment schedule
16. 16. Resetting payment schedule
17. Download logbook
18. Reservation with preference
19. Long term reservation
20. Take over reservation/a>
21. Send invoice
22. Making group bookings

Making a reservation in the backoffice

In the back office, you can make a reservation by clicking on the + Reservation button. There you choose the desired filters. Next you click View behind the desired line. On the right you will see a test calculation, made based on the set filters.

Tip: by using the filter for the channel, you can see what the price would be if someone booked via another channel. This way you can check, for example, if prices at tour operators are the same.

Finally, click on the green Reserve button at the bottom right. This will take you to the reservation screen. Here you fill in all the information. On the right side you will see the trial calculation which will change when you change the dates or add extra people.

Fill in all the name and address information and click on Add Reservation at the bottom. You will now enter the reservation screen. Here you can send the invoice, add any extras and make changes. This is explained in more detail below.

Making reservation through planboard

You can also make reservations through the scheduling board. To do this, open the Plan Board and click on the desired date. Then you click on Make a reservation. You will then end up in the reservation form.

Here you fill in all the information. On the right side you will see the trial calculation which will change when you change the dates or add extra people.

Making reservation through accommodation calender

You can also view the calendar for each accommodation. From there you can also make a booking. This is useful if someone calls and insists on staying in a particular accommodation. You can quickly see there on which days the accommodation is still available.

1. Use the search field to find the relevant accommodation;
2. Open the desired accommodation;
3. Click on the start date of the reservation;
4. Select New Reservation;

Here you fill in all the information. On the right side you will see the trial calculation which will change when you change the dates or add extra people.

Reservation through search & book

Through the search & book one can make a reservation. After making the reservation, the guest is taken to the Thank You page.The guest also automatically receives a reservation confirmation. In Booking Experts you can see that the reservation has been made. This is indicated by a red ball.

If you click through, you will see the new reservation in the overview. From here you can view the reservation, by clicking on the reservation number on the left.

Making reservation for an owner in the backoffice

It is possible for an owner to make a reservation for his own accommodation in the backoffice. You do this so that the reservation is sent to the right channel and so that the system keeps track of how many nights the owner has booked himself.

Please note: You can only do this if an owner is 'Active'.

You make a reservation for the owner by following the steps below:

1. Find the owner in the general search field (top right);
2. Click on the owner. You will be taken to the owner's overview page;
3. Click on Reserve in backoffice to make a reservation for the owner;

4. Here you fill in all the information. On the right side you will see the trial calculation which will change when you change the dates or add extra people.

5. Click on Create reservation. The reservation is now created and has been created under the Through Owner channel.

Viewing a reservation

You can view all created reservations, options and cancellations under the Reservations tab. You can use the filters to make a selection of the reservations. You can also choose to view only options, for example.

Booking
In the top left corner you will see the details of the Booking. These are details such as the booking number, the channel etc. If you want to change this data you will have to change it in that block as well. You can also cancel the booking here.

Booker
Every reservation has a main booker and a main guest. Now these will mostly be the same person. Later, with a group booking, this will not be the case. Then the main booker might be Pa & Ma Wildschut who make a booking for their son Patrick Wildschut and the family and their daughter Merlinde Wildschut and the family as well. Pa and Ma Wildschut are the Booker and son Patrick and daughter Merlinde Wildschut are both a main guest. Data about the booker you also change at the data of booker, think about name and address details, language, labels etc.

Order
An order remains open until you make it a final invoice. From the overview of the order you can directly add a package, a package or an extra. For this you no longer need to scroll up. You have direct insight into the adjustment in your order. You can also add extras, packages and arrangements here. You can give each line a discount (by clicking on the pencil on the right) or you can add a variable cost item to process a discount.

Payment status
In the payment status you can still see on the payment bar whether the invoice has been paid or not. In addition, we provide an overview of what the total amount of the invoice is, what has been paid (by clicking on the icon behind paid you can immediately see the booked payments) and the outstanding amount. From this overview you can resend the invoice, add a payment or redeem a voucher. If you click on Show history you will get an overview of all sent invoices and booked payments.

Overview of tasks, auto e-mails and internal messages
At the very bottom of the screen you will find an overview of the scheduled tasks and you can create a new task immediately if necessary. In addition, you will see the auto e-mails that have already been sent or are yet to be sent. You can resend an auto e-mail or, if you don't want to wait for it to be sent, send it immediately. Under Reception messages you will also find the internal messages that have been sent for this reservation.

Sending confirmation

Once the reservation is created in the system it will immediately show that it still needs to be confirmed. You confirm the reservation by sending the first invoice.

1. Open the reservation. You can do this by selecting the reservation in the top right corner of the menu bar or by searching for the reservation in the list of reservations;

2. Make a selection between Send by Email or Manual;

Additional information: You have the option for reservation confirmations and other information emails to be sent by email or manually. When you choose to send by email the guest will receive it on their email account. You can also choose to send 'manually'. The guest will then not receive this. This can be useful, for example, when guests at the front desk want something changed on their invoice and an expense item needs to be added or removed from the invoice. Sending an invoice manually is not logged until Download is clicked.

3. At the bottom, click Send Confirmation;
4. By sending the invoice, the reservation is confirmed.

Please note: If you want to send the confirmation by hand, please click on the Download button.

Within the reservation we keep all kinds of data, including how the reservation confirmation was sent. If something was sent by e-mail, you will see that on the right side under Actions. When this has been done manually you will not see anything under the last actions. This is because the system does not know if you actually printed the reservation confirmation with invoice and put it in the mail.

Edit reservation

Sometimes you want to edit a reservation. For example, if a guest has a new address, there's a new pet that's coming along on vacation or if someone wants to stay an extra week. You can do all this from the reservation in Booking Experts.

Change date

Open the reservation. You can do this by searching for the reservation in the menu bar at the top right of the screen, or by searching for the reservation in the list of reservations. Then you can click the pencil in many places to make a change. For example information about the guest, labels or the arrival and departure dates.

Edit order

You can also change the order, or what one has added in extras. That is, packages and cost items. For this you can use the buttons in the order:

Additional information: Packages are discounts on rent with additional mandatory extras. Packages are packages with no discount on rent. Extras are cost items.

Change part (invoice line) of an order

Sometimes you just want to change a part of an invoice. For example, because someone does not have to pay a reservation fee or because you have agreed on a different rental price with someone. You do this as follows:

1. To delete a line, click on the trash can behind the order line in question:

2. To set a different price, click on the pencil icon:

For the rental line, you can immediately enter a different price;
On standard cost items you can give a discount of a percentage or a fixed amount;
For a variable cost item, you can enter a different price just as you would for rent.

Please note: An employee must have the Reception extended right for this.

Modified reservation price

Does the reservation price change due to your changes? Then you will see three options at the top of the reservation.

Write off: use this if you don't want to pay for the extras;
Mark as confirmed: this means you will send the change manually. In other words: by mail;
Send confirmation to guest: in most cases you will want to email the guest about the change, so the guest can pay online from there. For that, you choose this option.

Cancel reservation

When a reservation is cancelled, the cancellation policy in place will determine whether a cancellation fee will be charged. You can also undo a cancellation.

1. Search for the reservation using the general search function or in the list of reservations;
2. Click Cancel to cancel the reservation;

Please note: You cannot cancel a checked out reservation. You can first revert the check out and then cancel the reservation;

3. Enter a date and reason for cancellation and click Cancel this reservation;

4. If no payment has been made, then no notification will follow. If there is a cancellation policy that requires the guest to pay a cancellation fee, the system will calculate the amount to be paid on its own. If the reservation is already (partly) paid you will see a notification at the top of the reservation. Choose what you want to do with the outstanding amount:

Write off: use this if you don't want to pay for the extras;
Mark as confirmed: this means you will send the change manually. In other words: by mail;
Send confirmation to guest: in most cases you will want to email the guest about the change, so the guest can pay online from there. For that, you choose this option.

Undo cancellation

You can undo a cancellation which will return the reservation to Confirmed status.

1. Open the cancelled reservation;
2. Click on Undo cancellation;

Note: Do you get an error message while canceling?

Do you want to undo a cancellation and do you get an error message? That may be so, because a cancellation cannot be reversed in case a new reservation has been made for the same accommodation for the same period. Of course we have a solution for this. Copy the new reservation to another accommodation. After that you can undo the cancellation because the accommodation is free again. You can do this at the top right of the reservation with the button More....

If the amount changes, please choose what you want to do with the outstanding amount:

Write off: use this if you don't want to pay for the extras;
Mark as confirmed: this means you will send the change manually. In other words: by mail;
Send confirmation to guest: in most cases you will want to email the guest about the change, so the guest can pay online from there. For that, you choose this option.

Adjusting the cancellation invoice amount

Is there an incorrect cancellation fee on the invoice and you want to charge a different cancellation amount? Then you can apply a discount to the invoice line.

1. Open the desired cancellation;
2. Click on the pencil behind the invoice line;

3. Set the desired discount, for example 100% if someone is not paying a cancellation fee;

4. See the discount reflected on the invoice. If it is correct, you can send or debit the change at the top of the reservation.

Labeling a reservation

As a user you can label a reservation, because for this reservation, for example, something still needs to be prepared before arrival. By adding a label you will be reminded of this. This label will also appear in the overview of reservations and you can even filter on it.

1. Search for the reservation using the general search function or in the list of reservations;
2. Decide whether you want to associate the label with just this reservation or with the guest, so it will appear in all the reservations of this guest;
3. Behind labels, click the pencil icon;

4. Select a Label by entering the name or choosing from the dropdown menu;

Tip: You can add multiple labels at once.

5. Click Save to permanently add the labels.

Leave a note with of reservation

You can use notes to write down something specific about a reservation, accommodation or a guest that is important for your colleagues to know.

Within Booking Experts it is possible to leave an internal note using a memo block in several places.

This possibility is available at:

- Reservations;
- Guest cards;
- Owners;
- Channels;
- Invoices;
- Tasks.

The memo field is always visible at the bottom of the screen at the mentioned places. The field is always visible if the possibility exists, you don't have to change a module or a setting for this yourself first. See for example below at a reservation:

By clicking on the up arrow, you can make the field larger and add a (longer) text to it or read a longer text completely. You can also make the field smaller again by clicking on the down arrow.

Please note: Always choose Save to save the note.

To keep a clear overview of who added a note and when, we always recommend noting the date and your initials. The notes are not logged and are therefore not visible in the last actions.

Please note: This field is for internal use only. Guests and/or owners will not see this in Booking Experts. When a guest or owner invokes their right to inspection (they can then view the personal data), the notes will be included.

Reservation payment overview

In the reservation you can see what has been billed, paid and outstanding.

1. Navigate to the reservation or invoice;
2. Check the payment status to see what the status is.

Set up different payment policy

When sending an invoice through the back office, you can choose to make a different payment arrangement.

By default the current payment policy is used. Based on the payment policy the down payment will be shown at the top when sending the invoice. It is possible to deviate from this by adding or removing a payment term;

Next the invoice can be sent by clicking on Send Invoice. In the confirmation there is also a link for the payment.

Reset payment policy

The payment term of an invoice can be adjusted in the interim when, for example, another appointment has been made with the guest.

1. Find the invoice whose payment term you wish to adjust;
2. Click on the invoice number;

3. At the bottom of the invoice you will find the button Reset payment policy. When you click this button you can overwrite the current payment arrangement;

4. Enter the new payment term(s);
5. Click Save.

Download logbook

All sent invoices and booked payments are kept in the logbook. In case of non-payment, you can download the entire accumulated file and send it to a collection agency.

1. Go to the Financial tab;
2. In the right submenu, choose Sent Invoices;
3.Open the invoice from which you want to download the log;
4. On the right (bottom) side, click Download log to download the zip file.

Reservation with preference

When a reservation is entered through the back office and the guest has a preference for a specific accommodation, you can book this reservation with preference. Based on your settings it is possible that the guest will pay an extra amount for this preferred reservation

While making the reservation you indicate that there is a preference booking by checking the box 'Guest has specifically chosen this accommodation'.

Would you like to lock in a reservation afterwards? If so, of course you can.

1. Open the desired reservation;
2. Click on the pencil behind the accommodation;

3. Check the box next to Guest has specifically chosen this accommodation and choose whether to create a new invoice. Then click on Apply.

Additional information: By means of a thumbtack you will see in the reservation that it has been booked with preference, or in other words: fixed on an accommodation.

Long-term reservation

If a guest is booking the accommodation for the long term but you want to checkout in the meantime, you can create a reservation for this within Booking Experts and copy it back to a next month after the period ends.

Create long term reservation:

1. Create a reservation as you are used to for a month;
2. Create a blocked period on the accommodation for the following, remaining period;
3. When the check-out date is reached you can copy the reservation to the next period. To do so click on More... and then click Copy;

4. If desired, you can change the accommodation;
5. The period is selected the same as the previous period, you can deviate from this by selecting a different end date;
6. If the order must be taken over from the previous reservation you can check this box;
7. Then click on Copy order.

Take over reservation

If a visitor is unable to complete his or her reservation on their own, you can take over the reservation from the visitor. You then complete the reservation in the back office.

1. Go to the Reservations tab;
2. Go to the Not yet confirmed sub tab;
3. Open the appropriate reservation;

4. Click on takeover.

Sending invoice

Of course, the guest must pay for their reservation. You do that by sending the invoice.

New reservation
When you make a new reservation you can send the invoice by clicking the button Confirm and send invoice.

Existing reservation

Do you want to resend the invoice for an existing reservation, for example because the guest has lost the invoice? If so, you can do so as follows:

1. Open the desired reservation;

Tip: Find the reservation quickly with the search field in the upper right corner of Booking Experts!

2. Navigate to the Payment Status heading on the left;
3. Select Resend;

4. Choose between emailing or sending manually and click Resend invoice.

Making group bookings

Want to make a group booking? Then here we explain exactly how to do it.

Reservations

Table of contents