Didn't you learn everything you need to know from the article Charging cancellation fees in HotelTime? Take a look at the frequently asked questions we have prepared for you on this topic.
5 Reasons Why You Should Charge Cancellation Fees
Increase Revenue and Cash Flow
- Charging fees for canceled reservations and no-shows allows you to recover part of the income that would otherwise be lost when guests do not show up for their stay.
Reduce the Risk of Losses from Unused Rooms
- Rooms that remain unoccupied due to last-minute cancellations or no-shows represent lost income for you. Cancellation fees help cover this loss and motivate guests to cancel in time or not at all.
Better Capacity Management
- By charging fees, you can better manage your occupancy. Guests will be more thoughtful about when and how they cancel, giving you more time to offer the released room to another guest or adjust your short-term pricing strategy.
More Responsible Customer Behavior
- Introducing cancellation fees encourages guests to cancel more responsibly and with more notice. This gives you better predictability and the ability to respond flexibly to changes in demand.
Enhance Loyalty Programs
- Hotels can benefit from clearly defined cancellation and no-show policies when setting up loyalty programs. For example, you can offer more flexible conditions to regular guests, which can increase their loyalty.
Unusual Situations: What to Do When…
…I create a card payment for the cancellation fee and then close the window, the internet goes down, my computer restarts, or the session is terminated in any other way?
The reservation will remain accessible in the report for cancellation fees as "not processed," and you can resume the billing process. The previously made card payment will appear as "Available External Payments," and you can complete the remaining billing steps as if the session had not been interrupted.
…I cancel a document with a charged cancellation fee?
The cancellation fee document generates revenues immediately. If it is cancelled, these revenues are cancelled as of the date the document is voided.
If a deposit invoice is attached to the document, you will need to disconnect it first before you can void the cancellation fee document. The reservation will reappear in the deleted reservations report for cancellation fees but will be marked as "processed." It can then be processed again, generating a new cancellation fee document (closed hotel account or invoice), to which the previously detached deposit invoice can be reattached.
If an online card payment is linked to the document, the same payment can be reused as a settlement for the new cancellation fee document for the cancelled reservation—see the previous point. The reservation will still be marked as "processed" in the report for cancellation fees, but it can be processed again. The payment will also appear in the pending external payments report, from where it can be refunded if necessary.
…I forget to settle an already created cancellation fee document, or the internet goes down during the payment process, my computer restarts, or the session is terminated in any other way?
If the document is not settled via payment or deposit invoice, the result will be a mismatch between revenues and payments for that day (the document will contain revenues, but no payment, meaning it will be unpaid). If the hotel has the trial balance feature active, there will be a discrepancy in this report for that day, in the amount of the unpaid document.
…I restore a room that has already been settled in a cancellation fee document?
The document will remain linked to the reservation and will be visible in the reservation's "Issued Documents" section, from where you can navigate to the document details and work with it as needed.
…I cancel just one room from a multi-room reservation and bill it in a cancellation fee document?
Multi-room reservations share the same reservation ID, so the document will remain linked to the remaining (uncancelled) rooms in the reservation and will be visible in the "Issued Documents" section.
…I want to check whether all cancellation fee documents have been properly settled?
The ideal tool is the introduction of regular daily report checks:
Unpaid Invoices By Day
- Accounting > Overviews> Unpaid Invoices By Day
- When the "Issued on the Same Day" checkbox is active, only regular invoices awaiting payment by bank transfer should appear in this report.
Revenue By Document
- Accounting > Overviews> Revenue by Document
- This report shows discrepancies between revenue and payment for each tax document.
Invoices or Closed Hotel Account Book
- Accounting > Invoices or Closed Hotel Accounts
- In these reports, you can also see outstanding payments or overpayments on tax documents