Overview
Hoteliers often attract more guests with non-refundable rates. These rates typically come at a discount, rewarding guests for their commitment and reducing the risk of cancellations for the hotel. This caters to budget-conscious travellers with firm plans who value a good deal, while offering hotels more predictable revenue. A non-refundable rate requires guests to pay for their entire reservation if they decide to cancel their booking at any point.
How to create non-refundable rates
Create a room rate in Front Desk
Create a room rate in Direct Booking
Map the new rate via Channel Manager
Create a cancellation policy
Step 1: Create a room rate in Front Desk
Go to My apps > Front Desk > Setup > Rooms & Rates
Select + Add Room Rate under the room type for which you want to create a new non-refundable rate
Enter details for the new room rate (e.g Non-refundable) and set a small discount
Create a discounted rate
You have the option of managing the rate independently or you can derive the rate from the room type’s standard rate, with a discount applied.
Option 1: Manual discount
Check the ‘manage this room rate independently’ box and enter a Rack Rate (your rack rate is the highest season rate you charge for a room. Your inventory defaults to this rate until you update your daily prices.) . You will control the rate in the Inventory tab.
Option 2: Automatic discount
Leave the ‘manage this room rate independently’ box unchecked. Select a percentage or value discount and enter the discount value in the ‘difference’ field.
Example:
10% discount: set the rate type to % and enter ‘-10’ in the difference field. This creates a rate 10% lower than the standard rack rate. * Don’t forget to put the minus in front or it will increase the price of the standard rate.
Step 2: Create a room rate in Direct Booking
Now that you’ve created a non-refundable rate in Front Desk, you will need to recreate this rate in the Direct Booking.
Go to My apps >Direct Booking
Navigate to Setup > Rooms & Rates
On the Room Types tab, select the room type where you want the non-refundable rate and click + Add Room Rate
Name the new rate exactly the same as the non-refundable rate in Front Desk
Enable Deposits and select Full amount to require immediate payment at time of booking
Click Create
Step 3: Map the new rate via Channel Manager
Next, we need to make sure your non-refundable rate is bookable online and that reservations flow into your Front Desk.
Go to My apps > Channel Manager > Rooms & Rates
Find your newly created non-refundable rate and click Map to Channel next to it
In the Map to field select Direct Booking
Choose the room rate in Direct Booking that corresponds to the non-refundable rate
Select Yes in the Start updating channel toggle
Click Save to activate your non-refundable rate
Step 4: Create a cancellation policy
Finally, to ensure your guests are aware that your new rate is non-refundable you will need to create a cancellation policy that is specific to this rate.
Go to My apps > Direct Booking
Navigate to Setup then Cancellations
Find the non-refundable rate under Room Rates and click Show next to your new rate
Click + Add New Penalty to set the cancellation rules
Choose start and end dates. If you would like this rule to run indefinitely then set the ‘end date’ to 01 Jan 2099 or as far in the future as you need.
Click + Add Rule and set Days prior to check in to 999 and the Penalty type to Full amount. Click + Create.
Click Edit Policy under Room Rate Cancellation Policy to provide a clear explanation of the non-refundable terms
In the Cancellations column, ensure the status is set to Disabled so guests must contact you for reservation changes