Guests can change a room they booked online from their booking page: new dates, a different room type, or a different rate, for the same number of rooms. The new stay is priced exactly as a new booking for those dates would be.
- The new deposit is more than they paid (for example an upgrade, or a longer stay) → they pay the difference online first. The new room is held for them while they pay. The change happens once the payment clears.
- The new deposit is the same or less → the change happens at once. Nothing is refunded automatically: anything paid beyond what the new stay needs stays as the guest's credit, used at the hotel.
The guest gets an updated confirmation email with the new calendar entry.
Before you start
On each rate plan (room type → Online rates):
- Guests can change online must be ticked for guests to change bookings on that rate. It is ticked by default. Untick it for rates you only want changed at the front desk.
- Changes stop (hours before) sets how long before arrival changes stop. It counts back from midday on the arrival day, like free cancellation. Leave it empty to allow changes until midday on the arrival day.
- Change fee (amount) or % of the stay: what you charge for a change, if anything. A fixed amount wins when both are set.
What guests can and can't change online
- They can change the dates, the room type and the rate.
- They keep the same number of rooms. To add or remove rooms, they contact you.
- A basket booking (several room types or dates in one payment) can't be changed online. They contact you.
- Once a stay has started, changes are made at reception.
What it does to your books
- The booking in Advance Bookings is updated in place: new room type, dates, rate and amounts. The room assignment is cleared, so pick the room at check-in as usual.
- A paid difference is added to the booking's deposit, so its deposit receipt grows by that amount.
- A change fee is invoiced to the customer, like a cancellation charge, and is covered by their deposit credit.
- The booking's cancellation terms become the new rate's terms. A later online cancellation follows what the guest last agreed to.
Tips
- If a guest who changed their booking later cancels, each payment is refunded separately to the card it came from: first the change payment, then the original deposit.
- A change waits for its payment for about 20 minutes. If the guest doesn't pay, the held room is released and the booking stays as it was.
Common problems
- "The rate you booked can't be changed online" → the rate has Guests can change online unticked, or the rate was deleted since the booking. Change the booking yourself in Advance Bookings.
- "Changes had to be made by …" → the change deadline has passed.
- You get an email "Action needed — paid booking change" → the guest paid for a change, but it couldn't be applied, for example because the held room was lost. Apply the change yourself in Advance Bookings, or refund the payment to the guest.
- The guest has a credit after a cheaper change → it comes off their bill at check-in. To return it instead, refund it from Customer Journal.