Credit card guarantee is the standard process for most bookings received from Travel Agent systems (GDS).  With special rates; deposits can be set and the Hotel manually processes the deposit.  We are frequently asked why we don't ask the Travel Agent to complete a fax credit card authority that they send straight to the Hotel.  It's a great idea but unfortunately it would be impossible to implement with these Travel Agent booking channels.  All the bookings are either coming from a Travel Agency Office or a Travel Agent website using GDS.  All these GDS provide similar booking processes for most Airlines, Car rental companies, Tour Companies, cruise booking processes.

The main systems are shown above.  They are known by different names in other parts of the world.  For example Travelport is better known as Galileo or Worldspan in North America.

These multimillion dollar mega systems all started as Airline systems almost 40 years ago.  They have continuously evolved to where they are today and all provide very similar functionality to their Travel Agency users / bookers.  This includes the payment process for hotels booked.  For regular rates this is mostly credit card guarantee for most hotels using these systems.  If it's a very special rate, hotel could ask for prepayment that could be non refundable.

To minimise problems with credit card details, we recommend the following:

   1. When a booking is received that pre clearance is sought from the credit card vendor for the cancellation fee.  This way the hotel knows if there is an issue with the credit card before guest arrival.
   2. For no shows.  The no show fee should be charged the next day and supporting documentation should include a letter we can provide the hotel together with a copy of the reservation.  All credit card vendors accept this practice for online bookings from Travel Agents worldwide

If Hotels need further help with this, or a copy of the supporting letter please contact your Account Manager.