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Prepayment Configuration

How to configure the prepayment logic in the Operations Platform in order to benefit from the feature Smart Guest Payments

Introduction​

The Prepayment configuration enables a Property Admin to configure which charges must not be paid by the guest within the Digital Guest Journey because the related charges are already paid / guaranteed to be paid by someone else.

1. Feature Overview​

Smart Guest Payments limits what a guest pays in the Pre-Check-In Flow to the amount actually due. Using it requires configuration, known as the Prepayment Configuration.

As a Property Admin, you can access the Prepayment Configuration in the Operations Platform settings.

The Settings navigation with the Prepayment entry highlighted

Within the user interface, you can either add a new prepayment configuration or edit an existing one using the action options on the right-hand side.

The Prepayment page listing each prepayment type with its guest-display setting, and the Add prepayment configuration button

This overview also displays all active prepayment types, along with an indicator showing whether charges are visible to the guest.

The Prepayment settings, listing the configured prepayment rules

a) Prepayment Types​

The standard prepayment types (our most used OTAs + the Checkout on AR Feature) include:

  • Agoda
  • Airbnb
  • Booking.com
  • Checkout on AR
  • Expedia

Which further types Add prepayment configuration offers depends on the property's prepayment setup and its PMS:

  • Prepaid by credit card (hide) and Prepaid by credit card (show), on properties whose prepayment setup carries them.
  • Prepaid, on the others.
  • Check-Out on AR (Customer) on Mews, and Ctrip, Hotelbeds, Generic OTA, Not determinable and None on Oracle OPERA Cloud.

If a type you need is not in the list, request it via a Support Ticket.

The Add new prepayment configuration dialog with the Prepayment Type dropdown open on the two credit-card options

Recognizing Prepayments via Credit Card Holder Name​

With “Prepaid by credit card (hide)” and “Prepaid by credit card (show)”, there is an additional option to recognize prepayments based on the account holder name of a credit card or virtual credit card (e.g., Hotelbeds).

The account holder name is the name of the owner of the credit card.

warning

If an OTA does not provide a (virtual) credit card stored in the PMS, Smart Guest Payments cannot recognize it.

In the settings, you must enter the exact account holder name as it is transmitted with the booking to ensure accurate prepayment recognition. Enter the name and press Enter to save it. Here are some examples:

The Account Holders field filled with OTA and virtual-card holder names as removable chips

b) Display Settings​

For each prepayment type, you can define whether the guest sees the prices of charges using the Display of prepaid services for guests toggle.

  • Enabled: the guest sees the prices and receives an invoice as a PDF.
  • Disabled: the charge stays on the guest's list but its price is blurred out, and no invoice PDF is sent.

Examples:

  • Guest view with Display of prepaid services for guests enabled

A guest's charge list for a prepaid Booking.com reservation, with the prices of both line items visible

  • Guest view with Display of prepaid services for guests disabled

A guest's charge list for a prepaid Airbnb reservation, with both line items listed and their prices blurred out

c) Included Services​

You can also specify which Charges should not be paid by the guest using the “Prepaid Services” setting. Simply select the Included Services from the PMS via the dropdown menu to indicate, that the prepayment amount on the VCC contains these charges.

E.g. "Additional Cleaning":

The Prepaid Services dropdown with the service Additional Cleaning selected

2. Service Types and Folio Routing​

Two further fields appear where the property's prepayment setup carries them. If you need one and it is missing, request it via a Support Ticket.

Service Type Prepayment​

You can select entire Service Types that the guest should not pay for. Any Order Item within these types will automatically be recognized as prepaid.

The field offers Accommodation, City Tax, Second City Tax, Food & Beverages and Other. On Oracle OPERA Cloud it offers Accommodation alone.

The Prepaid Service Types dropdown open, with Accommodation selected and City Tax, Second City Tax, Food & Beverages and Other listed

Routing Configuration​

You can route specific Service Types or Charges to the second Folio.

Why would you do this? Some Hoteliers want to provide a better overview for OTA guests.

The Routing Configuration section with the Accommodation Folio only switch on and the Routed Services and Routed Service Types fields empty

Just as in the prepayment settings, you can select either:

  • Specific Services from the PMS, or
  • All items within a Service Type from Apaleo

These will then be routed to a secondary folio as defined in your configuration.

3. Conclusion​

The Prepayment Configuration defines, per prepayment type, which charges are covered, whether they are visible to the guest, and how they are handled across booking channels. On Apaleo, you additionally control folio routing and prepayment at the Service Type level.

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