Saturday night, an empty room and a declined card
A booking arrives on Booking.com for your best room, Saturday night, three weeks away. Pay at the property, card as guarantee. You do not look closely at it. On the Saturday evening, nobody arrives. At ten you try the guest's phone number, which does not connect. On Sunday you try to charge the no-show fee to the card, and it declines. The card was never valid.
You turned away two enquiries for that Saturday. You made breakfast for someone who never came. And now you are not sure whether you can still do anything about it in the extranet, because you are not sure of the time limits.
Why no-shows catch B&Bs out
Booking.com lets guests book with a card as guarantee, and gives properties ways to deal with invalid cards and no-shows through the extranet. In a hotel, someone checks new bookings daily. In a B&B, the owner looks at bookings when they arrive, if at all, and deals with problems when they happen.
- Card details are not checked when the booking arrives, only when you try to charge.
- Booking.com's process for invalid cards has time limits, which are easy to miss.
- Warning signs, such as a very last-minute booking of your most expensive room, a phone number that does not look right, or no reply to messages, are not noticed.
- No-shows must be marked in the extranet within a period, or commission may be charged.
- You are busy, and nothing reminds you.
What no-shows and invalid cards cost you
A room you held and could have sold. For a B&B with a handful of rooms, one empty room on a busy Saturday is a real share of the weekend's income. Commission on a booking you never received money for, if you do not mark it. Food bought and prepared for a guest who never came.
It also costs trust. Owners who have been caught this way start to treat every OTA booking with suspicion, which is unfair on the vast majority of guests and makes the job less pleasant.
How we build no-show and card checks
- New OTA bookings are picked up from your booking system or channel manager as they arrive.
- Each booking is checked against simple warning signs you agree, such as same-day booking, a phone number in the wrong format, no reply to your welcome message, or a card flagged in the extranet.
- Bookings that meet your rules for a card check prompt you to verify the card through your payment provider, if your terms with Booking.com allow it, and remind you of Booking.com's invalid card process and its time limit.
- A few days before arrival, guests who have not replied to your arrival message are highlighted.
- On the morning after an expected arrival that did not happen, you are reminded to mark the no-show in the extranet, with the booking details ready.
- Every flag and action is logged, so you know what happened and when.
| Booking | Flag | Prompted action |
|---|---|---|
| Best room, booked this afternoon for tonight | Last minute, no reply | Message guest, check card |
| Saturday, three weeks away | Card declined on check | Use Booking.com's invalid card process in time |
| Guest did not arrive | No-show | Mark no-show in extranet next morning |
| Regular booking, replied to welcome message | None | Nothing |
Booking.com's own rules and your terms with them decide what you can do. We build prompts that follow them; we do not change them or advise on them.
The next doubtful booking
A booking arrives at four in the afternoon for tonight, your best room, with a phone number missing a digit. Your phone shows a flag. You check the card through the process your terms allow, and it declines. You use Booking.com's invalid card process, and the room goes back on sale in time to be booked by someone else that evening.
Most bookings never raise a flag. You stop treating every OTA booking as a risk, because the checks are doing it for you.
Have OTA no-shows cost you?
- Guests have booked through Booking.com and never arrived.
- Card details have declined only when you tried to charge a no-show.
- You are unsure of Booking.com's time limits for invalid cards and no-shows.
- No-shows have not been marked and commission was charged.
- You have turned away guests for a room that ended up empty.