Two in the morning, three rooms still expected
The night porter runs the arrivals report. Three guests have not arrived. One booked direct on a flexible rate with a card guarantee. One booked through an OTA on a non-refundable rate. One is a corporate guest whose company has an agreement saying no-shows are billed to the account. Each should be handled differently, and the porter, who is also covering the bar and the door, has a laminated sheet with the general policy on it.
He marks all three as no-shows in the PMS and leaves a note for the morning. The morning team is busy with checkouts. The direct booking's card is never charged. The OTA no-show is not reported, so commission is billed on it. The corporate no-show is charged to the guest's personal card, which turns into a complaint from the company a week later.
Why the policy is harder to apply than to write
A hotel's cancellation policy is rarely one policy. It changes with the rate plan, the channel, the season, the group contract, and sometimes the date the booking was made, because terms were updated since.
- Flexible, semi-flexible and non-refundable rates have different cancellation windows.
- OTA bookings follow the OTA's terms and need no-shows reported in the extranet.
- Corporate and group bookings follow their own contracts.
- The policy in force when the guest booked may differ from today's.
- Card guarantees can decline, and a failed charge needs following up.
Night staff are asked to make these calls alone, at the end of a long shift, with limited information on screen.
What inconsistent charging costs
Charges that should have been made are not, so rooms held all night earn nothing. Charges made wrongly lead to disputes, chargebacks and angry emails, and they take far longer to unwind than they took to make. Unreported OTA no-shows add commission on revenue you never received.
Staff also feel exposed. Nobody likes charging a guest's card at three in the morning without being sure it is right, so the safe choice is often to do nothing.
Over time the inconsistency becomes its own problem. Regular guests learn that the policy is not really enforced, and the occasional guest who is charged correctly feels singled out, because a friend was let off last month. A policy that is applied some of the time is harder to defend than one applied every time.
How we build a no-show check
- Each rate plan, channel and contract type is written into a rules table with its cancellation terms and what should happen on a no-show.
- At a set time, the check reads the day's unarrived bookings and late cancellations from your PMS.
- For each booking, it works out which terms apply, using the rate, the channel, any company or group contract and the booking date.
- It prepares the action: charge the card guarantee for a stated amount, bill the company account, report the no-show to the OTA, or take no action.
- The duty manager or night auditor reviews the prepared actions and approves them. Card charges go through your PMS payment integration where available.
- Declines are listed for follow-up in the morning, and every decision is logged with the terms that were applied.
| Booking | Terms that apply | Prepared action |
|---|---|---|
| Direct, flexible rate | First night charged on no-show | Charge card guarantee for one night |
| OTA, non-refundable | Prepaid via OTA | Report no-show in extranet, no card charge |
| Corporate account | Company contract | Bill account, notify booker |
| Late cancellation, direct | Inside cancellation window | Charge as per rate terms |
The rules are yours. The check applies them the same way every night, but it does not decide what your policy should be.
A calmer night audit
The night auditor sees a short list of prepared actions, each with the reason. She approves them, handles the one that looks unusual, and moves on. In the morning, the front office manager sees what was charged, what declined and what was reported to the OTAs.
When a guest disputes a charge, you can show the terms they booked under and when the charge was made. When you change your policy, the change is made once in the rules table and applies to new bookings from that date.
Is no-show charging inconsistent at your hotel?
- Night staff handle no-shows from a printed policy sheet.
- Some no-show charges are never attempted.
- OTA no-shows are not always reported.
- Corporate and group no-shows are handled differently each time.
- Charges have been disputed and you could not easily show the terms.