Chain level cancellation policies
Chain level policy management allows hotel chains to create and distribute standardized cancellation and guarantee policies across multiple properties. This centralized approach ensures consistency while providing control over property-level customization permissions.
Policy creation reference: The general process for creating chain level policies is the same as property level with additional functionality to assign to property or rate codes prior to pushing to the property.
Strategic consideration: Carefully evaluate which elements properties should be able to customize versus those requiring chain-wide standardization.
Create chain level cancellation policies
Follow the steps below to create chain level cancellation policies.
Go to Chain Manager.
Go to Chain Level Default.
Go to Cancellation Policies.
Click the Create New tab.
Enter the policy name, 64 characters or fewer.
Check the hotel default if this policy should apply to all reservations unless another policy is applied to the property, rate or channel. One policy must be assigned as the default.
Check the Allow Anytime Cancel to permit booking cancellation after the deadline and still apply the penalty. This may not be available for payment gateways. The property will need a process to monitor late cancellations and apply the cancellation charge.
Choose one of the two types of cancellation deadlines:
Check the first option when cancellation is allowed without penalty up to the day of arrival.
Choose the time cancellation must be received from the dropdown menu.
Check the second option when cancellation must be made prior to the day of arrival to avoid penalty.
Enter the relative timeframe by entering the days or hours prior to the day of arrival.
Choose the arrival date time of the day from the dropdown menu for the system to calculate the deadline.
Cancel penalty define the fee applied for cancellations after the deadline or no-shows.
Configure one of the three options:
Enter the number of nights the guest will be charged.
Enter the percentage of the booking total the guest will be charged.
Enter the flat amount the guest will be charged.
Enter the description of the policy by clicking Auto Load to pre-populate baseline policy descriptions and add in a guest facing description to display in the booking path and in confirmation emails.
Enter GDS-specific descriptions in the designated field within 64 characters.
Set the priority (if enabled) to apply if more than one policy applies to a reservation. Priority for policies is required for blended rates and stay date policies.
Check the boxes for Allow Hotel to Modify Those Attributes if the hotel level is allowed to make changes. Leave unchecked for these to be visible but greyed out to the property users.
Policy configuration.
Policy description.
Policy access control.
Policy assignment.
Click Create New.
Add language translations for chain level cancellation policies
Follow the steps below to add translations for cancellation policies:
Go to Chain Manager.
Go to Chain Level Default.
Go to Cancellation Policies.
Click on the Policy Name from the list that you want.
Go to the Multi-language tab.
Select the language from the dropdown menu.
Enter the translated guarantee policy name.
Enter the translated guarantee policy description.
Click Save.
Distribution of policy to property options
Outlined below are the various options to distribute policy. You may push the policy to the property as:
Standalone to be assigned as needed at property level.
Pre-assigned to a channel.
Pre-assigned to the property level.
Pre-assigned to specific rate code or codes. When pushing policies assigned to rate codes, those rate codes must already exist at the target properties.
Policies may still be assigned or reassigned at property level as needed.
Assign to channel this is optional
If you want the cancellation policy pre-associated for a specific channel when pushed to the property follow the steps below:
Go to Chain Manager.
Go to Chain Level Default.
Go to Cancellation Policies.
Select channel control tab.
Choose the policy from the dropdown.
Check the boxes for the channel to enable for this policy.
Choices will be based on your contracted channels.
Click Save.
Assign to property this is optional
If you want the cancellation policy pre-associated at the property level to override the hotel default when pushed to the property follow the steps below:
Go to Chain Manager.
Go to Chain Level Default.
Go to Cancellation Policies.
Select Assign to Property tab.
Click Activate New Policy.
Choose the policy from the dropdown.
Enter the begin date.
Enter end date this is optional.
Check the boxes for the day of week this policy should be enforced.
Policies are enforced based on arrival or stay date depending on your chosen property level setting.
Click Create New.
Assign to rate code this is optional
If you want the policy pre-associated with specific chain level rate codes follow the steps below:
Go to Chain Manager.
Go to Chain Level Default.
Go to Cancellation Policies.
Select Assign to Rate Code tab.
Click Activate New Policy.
Choose the policy from the dropdown.
Choose the rate category from the dropdown to filter rate code results.
Click in the rate code field to choose specific codes or click Select All checkbox.
Enter begin date.
Enter end date this is optional.
Click Create New.
Push to policy to the property
Whether pushing a standalone policy or one assigned to other elements follow the steps below:
Go to Chain Manager.
Go to Chain Level Default.
Go to Cancellation Policies.
Select push to property.
Choose the chain or hotel group to filter Property results.
Click in the property field to choose or remove properties.
Click Next.
Choose the elements to send to the property or properties:
Policy detail.
Multi language description.
Multi channel description.
Channel control.
Policy assignment.
Click Update.
When the policy has been pushed to the property the results are outlined below:
Standalone policy: Becomes available at property level for individual rate code assignment.
Pre-associated policy: Policy is already assigned to the specified channel, property or rate codes at property level.
Replace existing hotel level cancellation policy with chain
Convert a previously created property-level cancellation policy to chain-level management for overall efficiency. Follow the steps below to replace existing hotel level cancellation policy with chain.
Go to Chain Manager.
Go to Chain Level Default.
Go to Cancellation Policies.
Go to the Replace Existing Hotel Level Access Code tab.
Choose the policy from the dropdown in the upper right.
Click in the Hotel box and select hotels from the menu or click Select All.
Click Next.
Check the boxes for each element of the policy to assign to the hotel:
Policy detail.
Multi language description.
Multi channel description.
Channel control.
Policy assignment.
Click Update.