What's new?
This month's updates includes information on flex pay by upgrade, buy now, pay later, expanding the reach of mobile only offers, add-on costs in reservation deposit amounts, booking engine accessibility, Trip.com connection upgrade and Opera Cloud OHIP migration.
Flex pay by upgrade - buy now, pay later
We just made booking a hotel room a whole lot easier for both guests and hoteliers. The CRS booking engine now offers access to flex pay by upgrade during the booking journey and at checkout initially for properties operating in USD.
For guests: It means booking now, paying later for more flexibility in when they book.
For hotels: It means higher conversion rates and fewer abandoned bookings.
Flex Pay gives travelers an easier path and greater confidence to confirm. And there’s no heavy lifting for hotels our teams handle the paperwork and the setup as we believe hotel tech should remove friction, not add to it. This is another step in our mission to help independent hoteliers boost direct revenue and deliver seamless guest experiences.
Expanding the reach of mobile only offers
We’re extending the capabilities of mobile only rates in the CRS to give you greater flexibility and visibility across more direct booking paths.
What’s changing and why it benefits you:
Previously, mobile only offers were limited to your booking engine. Now, you’ll have the option to extend those same mobile-exclusive rates to other direct-like channels, including metasearch partners like Wihp and any site using the distribution API. This means you can increase your mobile rate visibility without affecting offers distributed to OTAs, GDS or other non-direct channels.
What this means for you:
The mobile only checkbox for direct channels only is moving from the channel control tab to the rate code create or modify screen.
If you're already using mobile only rates, we’ll automatically preserve your current setup. No action needed to maintain existing functionality.
Going forward:
Use the new mobile only for direct channels checkbox on the rate code screen to enable the setting for the CRS booking engine via mobile devices.
If you’d like your mobile offer to also show on eligible channels like Wihp, simply activate those channels on the channel control tab as well.
This change unlocks more precise control over where and how your mobile exclusive rates appear helping you drive better mobile conversion across your most profitable direct paths.
Include add-on costs in reservation deposit amounts
Hoteliers may now choose whether the cost of an add-on should be included in the reservation deposit calculation if the rate booked requires a deposit. Previously, this was a default setting for hotels using payment gateways, without the ability to adjust it. With this update, it becomes a configurable option available to all customers regardless if there is a payment gateway in place providing additional flexibility to your property or group's selling and payment strategies.
What’s changing:
A new checkbox will be added to the add-on configuration screen. When selected, the cost of that add-on will be factored into the reservation deposit according to the policy linked to the rate code.
For hotels that already have add-on costs included in deposit amounts via payment gateway rules, this setting will be enabled by default to maintain your current deposit flows and avoid disruption. You’ll have the flexibility to adjust existing add-ons or apply the setting to new ones going forward.
This change allows you to decide whether to collect payment for ancillary items like parking, breakfast or experiences upfront or not giving you full control over the guest payment experience and better alignment with your policies.
Booking engine accessibility
Every guest deserves a seamless and accessible online experience. As accessibility standards evolve, so do we adapting our products to meet the latest requirements. Our development and design teams work to ensure the CRS booking engine and CRM guest portal remain accessible without disrupting the guest journey.
Guidelines to help inform your design choices for the booking engine. We encourage you to review these periodically to help ensure an inclusive experience for all users.
Upcoming Trip.com connection upgrade
As shared in earlier communications, we’re upgrading our existing Trip.com connection throughout June and July. If you're currently connected via the CRS through Ctrip, you should have already received transition details and steps to keep in mind during the upgrade.
We’re here to support you through the process don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.
Plus, stay tuned! We’ll soon announce new distribution opportunities available through SHR channel connect to help you reach even more guests.
Opera cloud OHIP migration planning starts now
If your hotel or group is planning a move from OXI to OHIP, it’s important to begin preparing for how this change may impact your current connections with SHR systems. To support your planning, we’ve created the Opera cloud OHIP hotel migration guide a must-read document outlining what to consider and how to prepare to maintain seamless connectivity with SHR’s applications during your migration.
How to access this update
Updates are automatically updated and available in the CRS.