Types, methods and process of hotel booking. Features of payment for hotel services when booking rooms Tariffs for air transportation

As you know, corporations do everything for the sake of multi-billion dollar profits. The company, in principle, is no different from the rest and uses cunning marketing tactics with some omissions and tricks so that tourists book a hotel as quickly as possible for as much money as possible. In this article I will tell you about these tricks and tricks that you should not fall for.

Delicious breakfasts

If you see the following inscriptions in the hotel parameters: “Very good breakfast; Amazing breakfast; Good coffee!; Delicious breakfast", then you can safely book a room without breakfast or choose another hotel.

I don’t like such inscriptions, because... they distract from looking at the really necessary things: room equipment, WiFi availability, swimming pool, hotel location.

At first I thought that such a rating was made by voting by tourists after visiting the hotel or according to some specific parameters, but after 2 times in a row in hotels we came across a disgusting, disgusting, tasteless breakfast, we stopped believing this inscription.

As I understand it, such inscriptions are made for SEO, because how else can you explain the use of various words added to almost all hotels?!

Here’s a look at the screenshot of one hotel, the price of a room without breakfast is € 233, and with a very good breakfast included € 255. As you can see, if you immediately book a room with breakfast, you will save € 4. Be aware that if you buy a room without breakfast, you can always purchase it separately at the hotel, sometimes for even less money.

Taxes

Now you have found a suitable hotel for a holiday in a quiet place, close to the beach or attractions, now you need to be careful when booking, because... the price may be indicated without taxes and various fees. Look at the screenshot below: the room rate is 22,694 rubles, and it is indicated that VAT of 10% and breakfast are included in the price. But taxes are not included. What does this mean, you ask? And no one will answer this question until you arrive at the hotel and they bill you. Agree, it’s not very pleasant to see + 1-100% on your bill while on vacation. It is not clear how such a corporation as Booking with a staff of programmers, managers, content specialists, support in a bunch of languages, misses such hotel descriptions without specific data on the final cost of the room.

If you browse the Booking website, then, depending on the city, you can see the following types of taxes, which not included in the bill: VAT approximately 10% to 20%. Tourist tax or City tax, which depending on the city can be € 1 — 5 per day. In Venice, for example, it is € 4.5; in Paris € 2.48; in Berlin - 5% of the cost of living. In New York you will be charged 14.75% tax and $3.50 city tax per night. There is no tourist tax for children in some cities, but in Berlin your child will also be charged a tax.

Hotel booking pages may show many different types of taxes and fees that are not included in the final room price, such as a 10-28% "Property Service Charge."

Parking at the hotel for an additional fee

If you are traveling by car, then when searching for a hotel on Booking, you can tick one of the criteria - this parking. A normal person, checking this box, especially on a phone, may not notice that parking will be paid, and hopes that the hotel has a private, guarded parking lot that the hotel client can use for free. Because this price is not added to the cost of the room, but is simply described in the hotel services.

As you can see from the screenshot, upon arrival at the hotel the person finds out that private parking will cost him some $18 per day. And in some Paris, the cost of a parking space at a hotel will cost € 25 per day. At the same time, it is not written whether this is a guarded parking lot, because this is important for car travelers. When we travel by car, we try to find hotels with free private guarded parking. But normal hotels, for example in Munich, provide a free pass for public transport if you arrive by car.

Rushing clients

The next trick that Booking uses is to constantly rush clients. Inscriptions such as “The number of available places is limited”, “Don’t miss your chance”, “Book the last room”, “Seven rooms left”, “Booked 10 times in the last 24 hours” seem to encourage people to make a reservation quickly. Any psychologist will explain to you that no one wants to be left without a bird in their hands and will try to book at least something, and red reminders throughout the site get on your nerves and help you make a decision faster. And then you arrive at the hotel and see that there are a lot of empty seats, three cripples come for breakfast, and only one family is splashing in the pool.

The same method is usually used by realtors or dealers in the car market. So you approach it and ask how much the car costs, how many owners it has had, whether it has been in an accident. And, having examined the car, you are about to move on, and they see you off with the words: “Don’t think too long, otherwise today many people were interested in the car, and, you know, whoever brings the money first gets the slippers.” And a month later you come to the same market, and this car continues to be sold, apparently the owner is holding the car for someone.

Discount scam

When choosing a hotel on Booking, we often come across hotel rooms with similar inscriptions: “Save 33% today!”; "Today's Super Offer!". On the screen you see the price crossed out and the new price drawn in bright red! In theory, you can be glad that just today you can save quite a lot on accommodation. And then you go to the website tomorrow or a week later, and there is the same inscription on the same hotel. It turns out that the discount can be valid not only today, but also tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

Hotel payment currency

Another problem with Booking is the currency used to pay for accommodation. Yes, when searching for a hotel, you can choose any currency, but you will always pay for your stay in the local currency. And on Booking itself you can see the following wording: “You pay the hotel in local currency (€). The indicated amount (in RUB) is indicative and is based on the current exchange rate." In fact, the final amount of accommodation depends on the type of your card, the cross rate and currency in the country, and the error can be up to 10%.

That’s why I always pay for hotel stays only in cash and in local currency, so as not to spend extra money on cross rates and changes in rates.

Unauthorized withdrawal of money from the card

Don’t be surprised if suddenly, after booking a hotel, they start illegally withdrawing money from your card. This happened to us in the winter: we booked a hotel in Phuket with free cancellation and payment on the spot. The terms and conditions also stated that not a cent would be charged from the card. In fact, after entering the card details when booking a hotel on Booking, they immediately wanted to withdraw the entire amount from us. We received a call from our bank saying that a hotel in Phuket was attempting to withdraw an unauthorized amount of money and the transaction was declined. We thanked the bank employee and said that we would sort it out. Immediately after this we wrote to the hotel and Booking, and they all began to pretend that they were just checking whether we had money on the card.

As it turned out, the site rules say: “Booking.com is not responsible for any (authorized or possible) unauthorized or erroneous) debiting of funds by the Supplier and will not refund any amounts legally charged or pre-authorized by the Supplier (including prepayment, no-show or cancellation fees) on your card.”

I don’t know how Booking does this, bypassing EU legislation, but in Europe you cannot indicate one thing in the terms of service, but in fact act completely differently and, moreover, transfer personal data (in our case, card data) to third parties .

Agree, it’s nonsense: you find a hotel on Booking with a specific price, enter your card details there, and your card details are leaked to the hotel, which can easily withdraw any amount unauthorized, and no one is responsible for this, because this is written in the Booking rules!

Booking provides services for free

The most epic lie of Booking is the story that the site’s services are free, you can take the time to find the following in the site rules:

“Our Service is free to you because, unlike many other companies, we do not charge you for our Service, nor do we add additional (booking) fees to the price.”

Suppliers pay a commission(a small percentage of the price of a Booking.com product (e.g. room) after a user has used a product or service provided by a Supplier or a guest has stayed at the property (and paid for the stay)."

If the hotel pays a commission, how can the service be free? This commission is included in the cost of accommodation, and you cannot make a reservation without a commission, and if so, then this is definitely not a free service. And according to hoteliers who ask not to disclose their data, Booking’s commission is approximately 15-20% of the reservation. Agree, this is not such a small percentage, which Booking writes about on its website.

Booking does not have the lowest prices

Conclusion

With all its small marketing tricks, it is still unrivaled, and most often you have to book a hotel on this service. In my ideal world, I would like the site to contain only reliable, honest data. Until this happens, be extremely careful when booking hotels, because even the most advanced travelers fall for these tricks. Well, keep in mind that in popular tourist destinations, rooms in good hotels are actually booked six months in advance, for example, in Barcelona, ​​Paris, Rome, New York or London.

Subject to availability, the hotel administration accepts reservation requests from legal entities and individuals in written or oral form. For reservations upon check-in at the hotel, a fee of 50 percent of the cost of the room (bed) per day is charged, regardless of whether it is made under contracts, individual or group requests. When checking into an additional bed, no booking fee will be charged.

Applications for booking rooms (beds) in hotels to accommodate participants in public events are sent by customers within the period determined by the hotel administration, in accordance with the concluded agreement (contract). If groups or individual citizens are late, in addition to the reservation fee, a fee will be charged for the actual time of non-use of the room (place), but not more than one day. If you are late for more than 24 hours, the reservation will be cancelled. If the reserved rooms (places) were not prepared on time and efficiently for check-in, no fee will be charged for their reservation.

The receptionist (administrator), based on telegrams, telephone calls, letters received at the hotel for room reservations, fills out the Logbook for registering applications for the reservation of rooms (places) (form No. 7-G). Legal entities submit an application for booking rooms (beds) in a hotel in the form of a free-form letter of guarantee, signed by the responsible person and certified with an official seal.

Online booking is a guaranteed booking in real time, i.e. booking of services takes place during one client call to the system. You can book hotel services online either at any of the online booking points of the ALL HOTELS partner network, or on the All-Hotels.ru website. A booking on request consists of at least two calls to the system: a request and then a response about the result of the booking. A booking upon request can be guaranteed, in which case, after the client receives a positive booking result, the order must be paid before the service begins, or non-guaranteed - this is an online reservation.

Online booking through a network of online booking points

List of online booking points

Payment is made in cash at the cash desk of the online booking point.

After payment for the reserved services, an employee of the online reservation point issues a personalized voucher to the Customer indicating information about the paid services and conditions of stay at the hotel, which must be presented by the Customer to the hotel accommodation service employee upon check-in. Confirmation of payment is the voucher presented by the Customer and an electronic notification with information about the reservation, which the hotel receives at the time of the transaction. You can read more about online booking points in the corresponding section.

Online booking on the website All-Hotels.ru

Online booking is made on the All-Hotels.ru website by a registered Customer. The customer is authorized on the All-Hotels.ru server and enters reservation parameters. After the system has provided the Customer with accommodation options that satisfy his request, the Customer blocks the option that satisfies him and proceeds to payment (PAYMENT SYSTEM).

Booking hotel services on request

Reservations are made on the All-Hotels.ru website by a registered user-Customer. (registration).

The customer is authorized on the All-Hotels.ru server and fills out a request for hotel accommodation. After submitting the application, the Customer receives an email confirming the successful transmission of the application to the dispatch service of ALL HOTELS LLC. If the dispatch service confirms the availability of the required accommodation option, a letter is sent to the Customer’s e-mail confirming the reservation and indicating a link leading the Customer to the payment system.

Online reservation of hotel services

Online reservation of hotel services is carried out on the website All-Hotels.ru by a registered Customer.

The customer is authorized on the All-Hotels.ru server and fills out a request for hotel accommodation. After completing the application, the Customer receives an email confirming the successful sending of the application to the hotel's e-mail.

Reservation - pre-ordering places and rooms in a hotel. Guest service begins with this process. Room reservations are carried out by managers of the reservation department or reception service. It is these departments that receive reservation requests from clients. In addition to the formal collection of applications, the reservation department must study the demand for hotel rooms. Studying the hotel's many years of experience, taking into account the plan of events that will take place in a given region (sports competitions, carnivals, conventions, festivals, etc.), forecasting the demand for places and analyzing the occupancy of rooms in the past and present periods, the reservation department, together with The marketing service plans the hotel's activities.

During public events, the demand for hotel rooms increases several times. It is profitable for hotels to book places for events with a large number of participants, since in this case the pre-booking is made long before the event and the risk of its cancellation (i.e. refusal of a pre-booked place) is small.

Hotel occupancy depends on the season, business activity in the area, economic and political situation. In times of political instability, tourists' interest in this area decreases due to the inability to ensure a safe stay.

A hotel cannot achieve a profitable occupancy level without the use of room reservation (pre-order) systems. The Rules for the provision of hotel services in the Russian Federation (Section II) say:

“The Contractor has the right to enter into an agreement for the reservation of places in a hotel by drawing up a document signed by both parties, as well as by accepting an application for reservation through postal, telephone and other communications that make it possible to reliably establish that the application comes from the consumer.

If the consumer is late, in addition to the reservation fee, he will be charged a fee for the downtime of the room (place in the room), but not more than one day.

If you are late by more than a day, the reservation will be cancelled. If the consumer refuses to pay for the reservation, his accommodation at the hotel is carried out on a first-come, first-served basis.”

In Sect. IV of these rules states: “For violation of the deadlines for the commencement of the provision of services under the reservation agreement, the hotel enterprise pays the consumer a penalty (penalty) in the amount of 3% of the price of the reserved room (place in the room) for each day of delay.”

The reservation service is an integral part of the reception and accommodation service, and the number of its employees depends on the size of the hotel. Typically, the reservation service operates during the day, and in the evening and at night this work is performed by the administrator on duty. The reservation process is very important for a hotel, and the employees involved in this work have a lot of responsibility. Marketing service employees establish relationships with corporate clients, organizers of congress events and exhibitions, and tourism organizations for the purpose of long-term use of hotel rooms.

Reservations are accepted from individual clients or organizations. As a rule, applications for a group are received long before the date of settlement, individual applications - several days in advance.

Rooms can be booked by phone, fax, email, in person, through the “booking” form on the hotel website and through international booking systems.

In accordance with the International Hotel Convention, adopted on June 15, 1979, two types of contracts for the sale of hotel services are concluded - with an individual client or a group of clients. Here is an excerpt from the convention:

"Article 9

a) the beginning of the conclusion of a hotel contract is recognized as the sending by a tourist organization to the hotel owner of a request for booking hotel services;

b) a request for booking services submitted orally must be confirmed in writing (letter, telegram, telex, computer, fax);

c) the booking request must contain a list of services. Prices for services can be specified in the request, in which case the tourist organization guarantees payment in the amount of the agreed amount.

a) a hotel contract is recognized as concluded only if the hotel owner accepts the request sent to him;

b) acceptance of the request must be confirmed in writing, indicating the services related exclusively to the firm’s request and the prices for these services;

c) confirmation is sent immediately, but no more than within 3 days from the date of receipt of the request by the hotel owner.

If a tourist organization wishes to receive a response by telegraph, it must make a note in the request - the response is paid for.

Article 11. Prepayment

a) the hotel owner has the right to require advance payment (in the form of a guaranteed deposit or deposit) as a condition of accepting the request.

Any advance payment will be treated as a guaranteed deposit, unless the hotel owner has specifically stated that the advance payment must be in the form of a deposit. In the case of an application by the hotel owner for advance payment, the contract is recognized as concluded only upon receipt by the hotel owner of the stipulated amount or proof of payment from the tourist organization;

b) the hotel owner must confirm to the tourist organization receipt of the advance payment amount within 24 hours from the receipt of payment;

c) the amount of advance payment, as a rule, is equal to the price of the booked services (room, meals) for one day of stay in the off-season and for three days of stay in the peak season.

Article 12. Booking documents

1. Acceptance of the voucher

The hotel owner has the right to demand full prepayment or partial prepayment. If he does not set such conditions, then he is obliged to accept the voucher as a guarantee document confirming that payment will be made in accordance with the conditions and terms provided for in this convention.

2. Simple voucher

A simple voucher must include the client's arrival and departure dates and hotel services (room and meals), along with other data.

3. Full credit voucher

The issue of this type of voucher is subject to a special agreement between the hotel owner and the tourism organization. In such a voucher, in addition to only hotel services (room and meals), a list of other services is allowed.

The payment of the commission is carried out in accordance with the principles of Article 17.

Prices for hotel services for a tourist organization should not be higher than regular prices.

The hotel owner is obliged to adhere to the prices stipulated in the contract. In case of price changes, new prices can only be applied after 30 days from the date of their change. However, the change should not affect prices for services the provision of which has already been confirmed by the hotel owner.

a) A tourist organization that has entered into a hotel contract assumes the obligation to pay the invoice for the services provided, unless it is specifically agreed that the invoice is paid by the client;

b) the invoice must be paid within the terms stipulated by the contract, and in case of their absence - within 30 days from the date of receipt of the invoice;

c) if the contract stipulates that payment for services booked by the tourist organization is made by the client, the hotel owner must guarantee the payment of the commission to the tourist organization. In this case, the hotel owner reserves the right not to accept credit cards for services provided.

Article 17. Rules for payment of commissions

A hotel contract subject to this convention provides for the payment of a commission in the amount of an appropriate percentage of the prices for services (room and meals) specified in the contract.

The hotel owner pays the commission only to the tourism organization, to the exclusion of all other parties.

The hotel owner must calculate from his general account the amount of commission due to the tourism organization.”

A request to reserve a room can be received through various channels (e-mail, fax, telephone, telex). When a request is received, the following information about the client is recorded in the computer or log:

· last name, number of persons, address;

· what number is needed, and in what time frame;

· guarantee of payment and who pays;

· special requests (flowers in the room, a pillow without feathers for an allergy sufferer, etc.).

Each application is assigned a number. The reservation is guaranteed by a deposit or credit card. The employee who accepted the request must check the client’s history (if he has already stayed at the hotel) and, based on the results, make appropriate notes or even refuse the reservation.

If an application is submitted for a large number of numbers (for example, holding a congress), then a special employee will deal with this application. When receiving a reservation request from a company or travel agency, the reservation officer must check whether the hotel has a service contract with this company, what the terms of the contract are (primarily, at what corporate price the hotel must provide the room).

If there are available rooms, the client is sent a confirmation, which contains the date of placement, type of room, number of days of stay, application number. A confirmed reservation is the receipt of a special notification sent by the hotel to the client. Receiving confirmation of a booking requires that notification of the booking be received by mail or fax to the client. Guests may take the notice with them to check their reservation details upon arrival at the hotel. The actions of the reservation representative upon receipt of a request are presented in Figure 1.1.

If the request does not contain data on the number of days of stay, then the room is booked for one day. The client must arrive at the hotel before 18:00, unless there is a late arrival mark. A specific number is usually not guaranteed. If a tariff is reported, it is usually given as a range. If the client has made a deposit, the number is kept regardless of arrival.

If the booking conditions satisfy the guest, a positive response is given. Upon receipt of an individual order, a reservation coupon is issued in the following form:

· last name, first name, patronymic of the guest;

· location;

· type and date of application;

· date of arrival, departure;

· number of seats;

additional services (transfer, excursions, rental of a business center, restaurant, tickets to events, etc.);

· signature of the person who accepted the application. Rice. 1.1. Booking process diagram

When a group order is received, a reservation application is submitted (Fig. 1.2.). If payment is made by bank transfer, the application must include the bank details of the organization. The application is signed by the general director and chief accountant.

Hotel

Form No. 10-G

Approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation

dated 12/13/93 No. 121

Reg. No. _______________

Head of department, director, association

hotel industry (hotels)

«____________________»

T. ______________________________

(Full Name)

for reservations

We kindly ask you to accommodate ________ people at the hotel “______________”:

___________________________________________________________

1. _______________________________________________________________

2. _______________________________________________________________

… ______________________________________________________________

10. ______________________________________________________________

(for foreign citizens, citizenship is indicated;

a separate list is attached to the application for accommodation of more than 10 people)

Check-in “___” ______________ 20___

(0-12h or 12-24h)

Departure “___” _____________ 20___

during ________________________

(0-12 h or 12-24 h)

Purpose of visit and type of payment _________________________________________________

(Business trip, vacation, transit,

By bank transfer, in cash)

Rice. 1.2. Application for reservation of seats

At the end of the shift, reservation requests are submitted to the accounting department. In addition to coupons and applications, booking application logs are prepared (Fig. 1.3 and 1.4).

Registration number

Business name

(organizations)

Date of application Date of arrival, departure Hotel Number of places Signature of the person who accepted the application

Rice. 1.3. Journal of registration of applications for reservation of places by the "Enterprise"

Registration number Full name Place of residence Type of application Date of application Date of arrival, departure Hotel Number of places Signature of the person who accepted the application

Rice. 1.4. Journal of registration of applications for reservation of seats by a “Private individual”

The application is registered (assigned a registration number) and confirmed (Fig. 1.5) or rejected in the same way in which the application was received.

When making a telephone reservation, it is very important to pay attention to the client, since the impression from this conversation will determine his attitude towards the hotel as a whole. It is important for the client how long he will wait for an answer, therefore, according to standards, the phone should be picked up after a maximum of five rings.

An employee who has information about the hotel's occupancy must answer the phone. Hotels that accept reservations for rooms by telephone have developed special forms. You just need to make notes in the required boxes.

The same forms may be in a special section of the reservation department computer.

For telephone bookings, written confirmation is required.

When coming on duty in the morning, the reception clerk adds up the available rooms with those from which the guests have checked out, subtracts the booked rooms from the resulting amount and, as a result, gets the rooms that he can offer to guests coming from outside. In this case, the data from the reception service must be compared with information from the housekeeping service, since discrepancies often arise.

Hotel "___________"

In response to your fax dated 12/25/00, we confirm the reservation of two single rooms from 01/01/2001 to 01/05/2001. The cost of the rooms per day is 500 rubles.

If your plans change, please cancel your reservation before 18:00 on 12/31/00 to avoid being billed for room downtime. Check out time at our hotel is 12 noon.

Sincerely

Director Petrova V.B.

Chief accountant Sidorova O. A.

Rice. 1.5. Booking confirmation letter form

For example, the housekeeping service shows that the room is available, but according to the reservation service, the room was booked with guaranteed payment, so the room is not taken care of by the client. Another example is that the reception service lists the room as occupied, but the housekeeping department reports that there is no luggage in the room and the client did not spend the night.

Small hotels still use manual booking techniques using spreadsheets. The simplest table is the form below (Table 1.6).

Table 1.6

Room numbers Numbers of months

1 2 3 4 5 … 31

Larger hotels use the form presented in Table 1.7.

Table 1.7

Room types Room numbers

1 2 3 4 5 … 31

Single

Number of numbers 10 1 1 1

Double

According to this table, the hotel has 10 single rooms and 15 double rooms. When an application is received, the clerk puts a “one” in the column for the corresponding day. In table 1.7 On the 1st day, 4 single rooms were booked (6 rooms available), on the 2nd date, 2 single and double rooms were booked (8 single rooms and 13 double rooms available, respectively). This table allows you to clearly see the number of available rooms in each category.

In large modern hotels the booking process is computerized.

1.1 Computer booking method

The computer method of booking opens up wide opportunities for hotels and customers. Computer reservation systems are known in world practice: a corporate reservation network unites hotels included in the chain, another reservation network unites independent hotels not included in the chain.

When booking online, reservations can be made at a hotel located in another city or even in another country. The advantage of the automated network is that the reservation can be forwarded to any other hotel in the chain located in the same city.

You can book a hotel room via a computer network by telephone. The dispatcher contacts the hotel via a computer network and finds out the possibility of booking. This method is not very convenient, as it takes a lot of time to find out the conditions for booking and accommodation.

There are two more options for booking using a computer: the hotel has its own Internet page or is a member of one of the Internet booking systems (Academservice, WEBInternational, NotaBene, etc.). Today there are 4 global booking systems: Amadeus, Galileo, Worldspan, Saber. They are used by more than 800 thousand travel agencies around the world to book travel services, including hotel accommodation. The systems are becoming increasingly popular due to the breadth of capabilities they offer at very low cost. The shorter the response time to a received order, the higher the effectiveness of this method of attracting customers. The speed of sending confirmation largely depends on the degree of automation of the processing of incoming applications and on the clarity of interaction between the hotel and the agent.

Proper organization of information exchange between these two links makes it possible to reduce the time the client receives confirmation to a minimum (ideally, the so-called online confirmation should take no more than 7 seconds, which is rare in Russian practice).

By connecting the hotel automated control system and the Internet booking system, the hotel and the agent are able to quickly exchange information about the available rooms, the room categories and services offered by the hotel, as well as current rates, discounts, special programs for guests, etc. Having the opportunity to update tariffs as often as desired, the hotel, in turn, will be able to maintain a more flexible pricing policy and adequately respond to demand.

In this system, booking occurs as follows.

The client goes to the WEB site of the Internet booking system and gets acquainted with the booking rules. Next, he chooses a hotel. After making sure that there are available rooms and filling out the required information fields, he sends the order to the system by e-mail. The system automatically processes the order (except for non-standard cases) and sends a preliminary confirmation with the conditions for making an advance payment, and the client is added to the waiting list. After receiving the appropriate guarantees (prepayment, letter of guarantee, etc.) from the client, the latter receives final confirmation of the reservation from the agent. A copy of the final confirmation is sent to the hotel. Here the reservation is entered into the loading schedule and then automatically changed

If the hotel has its own page, responding to incoming requests is a function of the hotel's reservation service. In this case, the interaction procedure is as follows.

The client goes to the Internet booking system website and gets acquainted with the booking rules. Next, he selects a room and, after making sure there are available rooms and filling out the necessary information fields, sends the order directly to the hotel by e-mail. The system automatically processes the order (except for non-standard cases) and sends a preliminary confirmation with the conditions for making an advance payment, and the client is added to the waiting list. After receiving the appropriate guarantees (prepayment, letter of guarantee, etc.) from the client, the latter receives final confirmation of the reservation from the hotel. The reservation is entered into the loading schedule, followed by an automatic change in the status of the room stock.

The Internet makes it possible, without leaving home, without intermediaries, to obtain the necessary information about the hotel and see how the rooms are decorated. When making a telephone or computer reservation, there is a risk that the reservation will suddenly end and a client who has not received confirmation may arrive to check in and not receive a room because there are no available seats.

Application No. Country Full name Host organization Arrival Departure Room No. Note

01/00 RF Zakharov V. Business tour 01.01 14.00 06.01 12.00 541

02/00 CIS Voronova A. Lyceum tour 01.01 10.00 02.01 12.00 142

03/00 CIS Zvonov I. Russia-tour 01.01 12.00 05.01 12.00 322

04/00 Belgium Schultz V. Business tour 01.01 18.00 10.01 12.00 201 Breakfast in the room

05/00 USA Brown D. Lyceum tour 01.01 14.00 06.01 12.00 108

06/00 RF Ivanov A. Lyceum tour 01.01 14.00 06.01 12.00 109

07/00 RF Petrov S. Lyceum tour 01.01 14.00 06.01 12.00 110

08/00 Sweden Puhl A. Russia-tour 01.01 20.00 10.01 12.00 210

Based on requests, the reservation department can draw up a long-term hotel occupancy plan for a certain period (year, month, week) and a occupancy plan for the current day (Table 1.1.1).

Table 1.1.1

Table 1.1.1. Load plan for the current day

The reservation department must constantly interact with the reception service, which provides information about the loading of rooms at the current time. If the load report is not compiled correctly, then managers may make incorrect decisions regarding load forecasts. And an unsold room reduces the hotel's income.

1.2 Guaranteed reservation

A guaranteed reservation is a reservation with a special confirmation from the hotel that it guarantees the client the receipt of the reserved room. Such confirmation is necessary if there is a possibility that the guest may arrive at the hotel late. When making a reservation, write down the guest's credit card number, which guarantees payment for the room even if the guest is late. Under these conditions, the room remains vacant until the guest arrives. Thus, a guaranteed reservation is one of the types of reservation in which the client is guaranteed a room on the date of reservation plus one day before check-out time the next day. The client, in turn, guarantees payment for the reserved room in case of being late or unable to arrive if the cancellation of the reservation was not made in compliance with the necessary formalities. The convenience of a guaranteed reservation is that the guest will try to cancel the order if he sees that he will not be able to use it. With this confirmation, the hotel has an accurate picture of the availability of rooms. A guaranteed reservation with advance payment involves the client paying the hotel in full before the time of his arrival. For obvious reasons, this type of booking is the most convenient for the room management service.

Another form of guaranteed reservation can be a deposit (advance) payment. In some situations (for example, during the height of the holiday season), in order to avoid vacancy of rooms due to the no-show of an expected guest, the hotel may ask for an advance payment of the cost of accommodation for one day or even the entire stay. Prepayment is also required when placing a tourist group. This is also a way to combat “no-shows”.

According to the “Rules for the provision of hotel services in the Russian Federation”, if the consumer is late, in addition to the reservation fee, he will also be charged for the actual downtime of the room (place in the room), but not more than one day. If you are late by more than a day, the reservation will be cancelled. If the consumer refuses to pay for the reservation, his/her accommodation at the hotel is made on a first-come, first-served basis.

The “Rules for the provision of hotel services in the Russian Federation” do not stipulate the amount of payment for a reservation. It is installed by the hotel administration. Typically, individual tourists are charged 50% of the room rate or room rate. For tourist groups there are discounts for bookings, accommodation and even some services. The size of the discount depends on the number of people in the group and length of stay. On average, for booking seats for a tourist group, a payment of 25 - 35% of the tariff is taken.

1.3 Double booking

A double booking is a confirmation of the future provision of hotel rooms to two clients at the same time on the same date. By choosing this path, the hotel takes a risk. What if both clients arrive? Of course, it is possible that one of them cancels the application some time before arrival or simply does not arrive on the appointed day. Then the risk turns out to be justified. But if both clients arrive at the hotel, then the one who arrived earlier gets the place. To satisfy another customer, the hotel has several ways that department managers keep in mind when making a double booking. In the event that two clients arrive at the same time, or when a tourist arrives without prior reservation and there is no room in the hotel, there is a connection with companies that rent out housing and with nearby hotels where the client can be redirected. Sometimes the reservation department forwards the reservation request to another hotel, which confirms to the client that he will be given a place, but in a different hotel. In this case, it is necessary to obtain the client's consent to change the hotel.

It is advisable for both the hotel and the guest that rooms are booked in advance, and the sooner the better.

In an attempt to reduce the damage caused by booking guests not showing up, hotels make the following decisions:

1. A guest’s no-show is considered an additional expense and is taken into account when developing a pricing policy.

2. Hotels issue invoices to guests (room cost minus savings).

3. Prepayment or credit card information is required when booking.

4. Hotels carry out “double booking”, that is, they reserve places in excess of those available (by 5%, 10%, 15%).

The system for reserving seats beyond those available must be carefully thought out and clearly regulated. If a hotel is unable to fulfill its obligations on accepted bookings, it risks losing customers whose reservations were not fulfilled, as well as terminating business relationships with travel companies.

The opinion of some managers is that it is better to leave the rooms unoccupied than to not fulfill the order later. Typically, these managers limit bookings to availability only. However, they often find themselves in a situation where numbers remain unoccupied. Evidence shows that about 20% of guests who make a non-guaranteed reservation and about 5% of those who make a guaranteed reservation will not use their reservation.

A well-thought-out policy for reserving places in excess of those available reduces the incidence of guest no-shows. But to do this, you need to know the level of no-shows for different types of reservations, namely: to study different groups of customers booking rooms to determine what percentage of the total number of rooms they booked they actually occupied previously. For example, one study found that booking the day before or on the day of arrival has a higher no-show rate than booking earlier. Analysis of the types of booking times and segments of customers making reservations allows us to build a policy model for booking places in excess of those available.

Some hotels do not compensate in any way for moral damage to a guest who was denied a reserved place. However, others find places in another hotel for one or two days and ensure that the guest subsequently moves to their place. They also provide him with a free phone call to inform his family about this change. Trying to win back a client who was forced to stay at another hotel, managers offer him a stay in their hotel for the next 24 hours for free. The widespread development of hotel chains with their network of own and franchised members has given rise to a new centralized reservation system, as a result of which 60-70% of the room stock is under the control of the centralized reservation system of the companies. The remaining number can be booked directly by the hotel. This system provides great benefits to hotels, as their efforts to attract customers are greatly reduced.

According to the “Rules for the Provision of Hotel Services in the Russian Federation”, “the contractor has the right to enter into an agreement for the reservation of places in a hotel by drawing up a document signed by two parties, as well as by accepting an application for reservation through postal, telephone and other communications, which makes it possible to reliably establish that the application comes from consumer."

1.4 Rebooking

The most unpleasant problem that can arise is overbooking, when two clients apply for one room. The fact is that, according to statistics, up to 10% of clients who have booked a room refuse the reservation, and another 5% do not show up at the hotel on the agreed day. Therefore, sometimes hotels take risks and accept orders 10% more than they can actually accommodate, in the hope that some clients will cancel their reservations or simply not come. If this calculation does not come true, a situation called “overbooking” arises.

Another common reason for rebooking is, for example, bad weather: old clients cannot leave the hotel, but new clients have already arrived. In this case, a hotel that values ​​its reputation must, at its own expense, send the client to another hotel of the same or higher category and pay the difference in rates (this operation is called “farmout”).

The opposite situation is also possible, when the same client books a room through different agencies, as a result of which not one, but several rooms are booked for him. The reservation service should monitor such “double bookings.”

Let's compare prices. Look for a hotel on special websites or use the services of an online agent, for example on Expedia, Orbit, Travoline. See if certain hotels have availability and calculate the room rate.

• Look at sites like Hotels.com or Travelweb, which only specialize in hotel reservations, but you won't find flight or car rental reservations here.
• Read about additional fees. Some independent Internet agencies charge a fee for using their services. This fee can be from 1 to 10 dollars and in case of cancellation or change of the reservation, the money will not be returned to you.

Hotel reservation. Book a room on the hotel website or travel agency website. Fill in your contact information, check-in and check-out times.

Booking rooms in hotels is one of the most common and popular services in the hotel business. Despite this, not everyone fully understands the legal and economic essence of this service. As a result, ambiguities arise regarding accounting and taxation. Plus, you should know how the booking fee and the downtime fee are related. These and other difficult questions are discussed in the article.

Determining the legal status and essence

It is no secret that for accounting purposes, economic content takes precedence over legal form. This requirement is contained both in paragraph 6 of PBU 1/2008 “Accounting Policies of an Organization” and in paragraph 10 of IAS 8 “Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors”. Unfortunately, separate regulations are not devoted to disclosing the economic content of business transactions (facts of economic life), with the possible exception of economic dictionaries. From dictionaries we can take the following definition: in general, reservation means reserving part of the available resources, funds for their subsequent use for special purposes, in special situations, by a certain circle of people. In the field of hotel services, booking means holding a certain number capacity until the customer (client) arrives. In the field of passenger transportation - reserving seats in a vehicle. When attending mass and cultural events, booking tickets means that visitors can redeem them regardless of what the demand is.

In fact, booking is an additional type of service; moreover, it accompanies the main service (temporary accommodation and accommodation, transportation, etc.). Based on this, the booking fee can be considered as a component of the costs of the main service, but this approach is unlikely to be correct. The booking itself does not mean that the client will receive the main service. He can refuse it. Or the performer himself may let you down by not booking what you need. Therefore, you should still separate the reservation of rooms and tickets from hotel and transport services. Room booking should be understood as the stage of the relationship between the customer and the service provider, preceding the provision of basic services.

Civil legislation does not provide for a booking agreement; it is logical to formalize such relations with an agreement for the provision of paid services - hotel and transport services are provided on booking terms. It must be remembered that the parties are free to enter into a contract; they can sign the booking agreement at their discretion. The main thing is that the contract is drawn up in such a way that the parties conscientiously fulfill their obligations both for the provision of such services and for their subsequent payment. At the same time, a reservation, unlike a deposit, is often paid upon the provision of the service, and not in advance.

And another question: is booking included in the tourism product? Let us remind you: this is a complex of transportation and accommodation services provided for a total price (regardless of the inclusion of the cost of other services in the total price) (Article 1 of the Law on the Fundamentals of Tourism Activities in the Russian Federation). Therefore, booking can be part of a tourist product as an additional service, but, as a rule, tour operators do not separate out bookings separately, including this in the pricing of accommodation and transportation services.

In practice, travel agents book tourist products for citizens, offering to fill out a so-called reservation sheet (application for organizing a tourist trip). Filling out this sheet solves organizational issues, but does not mean that the travel agent provides a separate service. All this is included in the activities of a travel agent in promoting and selling a tourist product.

Reservation and simple: what's the difference?

Practice shows that sometimes consumers (hotel and hotel guests) confuse these two reasons for which they have to pay. Meanwhile, the Rules for the provision of hotel services in the Russian Federation clearly state that if the consumer is late, in addition to the reservation fee, he will also be charged for the actual downtime of the room (place in the room), but not more than one day. If you are more than a day late, the reservation is canceled and the guest is accommodated in the hotel on a first-come, first-served basis. The same thing happens if the client refuses to pay for the reservation, and he may be charged for the downtime of the room that was reserved for him.

Let's imagine the situation. The customer booked rooms upon request, but never checked into them, refusing to pay for downtime in hotel rooms due to the lack of an agreement on the provision of hotel services with the contractor. The norms of clause 6 of the Rules for the provision of hotel services in the Russian Federation provide for the possibility of concluding an agreement for the reservation of places in a hotel by drawing up a document signed by two parties, as well as by accepting an application for reservation through postal, telephone and other communications, which makes it possible to reliably establish that the application comes from consumer. If the booking agreement is concluded in this form, then the hotelier has the right to demand payment for the actual downtime of the room (space in the room), but not more than per day.

Another situation. The customer booked rooms for a specific period. But subsequently, the client, without prior warning, shortens the period of stay in the hotel complex, paying only for the services actually rendered. Does the contractor have the right to demand compensation for reducing the client’s length of stay? This issue was dealt with by the FAS MO in Resolution dated September 14, 2012 N A40-125873/11-23-1084. The decisive role was played by the letter of guarantee, by which the customer undertook to pay compensation for downtime of rooms in the amount of the cost of booked but unclaimed accommodation services for each case of guests not showing up on time, late cancellation of a reservation, late reduction in the length of stay or reduction in the number of rooms. Based on this document and the fact that the contractor fulfilled his obligations, the court satisfied the claim against the optional customer, collecting compensation from him for the downtime of the rooms due to an earlier check-out from the hotel.

Let's summarize. If the client has booked a room and used it, he is obliged to pay for the ordered service, but if he has not checked in, this does not relieve him of the obligation to pay the hotelier’s costs due to the daily downtime of the room.

Accounting

The hotel accountant should first decide at what point to record the booking service. Firstly, this service is not continuous (continuous), unlike temporary accommodation and residence services. Secondly, the room reservation can be canceled by the contractor, which calls into question the reflection of income: they simply will not be received in the absence of the fact of provision of services. Therefore, there is no point in determining the moment when the reservation service begins. The conditions for recognizing income in clause 12 of PBU 9/99 “Income of the organization” can only be met at the time the provision of the reservation service is completed and the guest checks into the reserved room. At this point, the performer has the right to demand payment for the reservation. That is, there is confidence that as a result of a specific transaction there will be an increase in the economic benefits of the organization. The remaining conditions for revenue recognition are also met. The organization has the right to receive income (from the application for booking a room), the amount for the reservation can be determined and the service is accepted by the customer (the client checks into the room reserved for him). The only thing is that it is difficult to immediately determine the expenses that have been incurred or will be incurred in connection with this operation. Simply put, what is the cost of booking services? It is not easy to answer this question.

Formally, the fact that a room is idle waiting for a guest does not mean that the organization has spent money on the booking. The hotelier bears the costs of maintaining the accommodation facility, which is used to provide hotel services. And the booking itself does not imply any specific costs, except for paying for the time of the staff who accepts the booking request. Therefore, we suggest not to worry about the cost and profit from booking services. Let us remember that this is a related service that is attached to the main hotel service. Therefore, in accounting and in primary documents, revenue from room reservations can be shown separately, while in the reporting of a hotel (hotel), these incomes are included in the revenue from the provision of accommodation services for guests. Indeed, according to clause 12 of PBU 4/99 “Accounting statements of an organization”, information on certain types of assets, liabilities, income, expenses and business transactions can be presented in the statements as a total amount with disclosure in the explanations thereto, if each of these indicators individually is not significant for User assessments of an organization's financial position or financial results of its activities.

Thus, if income from bookings is insignificant in the revenue from temporary accommodation and accommodation, then these indicators in the reporting are presented in aggregate and they are reduced by the costs associated with the provision of hotel services.

The hotel accepted an application for booking a room (cost - 50% of the daily stay, fee - 1,000 rubles). The client stopped at the hotel and stayed there for five days; as a result, he received an invoice for 11,000 rubles. (RUB 1,000 for booking and RUB 10,000 for accommodation). For the specified period, the hotel's expenses related to this room and the period of its use (including the day of booking) amounted to 8,000 rubles. (This value is an estimate and is highlighted for clarity only.) The hotel applies imputation and does not pay VAT.

Next, we’ll figure out how to reflect the fee for staying in a room (if you’re late or if you check out before the due date). It should be noted that downtime itself is not a service, but a payment for a given fact of economic activity - compensation for violation of the terms of the contract for the reservation and subsequent accommodation of the client. Sanctions for violation of contractual obligations are other income (paragraph 8, paragraph 7 of PBU 9/99).

Let's change the conditions of the previous example. Let's assume that the guest was late by a day, plus the total length of stay at the hotel decreased by a day. As a result, the client was billed for 11,000 rubles at the end of his stay. (1,000 rubles for booking, 2,000 per day of downtime, 8,000 for accommodation). All other data is as in example 1.

The following entries will be made in the hotel accounting:

The client booked a room, but never checked into it, and did not cancel the reservation in a timely manner. The hotel decided to charge him the cost of room downtime - 2,000 rubles. per day. This was done the next time, when the client also booked a room, but checked into it.

In this situation, the accounting entries are similar to the previous ones. The only difference is that the invoice for downtime will be issued separately, and if the client does not agree to pay it, then, in the author’s opinion, it is premature to reflect the expected compensation for downtime as other income. Indeed, in this case, you will have to go to court, and its decision will depend on whether the hotel representative can prove and confirm in court the client’s failure to fulfill the client’s obligations under the reservation agreement.

Until a positive court decision is made, the required payment for downtime is a contingent asset, which in the future may bring economic benefits (clauses 13, 27 PBU 8/2010 “Estimated liabilities, contingent liabilities and contingent assets”). The contingent asset is not reflected in the accounting records, and information about it is provided in appendices and notes to the financial statements. As soon as a court decision is made or the client agrees to pay for the downtime of a previously booked room, the accountant has the right to reflect the compensation (in the example, 2,000 rubles) as other income.

Tax nuances

Income tax. For performers, income from booking services is revenue from the sale of goods (work, services), which increases the tax base (clause 1 of Article 249 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Compensation for downtime is, in fact, a measure of liability for failure to fulfill contractual obligations, and as we know, fines, penalties and (or) other sanctions for violation of contractual obligations, as well as amounts of compensation for losses relate to non-operating income (clause 3 of Art. 250 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

For customers, expenses for booking a room in a hotel or hotel must meet the criteria for recognizing expenses for profit tax purposes, provided for in Art. 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, in particular, must be confirmed by documents drawn up in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. Attention was drawn to this in the Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated October 18, 2011 N 03-03-06/1/672. Although, you will agree, the economic justification for these costs depends on how justified the basic costs of paying for services for temporary accommodation and hotel accommodation for business travelers are.

For our part, we note that paragraphs. 12 clause 1 art. 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation allows you to take into account in other expenses associated with production and sales, not only the payment for renting residential premises. Under this article, employee expenses for additional services in hotels are also subject to reimbursement (with the exception of expenses for service in bars and restaurants, in the room, and for the use of recreational and health facilities). If the reservation is considered an additional service, then the costs can be taken into account based on the stated norm. And this is confirmed by Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated March 10, 2011 N 03-03-06/1/131, in which officials agree to consider booking a room an additional service provided by a hotel. This means that the customer has grounds to take into account the corresponding costs when taxing, if, together with the accommodation itself, they are justified and documented.

UTII. Although booking is one of the types of hotel services, it does not apply to temporary accommodation and accommodation services, from the income from which the contractor has the right to pay UTII (clause 12, clause 2, article 346.26 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Officials classify reservations as services of hotels and restaurants, so they do not recommend using imputation. Income from bookings remains subject to taxes under other taxation regimes. Although sometimes officials make reservations, allowing the collection of UTII from income in the form of fees for booking rooms in temporary accommodation facilities. There is no arbitration practice in this regard. But the taxpayer has a chance to defend his right. Let us recall that in Art. 346.27 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not say what applies to temporary accommodation and residence services. Therefore, the “imputed” type of hotel activity should be understood as the provision of services to individuals for the transfer of temporary possession and (or) use of premises intended for temporary accommodation and residence, on the basis of rental agreements for residential premises or other public contracts of a civil law nature. This activity is classified according to codes 55.11, 55.12, 55.22, 55.23.2, 55.23.3, 55.23.5 and 70.20.1 of the All-Russian Classifier of Economic Activities, Products and Services. According to this document, hotel reservations (code 5510100) are one of the components of the services of hotels and similar places of temporary accommodation and accommodation (code 5510000). However, there are still no sufficient grounds to classify this as temporary accommodation and accommodation services. After all, hotel employees provide various services (catering, consumer services), so if they are transferred to pay UTII, then on a separate basis (clause 2 of Article 346.26 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Conclusion: paying UTII for booking services is fraught with tax risks.

Booking hotel rooms