Configuring Cancel Penalty Rules

Prerequisites for Cancel Penalties

Cancel Penalties rules define the penalty amount to be charged if a reservation is canceled. The amount can be a flat amount, a percentage of the rate, a percentage of the first night's rate, or it can be based on the number of nights. These rules also define the number of days or date prior to the arrival date that the reservation can be canceled without penalty. The date can be associated with a time (for example, 5:00 PM) before which the reservation must canceled to avoid penalty.

Cancellation penalty rules can be associated to a reservation type, to a rate code, or to a combination of reservation type and rate code through the setup of Cancellation Penalty Schedules.

Cancellation penalty rules scheduled for the reservation type and/or rate code automatically populate to the reservation at the time the reservation is created.  In addition, you can select a cancellation penalty rule (as well as non-rule-based cancellation requirements) for a reservation by selecting the Deposit / Cancellation details link on the reservation. For more information, see Managing Reservation Deposit Request and Cancellation Policy.

Note:

Ensure the applicable sales charge transaction codes have the Include in Dep/Cxl. check box selected when cancellation penalty rules are configured as a percentage of revenue.

Note:

When the Multi Property OPERA Control is active, new cancel penalties can only be created by clicking the Template tab. Once created, you can copy the configuration to specific properties using the Copy action. For more information, see Copying Configuration Codes to Multiple Properties.

Adding Cancellation Penalty Rules

Cancellation penalty codes can be a maximum of 10 alpha-numeric characters.

  1. From the Administration menu, select Booking, select Booking Rules and Schedules, and then select Cancel Penalties.

  2. Click New and complete the following:

    1. Code: Enter the cancellation rule code that appears on the reservation.

    2. Description: Enter the description of the cancellation code.

    3. Type: Select a calculation method from the list:

      1. Flat - Cancellation amount is a static value.

        1. Amount: Enter an amount.

      2. Percentage -Cancellation amount is calculated for all nights and expected charges according to sales charges with the Include in Dep/Cxl checkbox selected. For more information, see Configuring Transaction Codes.

        1. Amount: Enter percentage amount.

      3. Percentage of Nightly Rate - Cancellation amount is calculated for the first night and expected charges according to sales charges with the Include in Dep/Cxl checkbox selected. For more information, see Configuring Transaction Codes.

        1. Amount: Enter percentage amount.

      4. Nights - Cancellation amount is calculated for the number of nights specified and expected charges according to sales charges with the Include in Dep/Cxl checkbox selected. For more information, see Configuring Transaction Codes.

        1. Amount:  Enter number of nights.

      5. Non-Cancel-able: The reservation cannot be canceled.

    4. Amount: Enter the Cancel Penalty Amount. The meaning of this field varies depending on the Type (computation method) used for this rule.

    5. Days Before Arrival: Enter the number of days before the arrival date up to which the reservation can be canceled without penalty.

    6. Before Time: Enter the time before which the guest must cancel to avoid penalty (used in conjunction with the days Before Arrival value). For example, if the Before Arrival is 5, and the Before Time is 6:00 PM, the guest must cancel before 6:00 PM five days prior to the arrival date to avoid the cancellation penalty. The configured time appears on the cancellation message when canceling a reservation.

    7. Seq: Enter the sequence number that determines the position of this rule in the Cancellation Penalty Rules list of values.

  3. Click Save or Save and Continue to add more rules.

Editing Cancellation Penalty Rules

  1. From the Administration menu, select Booking, select Booking Rules and Schedules, and then select Cancel Penalties.

  2. Enter search criteria, and click Search.

  3. Select the cancellation penalty rule in the search result, then click the vertical ellipsis Actions menu and select Edit.

    1. Make the desired changes.

    2. Inactive: Select check box to make the Cancel Penalty Rule inactivate. Inactive cancellation penalty rules are no longer available for selection in Cancellation Penalty Schedules.

    3. Click Save

Deleting Cancellation Penalty Rules

  1. From the Administration menu, select Booking, select Booking Rules and Schedules, and then select Cancel Penalties.

  2. Enter search criteria, and click Search.

  3. Select the cancellation penalty rule in the search result, then click the vertical ellipsis Actions menu and select Delete.

  4. Click Delete to confirm.

Parent topic: Booking Rules and Schedules