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0 RESERVATION AND SALES

1.1 Definition of Reservation: Customer's concluded arrangement with a goods or services
supplier (carrier, hotel, restaurant, publisher, etc.) representing a completed sale. Also called
booking or transaction.

1.2 Reservation and Sales

Reservation sales agents assist customers with booking hotel rooms, car rentals, flights, and a
host of other services typically in the hospitality, entertainment, or transportation industries.
They interact with customers in person, online, and over the phone to answer questions, make
suggestions, and book reservations. These agents work flexible schedules that often include
evenings, weekends, and holidays due to the around-the-clock nature of the hospitality industry.
Reservation sales agents usually report to a manager but perform most of their work with
minimal supervision. People with positive, friendly attitudes who love to multitask and stay
organized make successful reservation sales agents.
 
1.2.1 Reservation Sales Agent Duties and Responsibilities
Specific job duties for a reservation sales agent vary based on their employer. However, there are
several core tasks common to all reservation sales agents, such as:
01. Provide Information to Customers: Reservation sales agents help customers at hotels, car
rental facilities, airlines, travel agencies, and resorts. They inform customers about services and
products offered, local attractions, driving directions, and provide any other type of information
the customer wants to know about their trip.
02. Make Reservations: The primary task of a reservation sales agent is to book reservations for
hotels, flights, car rentals, cruises, and events, among other things. These agents listen to
customers and help accommodate them with services that best fit their needs. The reservation
sales associate makes sure the requested dates, products, or services are available, and completes
the reservation with a friendly attitude.
03. Handle Customer Complaints: Unfortunately, things don’t always go smoothly for
customers while traveling, and the reservation sales agent is usually the person a customer
contacts to voice a complaint or concern about their reservation. The sales agent remains calm
and friendly throughout the process and helps the customer resolve the situation.

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04. Sell Products and Services: Reservation sales agents often offer additional products and
services to customers who book through them or assist customers in signing up for rewards
programs for special offers and deals.
05. Process Payments and Refunds: Payments for products and services are usually taken when
a reservation is made, and the reservation sales associate processes these payments and issues
receipts. When a customer wants to make a cancelation or is unsatisfied with their reservation,
these agents process and issue refunds according to company policy.

2.0 TYPES OF RESERVATION

01. Confirmed Reservation
02. Non-confirmed Reservation
1. Confirmed Reservation: This type of reservation is also known as guarantee reservation. It
assumes the guest that the hotel will hold the room reservation until the specific time of the day
the guest arrives in the hotel. The guest inform agree to pay the confirmation charge even if
he/she doesn't use the room unless the guest cancel the reservation according to the hotel's
cancellation procedure. It provides the protection for the hotel's revenue even in case of no- show
guest. Reservation may be confirmed by one of the following;
 Advance Payment: A pre payment guarantied reservation which requires full payment
before the arrives of the guest in the hotel.
 Advance Deposit: This system requires the guest to pay a specific amount of money in
advance as a deposit before he/she arrives in the hotel
 Credit Card: In this case the hotel takes all he information regarding the credit card from
the guest which takes the reservation and past the charge to the guest credit card account.
 Travel Agency: In this system the travel agency grantees the reservation of the guest.
Under this method, the hotel generally presents the bill to the travel agency for the
payment.

2. Non-confirmed Reservation: This type of reservation is also known as non-guarantee

reservation. In this reservation the guest simply agrees that they will arrive in the hotel in
specific date. The hotel agrees to hold the non-guaranteed reservation until a stated cancellation

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time. If the guest does not confirmed during the specific period of time, then the room is released
on the list in the available rooms for the free sale.

2.1 Ways to Improve Your Restaurant Reservation Procedure

As a business owner or manager that accepts reservations at your restaurant, you probably have a
love-hate relationship with the concept. On the one hand, it’s nice to have a better idea of how
busy it will be so the chefs and front of house staff can prepare for the rush. On the other hand,
when parties show up late or don’t show up all, it leaves you feeling frustrated and a little lighter
in the pockets.
 
The key to finding the right balance is to look for ways you can improve your restaurant
reservation procedure for maximum operating efficiency and customer satisfaction.
 
1. Train staff to ensure consistency: Rule number one, regardless of how your restaurant
chooses to accept reservations; you need to train employees on the proper procedure. Like many
other characteristics of running a successful business, maintaining consistent customer
satisfaction starts with sufficient training. Since there are multiple ways a restaurant can accept
reservations (which we’ll talk about next), it’s important to train employees across all platforms,
and that the staff displays the same level of professionalism with each reservation request.
 
2. The traditional phone call reservation with a modern twist: Since the beginning of time, if
a patron wants to make a reservation at a top restaurant, he or she would look up the telephone
number and call the restaurant. The employee on the other end (usually the host or hostess) will
pull out the reservation book and try to accommodate the customer for the specific time
requested and the number of guests. Although this practice has been around for quite some time,
it doesn’t mean it can’t use a little fine-tuning. As you train employees on proper phone
procedure, provide an overview and examples of how they are expected to handle phone calls
from customers placing reservations.
 
3. Online reservations: In today’s digital world, technology has significantly simplified the
reservation process for both restaurants and customers alike. It’s becoming more and more

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popular for patrons to book restaurant reservations online than ever before. Thanks to pioneers
like Open Table, more than 250 million diners have been seated at more than 20,000 restaurants
worldwide. It’s also becoming standard practice for restaurants to utilize their point of sale
(POS) system to help streamline reservations. Online reservation modules can seamlessly
integrate into your restaurant’s website with an embedded link provided by your POS Company.
Customers will then be directed to a custom URL address specific to your restaurant to make
reservation requests. Not only does this integration help streamline the online booking process,
but the custom URL also contributes to your branding efforts.
 
From a business owner’s perspective, these powerful tools offer managers and staff a resource to
reduce overbooking errors and efficiently monitor restaurant capacity and waitlists. From a guest
perspective, it allows them the convenience to pre-book tables online, receive updates on their
reservation status, and send cancellation notifications. It’s a win-win for everyone.   

4. Avoid Overbooking: Speaking of overbooking, this is a big challenge that restaurants face
when they accept reservations from multiple channels. Guaranteeing patrons a table that is not
readily available upon arrival only leads to frustrated customers, loss of profits, and damage to
your restaurant’s reputation. Luckily, this is another area where technology and a POS system
like Restaurant Manager’s Duet POS system can save the day. Duet allows you to efficiently
manage tables by tracking how many are vacant and which ones are occupied. 
 
5. Reservation Confirmation: No matter which channel you use to accept reservations, it’s best
practice to implement a confirmation process. Verifying the reservation time and details with
diners is the best way to prevent no-shows and adjust for any changes that might pop up between
booking and dining. The beauty of an online reservation system and your POS software is that
they offer automated reminders and confirmation communication via SMS text message, email,
or phone call. The automation of this process makes it much easier for you and your staff to
manage.

3.0 RESERVATION INQUIRIES

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I see several hosts wondering why their response rating has decreased or their calendar block
when they have responded to all their inquiries and requests. It is important to know the
difference between a “reservation inquiry” and a “reservation request” and how not responding
to one can affect your response rating and in many instances result in your calendar being
blocked.

3.1 All about Reservation Inquiries

First of all, it suggests that guests send out several reservation inquiries when looking for a place
to stay. When a guest sends an inquiry, they usually send them out to several listings in the same
area. It is kind of like window shopping for an Airing listing. The guest can screen hosts by
sending a question (inquiry) but they need to complete the dates which they are inquiring about
staying and the number of guests. A host may receive pre-approvals from several guests
enabling them to choose which listing fits their needs best. The important thing to note on
"inquiries" is that all you have to do is "respond" to the inquiry within the 24 hours to maintain
your response rating. It is of course best to screen the guest who is inquiring and either "pre-
approving" them or "declining" them but the most important thing is to at least respond to them
within the 24 hour time frame.

3.2 What Does the Host Receive When a Guest Sends an Inquiry?
The host will then receive the guest’s reservation inquiry and have the options to either “Pre-
Approve” or “Decline” or respond in the response box. Please note in the picture below there is
a "Dismiss" button which has since been removed. All you really need to do is respond to the
inquiry within 24 hours of receiving it and your response rating will not be affected. If you “Pre-
Approve”, you are essentially allowing the guest to Instant Book the reservation. If they choose
to go with your listing after you pre-approved them, they will complete the checkout process and
your listing will be booked for the dates you pre-approved for. You also have the option of
sending a "Special Offer".

4.0 GROUP RESERVATIONS

The Groups module is used to make reservations for five or more guests who have some features
in common (they are all from the same company and are arriving on approximately the same

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dates, or they are all members of an organized tour group). This module is specifically designed
to manage reservations with similar needs. Additionally, groups may receive negotiated rates or
other special treatment. Using the Groups module you can create, search for, view, and edit a
given group reservation. Additionally, you can assign (before or during check in) rooms, perform
a group check in, reserve rooms for groups, and create rooming lists. You can also create, search
for, view, and edit a given room block whose rooms can be later picked up by a group
reservation. The Groups module also allows you to display and enter events that could influence
occupancy as well as create confirmation letters. If your system is configured for the Wait List
function, you can place a group reservation on a Wait List and activate later. If your property
works with Fidelio Fax Interface, you also will be able to fax confirmation letters.

4.1 Creating a New Group Reservation

When creating a group reservation, you have two options:
 Create a normal group reservation that pulls rooms from a room block.
 Create a standard group reservation that pulls rooms from house availability without
using the advanced features associated with room blocks. Only in rare cases do you use
standard group reservations in conjunction with room blocks.

4.2 Normal Group Reservations vs. Standard Group Reservations

When creating a new group reservation, how do you decide whether to use a normal group
reservation with sophisticated room block features or a standard group reservation? Consider the
following questions:
 Is the group reservation meant to work with travel agent allotments, and do you wish to
track those allotments through OPERA?
 Is the group reservation meant to deal with convention groups where group members call
and pick up their reservations individually?
 Do you need a high degree of control over the number of rooms blocked for the group,
the number of rooms picked up, and other group statistics and reports?

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  Does the group reservation have group bookings with staggered arrivals and departures,
different numbers of rooms booked on each day, or rates that change during the group
booking?
 If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then it is recommended you create a
normal group reservation.

4.3 Creating a New Normal Group Reservation

In OPERA, you use the group profile, room block, post master reservation, and individual
reservation features in concert to create and manage a normal group reservation. A normal group
reservation pulls rooms from pre-defined room block rather than house availability. By using
OPERA's sophisticated room block features; you have precise control over the multitude of
variables associated with a normal group reservation. Each normal group reservation consists of
two primary elements: Post master (also referred to as a pay master reservation) reservation, and
the original group reservation.
4.4 Individual reservations for group members
Be aware that if the room block from which you are pulling rooms is a general (for a travel
agent) room allotment, you need to create a post master reservation and associated individual
reservations for each subgroup. Because many of the steps in creating a normal group reservation
involve working with room blocks, you are referred to the appropriate section concerning room
blocks where necessary.

5.0 RESERVATION CONFIRMATION AND CANCELLATION.

5.1 Confirming a reservation

To book one or more guestrooms you need to provide your credit card details. These details
enable our hotel to request authorization by your credit card company. This is a standard
procedure to certify that credit limits allow for potential expenses. Some credit card companies
inform card holders about authorization requests. In this case your bank statement may report a
temporary limitation of your credit maximum up to the amount of your reservation. However,
this limitation is not a payment. The actual payment is done when you sign in upon your arrival
in the hotel. At this point you may decide to use your credit card by validating your card

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expenses. If you choose to pay cash or by pin the limitation of your credit maximum will be
cancelled immediately.

5.1 Changing your reservation: If you wish to cancel or change your reservation you may do
so free of charge as late as 48 hours of the agreed arrival day. You will receive an email to
confirm your new reservation or your cancellation.

For Example

Dear Mrs X,

Thank you for your letter of 5th April 20.

We are pleased to confirm the accommodation you describe for the month of August 20.

We enclose a short description of how you reach our hotel. We look forward to your stay with
us.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. Y
Reservations Manager

5.2 Reservation Cancellation

If you find yourself obliged to cancel, you may do so by using the online cancellation function or
by contacting the hotel directly. Cancellation is free of charge up to 48 hours before 00.00 hrs
(CET) of the agreed arrival date. Cancellations within 48 hours of your expected arrival will be
billed the amount of the first night. A reservation not cancelled at all will also be billed the
amount of the first night. The hotel will charge your credit card for this fee and confirm your
cancellation and payment by email.

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