Alternative Learning Assessment for Final Exam

Part 2

Please answer the following questions. Copy the Question followed by your answer.

1. Why should a front office manager be concerned about compiling a guest’s late charges? Give an
example of losses than can result if late charges go unpaid? Explain in 250 words - 15 points

The front office manager is responsible for ensuring that the guest house or hotel's rules are
followed and that they are properly monitored. A guest room maintains service delivery by collecting
revenue from guests, and it is required to do so in order to facilitate service delivery. There is still a wide
variety of service levels and required payments.

Guest checkout can occur without delays if front office workers collect and deposit late charges
immediately. The goal of the checkout procedure is to rapidly and efficiently handle the guest's request
for account settlement. For both the visitor and the hotel, the lodging business wishes to maintain a
quality control system; posting mistakes might result in incorrect charges for the guest and lost money
for the lodging institution.

Basically, if late charges go unpaid, it could result into hotel’s revenue loss. For example, if there
is an average of 100 charged breakfast per day and the number of lost charges per day is 3 unpaid
breakfast, the percentage of lost charges per day would be 3%. So, if each breakfast has an average
check of 5$, the lost charges per day would be 15$. If there are 365 days per year the annual revenue
loss would be 5475$. This kind of revenue loss is simple but it can make a large impact on the hotel’s
income.

Furthermore, when a PMS is not utilized, the front office manager and other department
managers should establish a communication mechanism for their personnel to guarantee that last-
minute charges are relayed quickly and accurately.

2. Discuss the method of payment available to the guest. Why does the hotel not consider these
payments option financially equal? Explain in 250 words - 15 points

The methods of payment available to the guest are: Credit card which is a type of payment card
that allows cardholders to pay a merchant for products and services based on their outstanding debt. In
an automated hotel, processing a credit card follows a set protocol. The procedure's goals include
proper recording of charge and tax amounts, name, credit card dollar limit verification, and the capture
of counterfeit credit cards; Bill to account (Direct Billing) which is, in advance of the guest's arrival,
arrangements are made between the guest or company and the front desk agent. In this instance, the
visitor just needs to sign the bill when checking in and leave. The agent just examines the guest credit
application and determines whether the charge exceeds the credit limit; Cash and Personal checks are
methods of payments that use cash and hand written checks to pay for charges in the hotel. The front
desk staff should be on high alert if guests indicate that they will pay their bills with cash or a personal
check during registration. During his or her stay at the hotel, such a visitor may charge everything and
then leave without paying; Traveler’s checks, traveler's checks are prepaid checks issued by a bank or
financial institution, and they have long been accepted as legal money. In the hospitality business, these
checks are a welcome form of payment. And lastly, Debit cards. Debit cards, also known as check cards,
are embossed plastic cards with a magnetic strip on the back that allow funds to be transferred directly
from a customer's bank account to a commercial organization's bank account for the purchase of
products and services. Debit cards are processed similarly to credit cards.

3. Why is the retrieval of a room key so important to the guest? To the hotel? Explain in 200 words - 10
points