Online Availability / Reservations

Would you like guests to make reservations online?  If so, you need online availability or online reservations.  Confused about the difference between these two - here's a guide.

Online Reservations

• Real-time reservations.  

• Generally you pay a percentage and are obligated to honor reservations - some have a flat yearly fee or flat per-booking fee.  

• This is the only way to access the huge travel portals (Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity) or Travel Agents (though GDS systems like Pegasus and Sabre).

• The downside is that you have to be prepared to go online everyday and update your room availability, pay commissions and deal with travel agents. 

• Property Management Software (PMS) that automates the task is the best way to go - and will become quite common in the future.

• Online reservations work best if your property is located in a major destination or city.

• Favorite Provider of Online Channel Management: Sceptre

Online Room Availability

• Lets customers see your availability but they have to contact you directly to make a reservation. 

• Is usually available for a flat-fee.

• Works best when updates are automated by Property Management Software - all of the good ones do this.

• You are not obligated to honor mistakes in reservations.

• A great feature to add to your website - your guests will love it.

• Favorite: www.availabilityonline.com 

Vendors

AvailabilityOnline charges $65 per year for Basic and $140 per year for their Premium level of their online availability system.  They offer Blizzard customers three additional months of service the first year for free! 

For online Reservations, check out BookingCenter.  They offer full access to the world of online reservations (Sabre, Apollo, Galileo, WorldRes, Travelocity, Expedia, etc.) and they charge less than most other online reservation system.  They charge 5% if you generate the booking, 10% if it comes from Worldres (which is 5% less than Worldres Charges itself!)  and about 20% if you want travel-agent bookings.  Some features:

• They have integrated PMS software for your desktop at the Inn.    This means that managing your rooms in all those online systems is quite easy and automatic.  Visit their website to find out more about this!

• Rate Loading and load management capability means you can add to your rack rates to compensate for your commissions and can begin discounting rooms as their expiration date approaches.

• Credit Card gateways mean you can send your online booking payments right to your merchant account.

• Mention Blizzard and receive a $50 discount.

Webervations charges $80 annually and is a provider of online availability.  Webervations will offer a discount if you tell them that we referred you.  They are probably the largest provider of this service and offer an easy to use yet powerful system at a great price.

Availability Calendar
The Powell Graphic's reservation calendar is easy to use and inexpensive. Pricing for the B&B online availability calendar at a flat rate of $50.00 per property and no setup fees, when the referred by box is filled in with "Blizzard."  Internet visitors can instantly check online availability.  It is easy for the innkeeper to setup and maintain.  It has an owner message area and can be customized to match your existing site. Pricing (based on number of rooms) start at $20 and there are no setup fees. 

Room-Availability.com an affiliate of the B&B Getaways on-line directory offers an online availability tool-set that Innkeepers can use both on their own Web site as well as on a group Association site. If you are a member of B&B Getaways the $ 30 cost offers great value. The tools provide Innkeepers with flexibility; display an availability calendar or use the smart e-mail assistant to help you respond to e-mail availability requests 24/7.

If you mention that you are a Blizzard customer you can opt to use their room-availability tool-set on your own web site for 3 months free when you sign-up for an Expanded Listing. See www.Room-Availability.com for more details. You will also be listed on a new directory called www.Find-a-Room-at-the-Inn.com for 3 months free. 

Rezgateway has launched of their fully integrated web based reservation system for hotels, resorts and vacation rentals operators.  It has the capability to seamlessly interface with property management systems used by majority of the Hotels, Resorts and Vacation Rentals.  This software is both flexible and affordable.  Rezgateway is an especially fine choice for reservation Services, wholesalers, and Property Management providers.  It is designed to handle the diversity of rooms (often spread across multiple properties) that reservation services, wholesalers and property managers represent.  Many reservations systems work great for an individual property, but fall short for for agents representing a basket of diverse properties 

Rezgateway has sales and support offices in Washington DC, Toronto and Sydney.

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