Room Payment Methods

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2				MOTELCOACH.COM
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4	Motel Coach Template: Room Payment Methods
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7	Instruction Type	Description	Common Notes / Acronyms	Motel Coach Notes
8	Pay on Arrival	Guest pays in full at check-in or check-out.	POA – Often requires pre-auth or ID check.	These bookings are your highest risk of lost income, if the guest does not show up often you will not be able to charge them. On days where you are fully booked we recommend contacting POA guests, confirming their booking and arrival time - this will catch some bookings that are not coming.
9	Pay on Account	Guest or corporate client billed after stay. Payment due per agreed terms.	A/R – Accounts Receivable; company billing.	These accounts are sent to your Debtor Account and require continual monitoring. On a Fortnightly or Monthly basis you should follow up with accounts that are falling outside of their payment terms.
10	Room Only (RO) to VCC	Only the room rate is charged to the Virtual Credit Card (VCC).	VCC – Virtual Credit Card.	If you have additional paid facilties at your motel then it is important to have a second credit card on file for incidentals. But as a best practice for all motels we would recommend getting at minimum a security credit card.
11	RO, Parking and Meals to VCC	Room rate + specified extras (e.g., parking, meals) charged to VCC.	Clarify inclusions to avoid disputes.	If you have guests in-house we partial allowances it is important to track their accounts throughout their stay and preferable to have their personal card on file for any charges in addition to the allowance.
12	All Charges to Account	All charges (room + incidentals) billed to guest's account or company.	All to A/C	We recommend to check with the company if any limitations around alcohol are in place but otherwise a guest like this is great for generating incremental revenue if the Motel has a Restaurant.
13	Prepaid Booking	Booking paid in advance (usually via OTA). Motel only collects VCC at stay.	PRE – Prepaid; VCC often active day of arrival.	These bookings are fairly secure and the motel will only lose income if the booking is fraudulent.
14	Cash Payment	Guest pays in cash; may need deposit or ID held for security.	Requires float and receipt issuing.	If a guest requests to pay by cash we always recommend to have a credit card saved and or a pre-authorisation taken for security.
15	Split Payment	Guest pays part by card, part by cash, or between multiple guests.	PMS must track split by method.
16	Direct Debit / EFT	Payment sent via bank transfer, usually for corporate guests.	May require upfront confirmation.	When a guest requests to pay via direct debit always ensure there is adequate time for the payment to be made. If the guest is a regular or company you might be more relaxed with the policy compared to a new guest that has not stayed at the motel and is not connected to a company.
17	Pre-authorisation Only	Card is held for security but not charged unless needed (e.g., incidentals).	Pre-auth holds funds temporarily.	Ensure good notes are left on these reservations to not charge the credit card.
18	OTA Collect	Booking site (Expedia, BDC) collects payment; motel charges their VCC.	Expedia Collect / "Booking Collect"	With OTAs you can set specific terms in your cancellation policy in addition to refundable and non-refundable. Some important options are if cancellation received during stay or within cancellation window will you charge the guest the full stay or partial charge. If you plan on charging a full stay then you would likely charge on the day of arrival for these bookings. If you plan on providing partial refund for late cancellations and early departures then you might consider charging the VCC on departure to avoid unnecessary paperwork.
19	Guest Collect	Guest pays motel directly (opposite of OTA Collect).	Hotel Collect or "Property Collect"	Important to take a payment and store credit or debit card at time of check-in.
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