Summary
In bookingkit you can now also make reservations. When you create a manual booking, it is now possible to choose the payment method, i.e. whether you want to pay online or in cash. You can choose between cash, online payment and payment on account. This function is especially useful for corporate customers. So you can of course, as before, apply internal price levels to a manual order. The only advantage is that you can now also map payment on invoice and are optimally equipped for B2B!
How is a reservation converted into an order/booking?
Payment method "Online payment":
A reservation can only be converted into an order if the end customer pays online. It is no longer possible to change the stored payment method to "Bank transfer" or "Payment on site" once the order has been created.
Payment method "Bank transfer":
Reservations can only be converted into an order by bank transfer by the end customer. It is still possible to change the stored payment method after the order has been created.
Please note: Regardless of the payment method used, the end customer always receives an automatic email 24 hours before the expiry date of the reservation as a reminder to convert it into an order. In this email, a link leads directly to the bookingkit checkout. There, the end customer can also use all other online payment methods activated by you to pay for the order more quickly, despite the bank transfer stored in the order.
Payment method "Payment on site":
Reservations can only be converted into an order by you as the provider by clicking the "Confirm reservation" button. It is no longer possible to change the stored payment method at a later date.
How does a manual booking become a reservation?
How does the whole action look like from the customer's point of view?
How does a reservation look like in my backend?
Worth knowing
How does a manual booking become a reservation?
For cash and online payment, you can check the appropriate box under Reservation and must add an expiry date to the reservation. So you decide how long the reservation is valid and how long the customer can pay for it. If your customer lets the reservation period expire, the reservation becomes invalid and the date is available again in your calendar. With cash payment you can also display invoice payments. As soon as you register an incoming payment, you can convert the reservation into an order with just one click.
How does the whole action look like from the customer's point of view?
If you create a manual booking directly, your customer will receive a booking confirmation by email as usual. However, if you make a reservation from the manual booking, your customer will of course receive a reservation confirmation. In this confirmation, your customer will also be informed to clarify the payment modalities with you (in case of cash payment) or to click on the link in the email to conveniently pay online and thus convert the reservation into an order (in case of online payment).
For reservations by cash payment, the confirmation email looks like this:
And here is the view of the reservation mail for online payment:
How does a reservation look like in my backend?
Reservations are displayed under Orders > Orders next to your regular bookings. There you can confirm or cancel cash reservations (1). You will also see the expiration time of each order under that order (2):
Worth knowing
What happens if the money is only received after the reservation has already expired?
--> In this case you will be notified by email. You can then either refund the customer's money back or you can agree and create a manual booking (as already paid).
What happens if the reservation fails?
This can of course happen in isolated cases, e.g. if the payment fails on the end of customer's side (account not covered, payment is cancelled by customers, etc). If this is the case, the reservation details including the contact details of the end customer are displayed under Orders > Expired Reservations.
Why are booking fees charged for a reservation even though it has not been converted into an order?
In the past, there was a problem with providers creating reservations and then canceling them in order to avoid fees. To prevent this abuse, a booking fee will be charged for a reservation that has not been successfully converted. This is intended to cover the costs of emails, servers and administration of reservations. The unique process of reservations and automated payment allocations also incurs additional costs.