How do I create a Deposit Policy in NebulaCRS?

How do I create a Deposit Policy in NebulaCRS?

A Deposit Policy is a way of ensuring that a deposit amount will be received in order to guarantee a reservation.

Guests who make a reservation on a website will be instructed to pay a deposit according to the rules and if attached to a payment gateway will be redirected to pay the deposit amount required.

Loyalty points may also be redeemed if eRes is connected to a loyalty system and the deposit policy is setup to allow for redemption.

Reservationists can follow up on deposits due for reservations, according to the Deposit policy assigned to the reservation.

There are two areas involved in the Deposit policy, the first being the Deposit policy and second the Deposit policy validity.

Deposit Policy and Deposit Validity can be found on NebulaCRS, under the Revenue Tab.

1. Deposit Policy
  1. Click on the "New" button.
  2. Provide a Code for the Deposit policy.
  3. Provide a Name for the Deposit policy.
  4. Specify the Payment Policy Type. Standard, Pre-Payment or Pay-Now. ** Pre-Payment and Pay-Now will be for payment gateway or loyalty system payments.

Deposit Rules
  1. Days: Specify the number of days.
  2. Type: Specify the type, will it be "Prior to Arrival" or "From Reservation".
  3. Calculation: Either "Percentage" or "First Nights Accommodation".
  4. Percentage: Specify the percentage amount here, if "First Nights Accommodation" is selected then this field is unavailable.
  5. Multiple Rules can be added. Ensure that the percentage totals do not total up to more than 100%. It is not recommended to mix First Nights Accommodation and Percentage in the same deposit policy.
2. Deposit Policy Validity
The Deposit validity will determine the dates the policy will apply, the rate code, the properties it is applicable to, the reservation type and source the policy will apply to.
The Validity is important as the system needs to know to whom and where the policy will be applicable to. If no Validity period is created then the policy setup will not apply.
  1. To add a Validity click on the "New" button.
  2. To edit the Validity, select the validity period and edit the fields.
Fields
  1. Start Date: Validity Start Date.
  2. End Date: Validity End Date.
  3. Deposit Policy: Select the Deposit policy from the drop down list which will be applied.
  4. Individual: Will this be applied to individual reservation, tick this box.
  5. Group: Will this be applied to group reservation, tick this box.
  6. Rate Code: Tick the rate codes this policy will apply to, if "All" leave unticked.
  7. Hotel: Tick the properties this policy will apply to, if "All"leave unticked.
  8. Source: Tick the source code this policy will apply to, if "All" leave unticked.

Please Note
  1. eRes will apply the strictest Deposit policy. Pay-Now or Pre-Pay may be the strictest policy.
  2. eRes will apply the Deposit policy to the reservation if it meets the validity criteria, if not then no Deposit policy will apply.
  3. The rules and deposit policy can be overridden on the reservation by a user.
  4. Deposit reports are reliant on the Deposit policy assigned to the reservation.
  5. Take note of the Deposit end date, if this expires then the Deposit policy will no longer apply.
  6. In terms of the group Flag, the reservation must be flagged as group and not individual. To see the group flag on the reservation look at the itinerary line, on the bottom right where the Unit Breakdown displays it will specify whether it is individual or group.
  7. If new Source codes or a Property is created, ensure that a Deposit policy is applied to that Source code or Property.
  8. When an existing Deposit policy is edited, the rules will apply to all bookings which will be impacted by the policy, for existing and new bookings.