The reservation hold is typically used when the agent has spoken with a prospective guest who for some reason wishes to check back before actually booking the unit. Some reasons for using this feature may be that the guest needs to confirm airline reservations or check with a spouse prior to confirming a reservation(Figure 49a). The reservation hold will expire after a set time if it has not been cleared and converted to a reservation. Only the user who entered the hold reservation can cancel it before the expiration. To apply a reservation hold,first the user would select the appropriate property from the drop down menu list, then the start and end dates and click continue.
Figure 49a
The next screen (Figure 49b) displays the total number of days, and the type of reservation. The user may enter a note, such as “John Doe checking flights” to inform other users of the purpose of the hold. Then a number is entered into the “Remove After” __ hours box. This establishes the time period that the hold will remain in place.
Figure 49b
The hold reservation created will appear in the Reservation Lookup with a guest name of “Hold” (Figure 49c). This reservation may now be processed as any other reservation. The process choices are to Complete/Clear, Housekeeping, or Cancel.
Figure 49c
Complete/Clear would be used if Mr. Doe were to call back saying that he was able to obtain flights and wishes to proceed with the reservation (Figure 49d). The user would normally click the box to adjust the end time to the current time, enter a brief note (such as “called back to confirm reservation”) and click continue. At this point the unit has been cleared of the hold, and any agent may proceed with creating a reservation. Housekeeping would be used to change the property status to a ready status to allow a check in. Cancel would be used to clear the hold, with no explanation given. The only special reservation that can be set to expire in hours, not days, is the Reservation Hold.
Figure 49d