Smart Flex Reservations is an opportunity available on Booking.com that adds a level of guaranteed payment to your property if a guests cancel their booking within a certain time frame.
Please look at Smart Flex Reservations on Booking.com's partner help centre for more information on how these bookings work.
What is Smart Flex?
- Booking.com offers Smart Flex to guests with a low likelihood to cancel. If a guest cancels, then Booking.com looks for a replacement booking. If Booking.com can’t find a replacement booking, they’ll compensate you for these nights.
- Booking.com automatically opts you into Smart Flex.
- The Smart Flex option can be found under your Opportunity tab within your Booking.com extranet login.
How can you tell that a booking is a Smart Flex booking?
- You can identify Smart Flex reservations by checking the cancellation policy field or the comments and remarks area in the booking on Booking.com
How do Smart Flex bookings work?
- A guest that books on a Smart Flex policy has a free cancellation period based a certain number of days before arrival.
- The number of days prior arrival for free cancellation is based on your policies set up on Booking.com.
What happens if a guest cancels before the free cancellation expires on a Smart Flex booking?
- If the guest cancels before this free period expires, Smart Flex activates. Booking.com start looking for a replacement booking. This guarantee will only remain as long as the room remains open and bookable.
- If Booking.com can't find a replacement, they will compensate you for the number of cancelled nights.
What happens if a guest cancels after the free cancellation expires on a Smart Flex booking?
- If a Smart Flex booking is cancelled after the free cancellation period expires, a modification of card details is triggered and an email notification sent to you.
- This modification could either be the activation of the virtual card or the guest's card details becoming available to you.
- The instructions on the modification email will clarify whether it is a virtual card or guest card.
- Follow the same process for cancellation as you would for any other booking.