COVID19 - Virtual Cards Policy
Temporary change in virtual credit card activation date
(this is the official communication from Booking.com to the Property managers and not an Avantio modification)
Dear Partner,
As a result of the unprecedented levels of disruption caused by the Coronavirus, many of our mutual guests are unable to travel to or stay at accommodations located in multiple areas in the world. We can also expect that in the coming weeks and months there are going to be more locations impacted to a similar extent, though it is impossible for anyone to predict exactly where or when.
At Booking.com, the safety of our customers, partners and employees is our highest priority, and we continue to closely monitor all global developments. As a result of official travel advice about the Coronavirus, we will declare Force Majeure according to our General Delivery Terms (GDTs) for impacted countries or areas.
Payments by Booking
In this situation, for payments facilitated by Booking.com, we refund guests who cancel their reservations. In turn, we are asking properties to refund the money to the virtual credit card payout they receive from us.
The ongoing and unusual circumstances create many uncertainties for customers, resulting in high volumes of cancellations. We appreciate that managing these cancellations and refunds - very often within a short time frame - can create a high operational workload on our mutual partners. It could also lead to a situation where properties charge virtual credit cards in situations where Force Majeure may apply.
That is why we have decided to change the activation date of all outstanding and future Virtual Credit Cards (VCC) to one day after check-in, with immediate effect.
How does this impact you?
- We are not foreseeing any impact on our APIs. The new information will be visible in the Reservation API. You will not receive a reservation modification with the updated VCC activation date. No reservation modification will be triggered for this change.
- We are aware of the impact that this will have on our mutual partners, and we are making sure that properties are informed and supported around this change. However, you might experience increased inbound on this topic. Please redirect the properties to the related Partner Help Center Article.
How does this change impact the properties?
- For reservations that are NOT subject to Force Majeure, the following applies.
- 1. If guests honour the reservation and stay at your property, properties can charge the virtual credit card one day after check-in date.
- 2. Should guests cancel their reservation after the deadline or do not show up, properties are also able to charge the virtual credit card one day after the original check-in date.
- For reservations that are subject to Force Majeure, guests will be allowed to cancel for free. In that case properties will not charge the virtual credit card.
- For all virtual credit cards with reservations made in the past, we will collectively change the activation date into ‘the day after check-in’.
Today and tomorrow, properties might experience some temporary disruptions when charging your virtual credit cards, which is related to the change we are implementing, as outlined above.
We will continuously monitor global developments and provide you with information in case of changes. We know that these are very unusual times for all of us and we hope we can count on your understanding.
If you have any questions, you can reach us at connectivity@booking.com.