Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 9 - Guest Checkout

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 9 Focus Points Organization of late charges to produce an accurate guest folio Procedures necessary to perform the guest checkout Transfer of guest accounts to the back office Checkout reports available with a property management system Guest Histories

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Organizing Late Charges to Ensure Accuracy  Review financial significance of assembling late guest charges (refer to Table 9-1) p. 238  Importance of POS/PMS interface with other departments that aid in accurate and complete processing of late charges

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Guest Checkout Procedure – p. 239 Inquiring about quality of products and services Relay of problem areas to various departments Retrieving the room key Discuss this important part of the checkout process  Guest security  Cost involved in replacement of hard keys

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Guest checkout procedure (cont’d.)  Retrieving and reviewing the electronic folio Procedure to retrieve electronic folio Empowerment concepts Importance of reviewing the electronic folio  Room and tax for number of nights spent  Incidentals  Inquiry for late charges

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Guest checkout procedure (cont’d.)  Note on In-room guest checkout  Procedure for the guest to use in-room guest checkout  Guest views a final version of the folio of television set  Front office prepares a hard copy of folio and delivers it to guest’s room early in the morning  Credit card imprint made at time of registration is used to process charges

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Guest checkout procedure (cont’d.)  Guest determines method of payment  Credit cards  Review various types of credit cards  Bank – Visa, MasterCard, JCB  Commercial – Diners Card  Intersell – Hilton Honors Card Procedure to suggest to the guest to use a certain credit card with a lower discount rate for the hotel Procedure to process a credit card as listed in chapter

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Guest checkout procedure (cont’d.) Bill-to-account (direct billing) Concept of direct billing Concept of house limit of credit Procedure to process direct bill as listed in chapter Cash and personal checks Cash option is not favored  No credit rating has been established  Procedures to process a cash payment and personal check as listed in text

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Guest checkout procedure (cont’d.) Traveler’s checks Tips on accepting traveler’s checks  Ask for proof of identification  Guest signs in presence of cashier  Compare signatures  Check list of traveler’s check numbers which are non-negotiable (procedure to process traveler’s checks are identical to cash method)

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Guest checkout procedure (cont’d.) Debit cards Debit card is a card that authorizes the hotel to deduct money directly from the guest’s checking or banking account in payment of a bill Float is a delay in payment that allows the guest to charge now and pay several days later

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Guest checkout procedure (cont’d.) Assisting the guest with method of payment Money wire Establish as an option prior to the need of this option Phone number and address of nearest money wire center should be posted for front desk clerks’ reference Travelers Aid Society Establish as an option prior to the need of this option Phone number and address of nearest Travelers Aid Society should be posted for front desk clerks’ reference

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Guest checkout procedure (cont’d.) Auto clubs Establish as an option prior to the need of this option  Phone number and address of nearest club should be posted for front desk clerk’s reference International currency exchange Wall Street Journal Method used to convert international currency into native currency as listed in text p. 248 Web site daily international currency

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Guest checkout procedure (cont’d.) Obtaining future reservations Procedure to follow in obtaining future reservations as listed in text p. 249 Employee training program to learn this procedure Incentive program for employee motivation

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Guest checkout procedure (cont’d.) Filing documents Need to properly file paperwork (folios, transfers, paid-out slips, etc.) with regard for the night audit preparation

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Guest checkout procedure (cont’d.) Relaying guest departures to other departments Housekeeping and front office communication via the PMS Guest departures Stayovers Room availability status Other details as they occur

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Relaying guest departures to other departments (cont’d.) Food and beverage department, gift shop, and other departments and front office communications Guest’s checkout to prevent him or her from charging to folio Personal efforts of staff to make the communication system work Removing guest information from the system Guest data removed and stored for future processing – financial and marketing “Sleeper” – rooms that appear to be occupied but are in reality vacant – financial implications (note: checkout in a PMS automatically deletes the guest from the database and the call accounting system) (refer to p. 196 in text)

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Guest checkout procedure (cont’d.) Transfer of guest accounts to back office Role of the back office in the accounting process  Provides a billing service for bill-to-accounts  Monitors the accounts receivable process for credit card receivables and aging accounts  Allows for adjustments and transfers to guest accounts

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Guest checkout procedure (cont’d.) Checkout reports available with a property management system Figure 9-3 (Method of Marketing Analyses Payment) p. 251 Figure 9-4 (Room Sales Report) p. 252 Figure 9-5 (Room Status Report) p. 252 Figure 9-6 (Understay Reservation Report) p. 252

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Guest Checkout Procedure (cont’d.) Guest Histories A listing of guests’ geographic and demographic information and guest activities during their stay Components Obtained from reservation forms and registration cards:  Business affiliation  Date of arrival  Date of departure  Length of stay  Zip code  Telephone exchange  Method of arrival  Type of room and amenities requested

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Uses of Guest History Zip code provides geographical indicators of people who have tried your products and services Match with media used for advertising Demographics (age, sex, income, occupation, marital status, etc.) Psychographic (life style) Group sale contacts Corporate client needs for meeting space Origin of reservation from certain travel agents

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Uses of Guest History (cont’d.) Origin of reservation from certain administrative assistants or secretaries Advertising methods used to obtain sales (refer to Figure 9-7) p. 254 Frequency of visit (refer to Figure 9-8) p. 255 Type of rooms frequently requested Acceptability of room rates Occupancy patterns for scheduling personnel

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Last Impression of the Hotel Front desk staff opportunity to advance previous efforts of marketing and operations staff members for further relationships Marriott’s At Your Service ® - local weather reports, information on airport shuttle

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved In-class assignment Choose any question at the end of the chapter. Write the answer. Discuss with the person sitting next to you. Hand in your response at end of class today.