Overview
The accommodation reservation process can be divided into two steps.
Accommodations Entry is an optional section.
Accommodations Entry is placed on the page immediately before the Accommodations Selection section.
If the Accommodations Entry section is used, it enables the registrant to request any number of rooms.
The number of rooms requested is not limited to one.
The number of rooms requested is limited by the meeting planner's inventory.
The main section of the form is the Accommodations section.
The Accommodations section collects accommodation reservation information.
The information includes the hotel, room type, guest names, payment guarantee, and other details.
Accommodations Entry Setup
The main question asked on the Accommodations Entry section is the number of rooms that the registrant needs.
This question may be configured in two ways.
One: “Select the number of rooms that you need: {0|1|2|....|N}.”
Two: “Do you need a hotel room? {Yes|No}.”
The following options configure this question.
Accommodations Needed Question – The text that appears on the registration form.
Include an empty option with the label – If this is selected, the form includes an empty option in the drop-down list.
Include an option to hide the Accommodations section when an existing room reservation exists.
Label for 0 rooms – The text that represents 0 rooms.
Label for 1 room – The text that represents 1 room.
Minimum # of rooms – The minimum number of rooms the registrant can request.
Maximum # of rooms – The maximum number of rooms the registrant can request.
Default answer – The answer to the Accommodations Needed Question when a new registrant first sees the Accommodations Entry section.
Collect arrival and departure dates on the accommodation entry section? – If selected, the registrant’s arrival and departure dates are collected on both the Accommodation Entry page and the Accommodations section.
Arrival Label and Departure Label – Text displayed in front of the arrival and departure select lists.
Include an empty option with the label – If selected, includes an empty option in the date drop-down lists.
Arrivals Start and End dates – Make a selection from the drop-down lists.
Departs Start and End dates – Make a selection from the drop-down lists.
Arrival and Departure Dates
If Collect arrival and departure dates? is selected in the Accommodations Entry Setup section, the arrival and departure dates and times will be collected on both the Accommodations Entry and the Accommodations sections.
The attendee will be able to select different arrival and departure dates for each room in the Accommodations section.
If no arrival and departure dates are collected on the Accommodations Entry section, and a given room type does not have available rooms for the entire run of the event, then that room type will not be available in the Room Type field in the Accommodations section.
If there are no room types with availability for the entire run, no room types will be available for the registrant.
If there is any possibility of selling out one or more nights of a particular room type, enabling Collect arrival and departure dates on the Accommodations Entry section is recommended.
Gathering arrival and departure dates on the Accommodations Entry page is a good practice.
It enables Certain to determine which room types are available for the duration of the attendee’s stay.
If an attendee edits a reservation and changes the arrival/departure dates on the Accommodations Entry section, the existing room will be listed only if its room block still has inventory for all nights of the new dates.
Arrival Label and Departure Label specify the text shown in front of the arrival and departure select lists.
Include an empty option with the label adds an empty date option to the lists.
Arrivals Start and End dates and Departs Start and End dates provide default dates when the attendee views the section.
Accommodations Selection
The Instructions, Header Text, and Page HTML are displayed at the top of the Accommodations Selection section.
See Section Header instructions for more information.
Accommodations List Setup
The accommodations available to the registrant are listed at the top of the Accommodations section.
Display accommodations' images? – If selected, the accommodations image, if any, will be shown next to each option.
Show accommodations address in confirmations.
Display for multiple accommodations options – When more than one option is available to the attendee.
No accommodations needed option – If the Accommodations Entry section is not used, you may add an option to represent No accommodations needed.
Enter the text to show for that option here. If this field is left blank, the option will not be shown. Default: “No accommodations needed.”
No rooms available – If no rooms are available to the registrant, this text appears instead of the accommodations select list.
Default text: “There are not enough rooms available in the accommodation block for your requested number of rooms and nights. You may use the Back button on your browser, and search for a different number of rooms or range of nights. Or you may complete the registration without accommodation, and contact customer service for further assistance.”
Accommodations Payment Options
Note that these options relate only to payment guarantees for the hotel. These options do not relate to payment processing.
Collect payment guarantee information? – Choose from Optional, No, or Require.
Optional – gives registrants the choice of using a credit card to guarantee a reservation in case of late arrival.
No – do not display the credit card collection fields.
Require – attendees must provide the information.
Display on Confirmation – The label text shown on the registrant’s confirmation.
Guarantee instructions – If collected, the guarantee instructions display above the guarantee options.
Default text: “Credit Card guarantee is recommended in case of late arrival (after 6:00PM). Note: Your credit card will not be charged until you check out.”
Accommodations Guarantee Options – One or more credit card payment methods that registrants can use to guarantee a reservation in case of late arrival.
Online payment processor account to use to generate token from accommodation guarantee payment – Shown only if Enable Token Generation is selected for the Accommodation Module on Plan > Configure > Options.
Select the payment processor account to generate a token when an attendee enters their accommodation guarantee payment. The token is used to generate a future payment.
Note: You can customize credit card field labels on the Forms > Payment page. The Financial module must be enabled for the event to view that section.
Text Labels for Accommodations Room List
The labels shown on the form to collect room reservation information are defined here.
You may leave the labels for Non-Smoking and Smoking empty to hide those question fields.
Room #, Guest Name(s), Room Options, Accommodations Room Type, Room Rate, Guest Requests.
If a label is provided, the rate per night is displayed to the attendee on the form.
Number of Guest Names to Collect (per Room) determines the number of rows shown to collect guest names.
Custom Questions for Room and Guest Category
The form can collect one question about each room and one question about each guest in that room.
Custom questions specific to accommodations do not count against the 135-question limit.
Guest Category – Click Add to create a custom question. Common guest category questions include: Gender (M/F); Guest Type (Attendee | Guest | VIP | Staff).
Room Category – Click Add to create a custom question. Common room category questions include: Number of beds (Single | Double); Payment classification (Guest pays all | Guest pays incidentals | Master account pays all).
After a question has been created, you can Change or Delete.
Note: If the Registrants can select roommate from a drop-down list option was not selected on Plan > Accommodation > Roommates, the Select from a drop-down list option is not displayed here.
Accommodations Edit Permissions
Note: These settings apply only to the editing of an existing reservation.
Allow registrants to edit: Select the fields in an existing registration that a registrant can edit.
Room type; Arrival date; Departure date.
Allow registrants to cancel their room reservations – If selected, a registrant can cancel an existing reservation.
Cancel option – The label to be shown if cancellations are permitted.
Canceling warning – The warning message shown for a successful cancellation.
Roommate Options
Each of these text fields may include HTML tags.
Room Sharing – Make a selection from the drop-down list for room sharing / roommate matching options.
No Room Sharing – The default setting for room sharing / roommate matching options.
Optional – If selected, additional fields are displayed.
Required (based on room type capacity) – If selected, additional fields are displayed.
Header Text – Text used as a header for the roommate matching section. Default: “Room Sharing.”
Room Sharing Instructions – Instructions for the attendee.
'No' option – Available only if Room Sharing = “Optional.” The label. For the attendee to say “No” to sharing the room.
'Yes' option – Available only if Room Sharing = “Optional.” The label for the attendee to say “Yes” to sharing the room.
Matching Options – Only the options selected as Roommate Matching Preferences on Plan > Accommodation > Roommates page are available here.
Select from a drop-down list – If selected, additional fields are displayed.
Label – If more than one Matching Option is selected, this is the label for the radio button.
Select List Label – Replaces the label above when the page is redisplayed with the drop-down list.
Include incomplete registrations in drop-down list – If selected, incomplete registrations are included in the drop-down list.
'No Roommates' – If no matching roommates were found, this text is displayed when the page is redisplayed.
'Selected' – This option is displayed when Include incomplete registrations is checked and the current registration has been selected by another registrant.
Note: Enter roommate request – If selected, additional fields are displayed.
Label – If more than one Matching Option is selected, this is the label for the radio button to select this option.
Default Value – If values are entered in this field, they display as default text in the text field on the form.
Planner will match – This option is hidden unless at least one other option is selected.
Label – If more than one Matching Option is selected, this is the label for the radio button to select this option. If this is the only option selected, the label is not displayed on the form.
Note: If a room type with capacity = 1 is selected, the attendee will not see roommate options. Managers may be assigned to Single room types; Participants to Double room types.
Text Labels for Error Messages
You can customize error messages when defaults are unsuitable.
Examples include: Credit Card Name Mismatch Error, Credit Card Type Error, Invalid Credit Card Number Error, Credit Card Type Mismatch with Credit Card Number Error, Credit Card Number Mismatch Error, Credit Card Type Mismatch with Credit Card Number Extended Error, Credit Card Type Required Error, Insufficient Inventory Error, Hotel and Room Type Required Error, Required Questions Error, Credit Card not Verified Error, Double check Credit Card Information Error.
Text Labels for Room Sharing and Roommate Matching
Enter text to customize the labels for fields displayed in the Options section above.
You may customize the language for Roommate Awards Number, Roommate Rewards Program, Smoking Preference, Roommate Arrival, Roommate Departure, Show Roommate Choices, Roommates, Requested Roommates, Sharing Room?, Confirm Information.
You may customize the language for:
- Roommate Awards Number
- Roommate Rewards Program
- Smoking Preference
- Roommate Arrival
- Roommate Departure
- Show Roommate Choices
- Roommates
- Requested Roommates
- Sharing Room?
- Confirm Information
Accommodations Error Messages
Click the Advanced button to preview or customize the error messages related to accommodation reservations and roommate matching.
Examples include messages about unavailable room type, insufficient inventory, invalid dates, and system errors.
Related articles
- E-commerce FAQ - Accepting Online Payments
- Session Section Detail (Registration Form)
- Importing Registrations
- Registrations FAQ - Modifying Registration Details
- Payment Options (Registration Form)
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