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Automating Fee Collection

Updated over a week ago


You can automatically add fees to your guest's portal based on their responses to pre-check-in screening questions. This powerful feature allows you to streamline fee collection for services like pet fees, early check-in charges, or other add-ons without manual intervention.

When guests complete their verification questions, the system will automatically add relevant fees to their portal based on their responses, making the process seamless for both you and your guests.


Watch a Pet Fee Example

See the set up in action with the walkthrough of automating pet fees below.


Prerequisites

Before setting up automated fee collection, ensure you have:

  • Verification rules configured for your properties

  • Access to the Workflows section in SuiteOp

  • Clear understanding of which fees you want to automate


Step 1: Set up Additional Questions

First, you'll need verification questions that trigger the automated fees.

Creating new additional questions

  1. Navigate to your verification rules

  2. If you don't have an additional questions step, click Add New

  3. Select Additional Questions

  4. Create your question (example: "Are you traveling with a pet?")

  5. Set up response options:

    • For simple yes/no fees: Use "Yes" and "No" responses

    • For quantity-based fees: Use specific options like "Yes, 1 pet", "Yes, 2 pets", "No"

  6. Assign the questions to the correct portals or properties

Using existing questions

If you already have additional questions set up, you can use those existing questions for your automation workflow. Note, these cannot run on free-form responses.


Step 2: Create Upsells for Each Fee

Next, set up the upsells that will be automatically added to guest portals.

Setting up upsells

  1. Go to your Upsells page

  2. You can either:

    • Use a pre-existing upsell (like an existing pet fee)

    • Click Add New to create a new upsell from scratch or start with a template

Important upsell considerations

  • Fixed price fees: Automatically added fees will always be fixed price

  • Quantity-based fees: If you want guests to choose quantities, handle this in the additional questions step

    • Example: Instead of one pet question, create separate responses for "Yes, one pet" and "Yes, two pets"

    • Create separate upsells for each quantity (one pet fee, two pet fee)

  • Cost per night: This will be automatically calculated during auto-creation

  • Portal visibility: Upsells used in workflows don't need to be shown in the portal or assigned to properties manually


Step 3: Create a Workflow Automation

Now you'll create the Workflow that connects guest responses to fee collection.

Creating the workflow

  1. Navigate to Workflows

  2. Click Add New

  3. Select Guest Verification as the workflow type

  4. Name your workflow (example: "Pet Fee")

Adding the automation action

  1. Add action at Submission time: Click to add an action that runs when guests submit verification

  2. Select action type: Choose Add Service Fee

  3. Add conditions:

    • Select Pre-check-in answer chosen

    • Choose your additional question from the dropdown

    • Select the specific response that should trigger the fee (example: "Yes" for pet question)

Configuring the service fee

  1. Select upsell: Choose the upsell that will be automatically added

  2. Block check-in until paid: Enable this if guests must pay before accessing check-in instructions

  3. Require fee: Enable this to prevent guests from removing the fee from their portal

    • Use for mandatory fees like pet fees

    • Don't use for optional services like early check-in (guests should be able to change their mind)

Adding multiple fees

If you have multiple fee scenarios (like different quantities), create separate actions for each:

  • The condition filter uses an "AND" operator

  • Guests must meet all conditions in a single action

  • Create separate actions for each fee combination


Step 4: Assign & Activate the Workflow

  1. Assignment tab: Configure which properties this workflow applies to

    • Use group, tag, or property inclusion

    • Select all relevant properties

  2. General tab: Ensure the workflow is Activated using the checkbox at the top

  3. Run on existing triggers: Click this to apply the workflow to current reservations

Testing the workflow

Once activated, when guests submit their verification:

  • If they select the triggering response (example: "Yes" to pet question)

  • The corresponding fee will automatically appear in their portal

  • Guests can then pay the fee according to your configured settings


Important Considerations

Response options strategy

  • Simple scenarios: Use basic "Yes/No" responses for straightforward fees

  • Complex scenarios: Create specific response options for different fee amounts

  • Quantity handling: Build quantity selection into your questions rather than relying on guest portal quantity selectors

Fee requirements

  • Mandatory fees: Use "Require fee" setting for charges guests cannot avoid (pet fees, cleaning fees)

  • Optional services: Don't require fees for services guests might change their mind about (early check-in, late checkout)

Workflow management

  • Test workflows on a small set of properties first

  • Monitor fee collection to ensure automation is working correctly

  • Regularly review and update fee amounts in your upsells

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