The Pre-Auth Remaining Arrivals report displays Authorizations for all bookings listed in "Remaining Arrivals" that have not checked in as of the time of Night Audit.  This feature requires that a Traditional MyCard© account has been setup by the property and the has made the correct setting choices in their PMS Setup area for Night Audit.  Note, this is based on Users who wish to MANUALLY run the authorization process against the day's remaining bookings that have not checked in.  If you wish to automate this process, please see the Automatic Authorizations (Auto Auths) documentation under the Setup Tab "Automatic Credit Card Pre-Auths".

This function is completed after Night Audit, if set as Manual, for 'today's arrivals, in order to get a list of bookings where the credit card 'guaranteeing' the booking has insufficient funds to cover an authorization for 'tonight's rate'. Thus, these bookings can be contacted (for a new 'Guarantee by:") or their booking cancelled in order to free rooms to re-sell 'today'.

Any User with 'Night Audit' access, and the Setup set to MANUAL, can run this function by clicking the "Pre-Auth Remaining Arrivals" which is visible ABOVE 'Settle Credit Cards' . The amount authorized is the amount of the first night's rate (i.e., today's rate) but not including tax.  Learn more in MyCard- Pre-Auth Remaining Arrivals and MyCard - Night Audit

Learn more about Pre-authorizing credit cards automatically, and for days other than 'today,' in the PMS Setup area for Night Audit.

Note: The date of the authorization is displayed at the top of the report. For example,  "11/22/15 9:11 PM by <user name>". This reflects the time that the Pre-authorization was completed in Night Audit (Pacific Standard Time). See Understanding the Night Audit

To see what credit card is 'guaranteeing' the booking, go to the Booking Details and then the Booking Data Tab (See Booking Data).

To see processed or batched credit card transactions, see MyCard Batch Settlement

Understanding Auto Authorization


The Auto Authorization function allows you to charge a pre-determined authorization amount to a guest credit card upon check-in.

To use Auto Authorization, the setting must be enabled. Go to SETUP | PMS | SETUP. See SETUP

  • Auth Flat Fee: At check, the authorization will add the value from this amount (found under Hotel Setup) when doing the authorization at check in.
  • Auth Nightly Fee: At check, the authorization will add the value from this setting (found under Hotel Setup) for EACH NIGHT OF THE STAY to the authorization amount. This is a onetime authorization at check in - if a booking is edited (shortened or extend) this authorization will NOT change automatically. The only way to increase or decrease an authorization Is to do so manually.

Guaranteed By: In the second section, under Booking Information, locate the "Guarantee By" field and choose the credit card type from the drop-down list. When you select the credit card type from the Guarantee By drop down list the screen will expand to show "Credit Card Details". (See below)


See MyCard Video Tutorials




 



 

Credit Card Details: Red Asterisk * indicate a required field.



Successful Authorizations

If the authorization goes through, you will be returned to the Front Desk

Problems with MANUAL Authorizations

If there was a problem with the authorization, and using MANUAL, you will be give a warning at the top of the booking. You can then attempt to authorize a non-present credit card.

Other possible messages would be "Call", or other error messages. For most of these messages, including, "Decline" you should first verify the credit card information is correct and that the card has not already expired, then try the checking the booking in again.

If the card still cannot be authorized you should ask the guest to speak to their issuing card bank to clear up any security holds.  Or alter the guarantee by to a different payment method or different credit card. If supported by your property, use an alternate method of payment for Guarantee By such as a check, travelers check, or cash.

Problems with Automatic Pre-Authorizations

If your PMS Setup area for Night Audit is set Allow Credit Card pre-Auths: Automatic, then any auth errors are reported as MyGuest requests so that each booking that fails can be dealt with by the Users set to manage 'Self Checkin' events.  The authorization will be based on bookings arriving as set in the Night Audit Automatic Credit Card Pre-Auth area.  The options are: 0 => Same day arrivals; 1 => Next day arrivals; 2 => 2 day arrivals in future; 3 => 3 day arrivals in future. For example, if a booking is set to arrive in 2 days, the selection "2" will mean your Night Audit process will always look 2 days ahead to auth those bookings.  This policy allows for a single setting, it can't be 'mixed' to auto-authorize today's ("0") and tomorrow's ("1") arrivals. If you have completed 'Auto Pre Auths', the Auto Night Audit email that comes to your main property email will have a line at top: alert "PreAuth Completed: Please check myGuests for any errors." and you will receive a "PreAuth Results"  email with details of all Auths - successes and failures -as documented in the Setup area.

If using MyGuest, each authorization that fails will create a Request ticket assigned to the User set for category: SelfCheckin and it will look like this:

DetailsBooking <SiteID>3199157618-2B with https://mypms.bookingcenter.com/bkgtabs.php?bookingID=DMO3199157618-2B authorization for Surname FirstName was declined for $345.72 arriving: 24-MAR-2023

The goal would be to notify the Guest that unless their credit card is updated - either by the guest online or by contacting the property - the booking will be cancelled. 

*Note: if you wish for automatic or manual pre Authorizations to be done, you must notify BookingCenter Support  to turn the feature on.  Only BookingCenter staff can turn these on after an analysis of your MyCard setup and policies.  Starting to authorize customer credit cards without proper process in place an be a very costly mistake (smile).

No Automatic Pre-Authorizations

If your PMS Setup area for Night Audit is set Allow Credit Card pre-Auths: Automatic, and there are no authorizations that are needed, based on arrivals with 'Guarantee by:' set as a credit card, then the Night Audit email that comes to your main property email will have a line at top: "alert("No arrivals matched authorization rules.)"