Travel and Events A quick guide to help you book accommodation online
Contents Getting started Make a booking Step 1: Planning your stay Step 2: Search results Step 3: Confirm booking View, amend or cancel a booking Support Browser compatibility This user guide has been written to assist in the use of the accommodation tool, your online tool for booking accommodation. Screen-shots are for illustration purposes and based on an Internet Explorer browser. Other supporting browsers may alter the appearance of their layout. Please note: Internet Explorer 6 is not supported. For optimum experience, please upgrade to Internet Explorer 8 and above or an alternative browser.
Welcome The accommodation tool is the online booking tool containing everything you need to book your accommodation, simply and quickly. The accommodation tool offers a number of key features and benefits: Simple and user-friendly, providing an intuitive user experience Improves customer security and duty of care standards via employee tracking Provides greater choice and market comparison via integrations with multiple distribution channels of hotel rate and facilities data including direct connectivity with hotelsuppliers, Global Distribution Systems, secure room allocations, Internet rates and free-sale agreements Getting started To get started, login to your online travel portal and navigate to your accommodation booking section. Click on the link or icon (depending on your company setup), this will then direct you to the first step of the online booking process. How long will a booking take me? This can vary depending on the complexity of your booking. Like all new things, they can take a while to get used to, but once you ve got the hang of it and with the help from this guide, you should be able to complete a booking in no time at all.
Step 1: Planning your stay When you re ready to start your booking, complete all the required fields on the first page of the tool, this is the one that looks like this: When do you need to stay? Enter the dates using either the predifined search options, today, tomorrow or other. Enter the amount of nights and rooms you require accommodation for. Who is travelling? To enter the lead guest (if the fields are not automatically completed), several options are possible: If booking for yourself select Me (on the right hand side of the screen) Your details will be automatically entered into the lead guest information If booking for another employee select Another User (on the right hand side of the screen), this will open a new window that allows you to search for the correct profile once selected, the travellers details will automatically be entered.
Where are you travelling to? Enter the location for where you require acccommodation, you can also define a search radius for the location where you are looking to stay. For example; within 2 miles from your office. Depending on your company travel policy, fields such as Cost Centre and Reason for Travel may be mandatory in order to proceed with a booking. Top ten locations The system will remember your previous bookings or locations you regularly book, it will then show this in your top ten locations on the left, making it easier to make a repeat booking within locations you book regularly. This feature will not always offer you full visibility of the best rates available in a preferred location, so we recommend you use the main search feature to see the best prices available based on your search criteria.
Step 2: Search results Depending on your company setup, your search results will either appear in order of proximity to your destination, or by company preferred status (driven by your company policy). Accommodation preferred status Any properties with a preferred status will appear with the Thumbs Up icon and a number contained within it. You can rearrange these hotels by selecting from the Sort By drop down menu and clicking Sort. Accommodation facilities Icons will display a summary of key facilities and their availability. If you would like to know more detailed information about a particular venue such as; car parking, nearest NCP, location map, theatres and other points of interest then simply click on Details.
Step 3: Confirm booking Having selected your preferred accommodation venue and rate, you will then proceed to the payment page. You will firstly be prompted to double check and agree to the terms and conditions and cancellation policy of the rate you have selected. Please ensure you have read and understood these terms, as cancellation charges may apply where the cancellation is made after the hotel s deadline. Payment and gaurantee Next, please select your method of payment, (depending on your company setup, this may already be set to a default). Confirmation method Select your confirmation method i.e. Email or fax. Once this is complete, click confirm booking.
Confirmation Once you have confirmed all the details of your stay are correct you will be presented with the confirmation screen. When you have completed and submitted your booking, a unique Booking Reference number will appear on your screen; please quote this in any future correspondence regarding this booking. From this screen, you will also be given the option to: Make another booking Make another booking at the same hotel Make another booking for the same guest By selecting one of the above options you will skip some of the initial steps, making the booking process quicker. Please note: If your accommodation requires approval you will be presented with information advising that your booking has been sent for approval. Once this has been approved, the booking will be confirmed and you will receive notification accordingly.
View, amend or cancel a booking From time to time you may need to view, amend or cancel a booking. View/Amend a booking To view or amend a booking click on View/Amend/ Cancel Individual Bookings underneath the navigation bar on the home screen. To search for a booking, enter information into the fields, or select one of the quick search on the right of the screen. All your bookings will be displayed in arrival date order and include the headings Ref/Arrival/Departure or Guest. Click on any of the headings to change the order of the bookings list. Select the individual booking to be viewed by clicking the relevant button in the select column and click view selected to continue. (Depending on the permissions granted to you by your travel manager, you may see only those bookings you ve made or bookings you are authorised to view). Cancel a booking At present, it is not possible to cancel a booking online. To do this, please contact a member of the support team.
Support Whilst there are online help points throughout the accommodation tool, we understand that it s often easier to speak to us. You can call our online support team using the details below, or drop them an email. 0871 224 6403 capitatravelsupport@capita.co.uk