Hotel Availability (HOA) vs. Hotel Index (HOI)

Have you ever requested a negotiated rate using the HOI (Hotel Index) entry and received the following response?

 NO PROPERTIES FOUND MEETING SPECIFIED CRITERIA

This can occur when the negotiated rate is offered by an Inside Shopper® participant, even when the property has the negotiated rate.  That’s because Inside Shopper hotels typically store rates in their own CRS (Central Reservations System) instead of in the RoomMaster® database (Apollo). HOI is checking RoomMaster.   

In addition, Inside Shopper properties return the following status codes with the initial HOA display, so you can quickly determine whether a property/rate is available:

A -*AVAILABLE*: the property (and date requested - if applicable) is available in the hotel's reservation system. 

 O -*OTHER RATES*: the rate type requested was not available however the hotel has *other* rates available.

C -*CLOSED*: the property is not available for the dates requested. An HOC can be requested for the *Closed* property and alternate availability will be returned from the participating hotel chain.                    

To ensure that you get current availability for all hotels, use HOA, and then HOC to check complete hotel rate availability. 
Use HOI to view an index of hotels for a particular location only.  

• For best practice steps to book a hotel, see:   S*PRO/HOTEL-STEPS
• For Hotel Availability formats, see:  HELP HOAA
• For Hotel Index formats, see:  HELP  HOI
• For Inside Shopper details: S*PRO/HOTEL-INSIDE SHOPPER
• For Hotel participation details:  S*PRO/HOTEL-PARTICIPATION LEVEL

Resolve Missing Multilevel Rates/Rate Access Codes

There’s been a big change to the Hotel Availability screen in Focalpoint®.  The maximum number of properties on an HOA screen has increased from three to 11 on the first screen and from four to 12 on subsequent screens.  

Here are the highlights:

• Each property takes one line vs. two.  The same data appears in a condensed form.
• Maximum 11 properties appear on the first screen and 12 on subsequent screens. 
  Note:  The number of properties is reduced on screens that include alerts, Headlines, or activated TravelScreen preferences.
• New Rates From column at the end of the line replaces rate range.  This column may include one of the following:

o  USD 199 – currency code and lowest non-credentialed rate.  As before, all applicable rates appear on the HOC screen.
Note:  If you request a negotiated rate or special rate category, and those rates are available, they may appear here.

o  TRY HOC – appears when an Inside Shopper participant’s rates are not returned or the link is down.

o  NOT AVAIL – appears when the property is not available.

• No new formats; no changes to other screens.

Once you become familiar with the new, condensed display, you’ll find it much easier to compare hotels that meet your search criteria and you'll do a lot less scrolling.   

For more details, read Product Advisory 637 in ASK Travelport.

For hotel formats, see:  HELP HOTEL

Margie Bradshaw is going to a customer meeting in Cleveland on November 4 and has booked her hotel for two nights.  She’s decided to stay with her cousin on the second night instead and calls to change her hotel reservation to one night.  Before you change her reservation, it’s important to check that the room rate is still available and check for change penalties.  So, here are the steps to change her reservation.

Need to brush up on your hotel booking skills?  Take our newly updated Focalpoint Hotel Specialist self-paced tutorial.  In addition to the basics of selling, modifying and cancelling hotels, it introduces Lisa  the Learning Agent, who provides sales and customer service tips to boost your hotel sales.  To register for this tutorial:

1. Go to: http://support.galileo.com/SGC/LMS/AMERICAS/en-ca/
2. Enter your pseudo city code and agency PIN, and then enter your Apollo sign-on and initials.
3. In the Self-paced Tutorial section, select the Focalpoint Hotel Specialist tutorial and complete the registration.

For more information, see:

HELP HOTEL

Have your customers ever received a no-show bill for a hotel that you cancelled?  This can be frustrating for both of you, so here are some helpful hints to avoid this situation.

• Always check the hotel cancellation policy (example: HOVS2 if the hotel is segment 2 in your PNR).  Policies vary greatly between different hotel locations, time of year, type of rate, special events within the city, etc.
• Make sure you received a cancellation number.  Without it, the Help Desk may be unable to assist if there is a problem with the booking.
• When you cancel the hotel, make sure you End Transact the PNR right away.  Some vendors may "time out" the transaction if the record is not end transacted in a timely manner, even if you have a cancellation number appended.

Hotel Approximate Total

Here is the best practice for booking a hotel in Focalpoint®.

Prompts appear on the bottom of each hotel screen to guide you to the next step.

For more information, see:

HELP HOTEL

To take an instructor-led class or self-paced tutorial on hotels:

1. Go to: http://support.galileo.com/SGC/LMS/AMERICAS/en-CA
2. Enter your pseudo city code and agency PIN, and then enter your Apollo sign-on and initials.
3. In the Instructor-led Online or Self-paced Online section, click the course link and register.

Setting Multilevel Rate Code Defaults in Viewpoint

Here’s how:

1. On the Viewpoint Tools menu, select Options.
2. On the Hotel tab, enter up to three multilevel rate codes.
3. To check other rates in addition to the multilevel rates, in the first Rate Categories field, type All.
4. Click OK.

Now, whenever you check hotel availability in Viewpoint, the multilevel rate codes and categories for this terminal will automatically be selected.

Note: When checking availability for a booking on which these codes do not apply, you can delete them from the Selected Options area in the Availability dialog box.

For Help on the active screen in Viewpoint, press F1.

Hotel All Brands Codes in TravelScreen

Hotel all brands codes identify hotel chains that are associated to a particular brand or conglomerate. For example, a traveler may have a membership number for the Every Hilton (EH) brand, which includes the following hotel chains: Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hilton, etc.

You can now enter hotel all brand codes in place of individual chain codes in the TravelScreen Hotel Membership and Hotel Preference screens. If all brand codes are entered in the Membership screen, the membership number is automatically appended during the availability and sell process.

This can be a great timesaver for the agent entering TravelScreen preferences. In addition, if a chain is added to an all brand group, it will now be automatically reflected in availability preferences and membership numbers will be appended.

For details, see: S*GEM/TVLSCREEN ALL BRANDS

For a list of all-brand chains, see: HELP HTLA

"More" Hotels in Viewpoint™

More Hotel Availability...

When looking at Hotel Availability, you may have noticed the More button at the top of the screen indicating that there are more properties that match your search criteria. To display them, simply click the More button.

More Complete Availability...

But did you notice, that the More button also appears on the Complete Availability screen? When you see the More button on the Complete Availability screen, click on it to see more rates.

Once you have displayed all the rates, you may sort the Rates in low-to-high order by clicking on the Rate button in the header line.  (You may sort by any header title on this screen, such as Bk Code or Description.)

More Reference points…

Have you ever been unable to find a Reference point on the list? (For example: St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC)

The More button is available at the bottom of the Reference Point dialog box when there are more reference points to choose from.

Need Help?

For Help on the active Viewpoint screen, press F1.

For General Viewpoint Help, from the Viewpoint menu bar, click Help, then Contents.

Hotel Frequent Guest Number

Galileo Hotel Images Icon

You've probably seen the Galileo Hotel Images website. To view color photos of hotels in Apollo®, you simply type the RoomMaster ID and click Go. You can find the four- or five-digit ID at the top of the Hotel Description (HOD) in Focalpoint® or Viewpoint™.

But do you know that there is an easy way to create a Hotel Images icon on your Viewpoint™ and Focalpoint® toolbars in Galileo Desktop?

Here’s how:  

1. On the Viewpoint Tools menu, select Viewpoint Custom Toolbar Editor.
   The Viewpoint Custom Toolbar Editor dialog box appears. 
2. In the Button Definition section, click Browse. 
3. Select an image, such as hotel.bmp or hotelbed.bmp, to serve as an icon for the link and click Open. The dialog reappears showing the selected icon next to the Browse button.
4. In the Tool Tips for this button text box, type Hotel Images. 
5. In the Button Action section, select Web Page. The Web URL text box becomes active. 
6. In the Web URL text box, type: http://support.galileo.com/hotelimages 
7. In the bottom right corner of the dialog box, click Add New.
   The information you have enter appears in the white box on the right side of the dialog box.
8. On the File menu, click Save.
9. On the File menu, click Exit.
   A warning appears indicating that you must restart Viewpoint to see changes.
10. Click OK. 
11. Without signing off, close Galileo Desktop. 

When you reopen Galileo Desktop, an icon appears on your toolbar , provided that Custom Toolbar is checked under the View menu in Viewpoint™ . The toolbar will be visible on both the Viewpoint™ and Focalpoint® view of Galileo Desktop once this is done. So, the next time you are checking hotel availability and want a closer look at that pool or breakfast buffet, click your Hotel Images icon on the Custom toolbar , type the RoomMaster ID and Go! 

Note: If you'd like to create other icons, Help for Custom Toolbar Editor is available within the Custom Toolbar Application. Just click HELP on the Menu bar once in the Custom Toolbar Editor application.

Did you know that you can look for travel industry discounts for hotels in Apollo®?  In some cases, hotels provide the rates in Apollo.  In others, the Hotel Description provides the discount policy.

Here are some helpful hints.

Request availability with:

Travel industry multi-level codes:  TVL TA FAM
Travel industry rate category:  /C-TVL
 
Check the Hotel Description Travel Industry Info (TRVL) for policy information.
 

Focalpoint

To check availability:

HOA30MAY-2JUNSJC/TVL+TA+FAM/C-TVL

To check the Hotel Description travel industry info for the property on line 2:

HOD2/TRVL

To check travel industry info for a chain (BW):

HODBW/TRVL
 

Viewpoint

To check availability, on the Hotel Availability dialog box:

1. Complete the Basic tab.
2. On the Negotiated Rates tab, enter TVL TA and FAM – in the Code text boxes.
3. On the Rate Categories tab, double-click Travel Industry.
4. Click Search.
    

To check the Hotel Description travel industry info for the highlighted property:

1. After selecting a property on the Hotel Availability screen, click Description.
2. Click Travel Industry Info.
    

To check travel industry info for a chain:

1. On the Hotel menu, select Description.
2. Enter the chain code and click OK.
3. Click Travel Industry Info. 
    

For more information:

In Focalpoint, see: HELP HOTEL
In Viewpoint, press F1 for Help on the active screen.
 

To register for self-paced online Hotel Specialist courses, Click Here.

Your customer needs a hotel in San Jose and asks if there is a Sheraton, a W Hotel, or a Westin near her
meeting. Aha! She must belong to Starwood’s frequent guest program. Why not check availability for all
Starwood brands by using the All Starwoods Brands chain code..

In Focalpoint:

In Viewpoint, in the Hotel Availability dialog box, select the Chains tab and enter either SW in place of the
individual chain code, or type ALL STARWOOD in the chain code field.

Currently, there are 11 All Brands chains. Familiarize yourself with the All Brands chains so that you can
offer your customer the perfect hotel selection.

Need to brush up on booking hotels? Take our self-paced courses. To register:

1. Go to: http://support.galileo.com/SGC/LMS/AMERICAS/en-ca
2. Enter your pseudo city code and agency PIN, and then enter your Apollo sign-on and initials.
3. In the Self-paced Online section, click the course link and register.
4. Launch the course.

The end item (+) and asterisk (*) denoting participation levels have been removed from the screen for a cleaner display, but you can still identify Insider Shopper® participants by A (available), C (closed), or O (other rates) next to the line number.

For more information:          

• S*GEM/HOA HOI CHANGES
• S*PRO/HOTEL- PARTICIPATION LEVEL

Galileo Hotel Images

The hotel description reads great in Apollo®, but what does the hotel look like?  Now, through Galileo Hotel Images, you can view photos of participating hotels throughout the world. 

When checking hotel availability for an airport code which is also the city code, you receive availability for hotels near the airport.
Example:  HOA21JUN-25JUNSFO

To check availability for hotels near the city center, spell out the city name.
Example:  HOA21JUN-25JUNSAN FRANCISCO
For some cities, you may be required to select the correct city from a similar names list.

To find what is considered the city center, use this format with the city (not airport) code:
S*HTL/SFOX

For more formats, see: HELP HOTEL

There is a trend among hotel chains to require a deposit or prepayment on some bookings, especially for special rates and peak travel times.  If you fail to prepay those bookings, the hotels may cancel them.

Here are some tips to ensure that your hotel reservations are confirmed.

• Read the Hotel Complete Availability (HOC) display and the Hotel Rules (HOV) to determine if a deposit or prepayment is required.
• If deposit or prepayment is required, be sure to specify deposit—not guarantee in your sell transaction:
  • In Focalpoint®, use the deposit optional sell field:  /G-DPSTVI4444444444444444EXP1209
  • In Viewpoint™, after entering the credit card number, select Deposit.
• Pay attention to the response.  For instance, if a deposit is not entered for a Holiday Inn prepaid reservation, the following error message appears:

DEPOSIT REQUIRED

For more information:

In Focalpoint:  HELP HTL0

In Viewpoint, press F1 on any screen.

To take self-paced hotel classes, go to www.galileo.com/can360 and select Galileo 360 Learning.