The Booking.com extranet: a guide for hotels

Booking.com calls the extranet an administrative dashboard for your property. Once you are signed in, you can see and change what your property page shows, including reviews, the inbox, payment options and policies, rooms and rates, and photos and descriptions. Your sign-in is the one you made when you registered the property. If someone invited you to help run a property, you sign in with the email address and password of your own extranet account.

1. 1Type admin.booking.com into your browser's address bar yourself. Booking.com advises starting again from that address whenever you are sent to another page or see an error.
2. 2Enter your username and click Next.
3. 3Enter your password and click Log in.
4. 4Enter the PIN Booking.com asks for, from the Pulse app (on its More page) or sent to you by text message.

The PIN is Booking.com's second step for security, and it may ask for one again during the day, depending on what you do in the extranet. Booking.com suggests keeping the Pulse app on your phone for it, keeping your phone number up to date, and adding a second number in case the first is out of reach. If you run more than one property, the same sign-in may open the Group extranet, one page for all of them.

If you can't give the PIN, Booking.com's steps are:

1. 1Select Unable to verify? when the PIN is asked for.
2. 2Select the reason you can't complete the check.
3. 3Contact Booking.com's Customer Service and give them the PIN on your screen. Have your property ID ready, and call from a phone number listed in your extranet.
4. 4Sign in with the new code they give you.

To reset a forgotten password, on Booking.com's own sign-in page:

1. 1Go to the extranet sign-in page.
2. 2Click Having trouble signing in?, then Forgot your password?
3. 3Enter your username, then click Send reset link.
4. 4Click the link in the email Booking.com sends you, and choose a new password.

Booking.com asks for a new password once a year, and you can change it at any time from the User account icon, then Change password. It locks extranet accounts not used for more than six months and disables those not used for more than 24 months; either then needs its Customer Service team.

Pulse is Booking.com's official app for partners, free on iOS and Android. You sign in with your Booking.com partner details and verify your device if asked. Booking.com says it lets you:

• See upcoming bookings, with guest details and special requests, and mark no-shows.
• Message guests from their booking, with templates, automatic replies and translation, from the time of booking until seven days after check-out or cancellation.
• Change the rooms you sell and their prices, and close dates.
• Read and answer reviews, and see how you compare with properties nearby.
• See your invoices, under More, then Finance, then Invoices.
• Get a notice for each new reservation, message and review.

When you sign in to the extranet from a new device, Booking.com asks for a code by text message or from Pulse. To find the Pulse code:

1. 1Open the Pulse app and tap More.
2. 2Tap Settings.
3. 3Tap Extranet-PIN, and enter the PIN in the extranet.

Booking.com says Pulse adds to the extranet rather than replacing it: rate plans, restrictions and most settings are still done in the extranet, and Pulse is for quick changes away from a computer. For safety, messages in Pulse take images only, never PDFs or QR codes.

These are the menus as Booking.com's help pages name them. What you see depends on your account's access rights, and on whether a channel manager runs your prices.

• Rates & Availability, then Calendar: the rooms you sell each night, their prices and rate plans, and restrictions such as a minimum stay. A green date is open to book; a red one is not.
• Property: your property page, its Photos, and VAT/tax/charges, which shows whether local and city taxes are included in your prices.
• Reservations: each booking, with Mark as a no-show, Request to cancel reservation, Mark credit card as invalid and the changes you can make.
• Inbox: Reservation messages from guests, and Booking.com messages, for writing to Booking.com itself.
• Guest reviews: your reviews, with Reply under each one that has a title or comments.
• Promotions: deals such as the Basic Deal, the Last-minute Deal and the Early Booker Deal, mobile rates and country rates.
• Boost performance: the Opportunity Centre, where Booking.com suggests changes under Get found, Get viewed, Get booked and Get smart, and the Genius partner programme.
• Analytics: room nights sold and revenue, demand for your city, your bookings ahead against past years, where your guests come from, how far ahead they book, when they cancel, the properties you are compared with, and Your search ranking and booking performance.
• Finance: Invoices (or Documents and invoices) and Reservation statements, the list of bookings each commission invoice covers.

Booking.com names three kinds of account a property manages itself. A Primary account is the one made when the contract was signed, with full access, financial details included. An Admin account has every access right and can manage other users; a property always has at least one. A User account is for the team members who help run the property, with the permissions an admin gives it. Booking.com advises against sharing one sign-in: give each person their own. To add one:

1. 1Sign in to the extranet and select the User account icon.
2. 2Go to Create and manage users.
3. 3Go to Add a user, and enter the new user's name and email.
4. 4Click Next step: Set up access rights, and set the new user's permissions.
5. 5Click Send invite.

Permissions cover Reservations (guest messages included), Rates & Availability, Property details, Performance data, Finance, Promotions, Notification, Programmes such as Genius, Manage users and Connectivity provider. To change a user's permissions later, find them in the list and select Manage. With a property group, users are added property by property.

Booking.com's steps for the calendar's list view, in the extranet:

1. 1Go to Rates & Availability, then Calendar, then List view, and pick the room or unit.
2. 2Change how many rooms to sell on each date in Rooms to sell, and the nightly price in the Rate plan row.
3. 3Drag across several days to make the same change on each, or use Bulk edit for a longer period or several room types.
4. 4Click Save.

To close dates:

1. 1Go to Rates & Availability, then Calendar, then List view.
2. 2For one date, find the room or unit, click its Room status and select Close room.
3. 3For a run of dates, click Bulk edit, choose the start and end dates and the days of the week, set Room status, then Close room.
4. 4Click Save changes.

In the Monthly view you can do the same by dragging across the dates, then choosing Closed under Open or close for bookings, and Save: the closed dates turn red. In Pulse:

1. 1Open the Pulse app and tap Availability, then choose the property if you have several.
2. 2On Select a room type, choose the room type in the List view or the Calendar view.
3. 3Choose the month and the dates.
4. 4Set Rooms to sell, or select Edit beside a rate to change its price, or change the room's status from Open to Close.
5. 5Tap Save.

If a channel manager or another connectivity provider runs your prices, make these changes there: the Connection management page in the extranet shows in green what your provider handles. If a date is open but your property doesn't appear in search, Booking.com's checks are that Rooms to sell is above 0 and that at least one rate plan has a price and shows green. A red date's label says what is wrong: Closed, No inventory, Price missing, Rate closed or Multiple blockers.

Two more settings in the calendar: Auto-replenishment puts a cancelled room back on sale by itself (Rates & Availability, then Calendar, then Auto-replenishment, then Yes or No), and guests can usually book up to 16 months ahead, so Booking.com suggests keeping dates open well ahead.

Booking.com counts a guest as a no-show when they haven't arrived by midnight on the check-in date. Marking it tells Booking.com how to charge its commission. In the extranet:

1. 1Sign in and click the Reservations menu.
2. 2Select the reservation.
3. 3Under Reservation actions, select Mark as a no-show.
4. 4Asked whether to waive the no-show fee, choose Yes, waive fee or No, charge fee. Booking.com tells the guest.
5. 5Click Mark as a no-show to confirm.

The button is there from midnight on the check-in date until 48 hours after the planned check-out date. Booking.com charges no commission on a no-show marked in that time with the fee waived, and charges commission on the fee if you charge one. Any change not marked within 48 hours of the planned check-out is charged full commission on the original booking. In Pulse: Bookings, find the reservation, Mark as a no-show, then Yes. A cancelled booking stays in Booking.com's records and can't be deleted.

When a guest asks you to cancel:

1. 1Go to Reservations and select the booking.
2. 2Choose Request to cancel reservation, up to 48 hours before check-in.
3. 3Select the reason, then send the request.
4. 4Check the booking's status: it stays live until the guest accepts.

Closer to check-in, Booking.com asks you to send the guest to its Customer Service. If you can't charge a guest's card, use Mark credit card as invalid, which gives the guest time to send new card details. If you take the guest's payment yourself and a stay changes after check-in, such as a guest leaving early:

1. 1Select the reservation under Reservations.
2. 2Click Change reservation dates and prices.
3. 3Enter the new dates and prices.
4. 4Click Save.

Booking.com allows this only before the reservation is invoiced, and not for bookings on Payments by Booking.com. To message a guest:

1. 1Go to Reservations and click the guest's name.
2. 2Scroll down to Conversation with guest.
3. 3Type your message or select a template.
4. 4Click Send.

Guests' messages arrive under Inbox, then Reservation messages, where Help me reply can suggest an answer for you to check, change and send. A guest's phone number is under Reservation details, Show phone number, for users allowed to see it.

1. 1Log in to the extranet.
2. 2Under Guest reviews, click Guest reviews.
3. 3Under the review you want to answer, click Reply.
4. 4Type your reply, then click Send.

You can reply to a review that has a title or comments, in the review's language or in English: Booking.com doesn't publish replies in other languages. Its team checks each reply before it appears, which can take up to 72 hours. In Pulse, tap More, then Guest reviews and Guest reviews again, choose the review, type your reply and tap Send. Only the extranet can change or remove a reply: under Guest reviews, click View your approved response, then Edit, and Send.

Booking.com removes a review only in set cases, among them: the guest cancelled and confirmed they didn't arrive; you cancelled at least 24 hours before check-in; the booking is marked as a no-show and the review doesn't describe a stay; the guest reviewed the wrong property; or, with written evidence, the review is used to blackmail you. A guest who arrived but didn't stay can still leave one. To ask:

1. 1Log in to the extranet and click Inbox, then Booking.com messages.
2. 2Click See contact options, and select Guest Reviews as the topic.
3. 3Click See all contact options, and choose how to contact Booking.com.
4. 4If you choose Message, give the booking number and explain the problem.

What a good reply says, and Booking.com's rules for what a reply may contain, are in our guide to replying to Booking.com reviews.

1. 1Log in to the extranet.
2. 2Click Property, then select Photos.
3. 3Click Add photos.
4. 4For one room's gallery, select the room or unit type, then Add photos, or drag a photo from the main gallery into that room's gallery.

To choose the photo guests see first:

1. 1Click Property, then select Photos.
2. 2Under Main gallery, drag your chosen photo to the Preferred main photo spot.
3. 3Or select the photo, click Options, then Set as preferred main photo.

Drag photos to change their order, or leave Smart ordering on under Main gallery and Booking.com orders them for you. To delete, select the photos, click Options, then Delete and OK. To tag a photo, such as restaurant, select it, click Options, then Edit or tag, and Finish. Booking.com says changes can take up to 48 hours to appear. In Pulse: More, Property details, choose the property, Photos, Photo Gallery or Room, then Add photo.

Booking.com's photo guide asks for at least 10 photos, with at least four of each room or unit and one of its bathroom, taken in landscape, bright and tidy, from the corners of the room. It asks you to leave out filters, collages, watermarks and black-and-white photos.

To set up a deal:

1. 1Sign in to the extranet and click Promotions, then Choose new promotion.
2. 2Choose a deal and customise it, then click Set up promotion, or pick one of Booking.com's ready-made campaigns.
3. 3Give the deal a name and fill in the details.
4. 4Click Review your promotion, then Activate.

A mobile rate is set up the same way: under Promotions, Choose new promotion, then Add promotion next to mobile rate, choose App and mobile web or App only, enter the discount and any dates it shouldn't apply, then Review and Activate. Not every deal is open to every property.

Genius is Booking.com's programme of discounts for its members, which you fund, in return for more visibility. To join:

1. 1Sign in to the extranet.
2. 2Click the Boost performance menu, then Genius partner programme.
3. 3If you are eligible, click Try Genius now.
4. 4Review the set-up, then click Activate Genius.

From the same page, Suspend your discount pauses it on dates you choose, and Manage your discount, then Quit Genius programme, leaves it at once; Booking.com may then make you wait six months to rejoin. The Opportunity Centre, also under Boost performance, lists suggestions for your property: review them, click Take action, and save. Booking.com refreshes its analysis there weekly.

Booking.com says its search results are ordered for each traveller, by how likely each property is to be booked for that search, and that the weight of each thing changes from search to search. It names your location, your prices on Booking.com, your review score and the quality of your page; how often travellers click through to your page and book; and the traveller's own search and preferences. Among the ways to improve your visibility, it names its programmes: Genius, Deals, Preferred Partner, Preferred Plus Partner and Visibility Booster.

The extranet shows the factors behind your place under Analytics, then Your search ranking and booking performance. What you can change for nothing, and what the paid programmes buy, are in our guide to ranking higher on Booking.com.

Booking.com sends its commission invoice in the first week of each month, for the guests who checked out the month before, to your primary email address and the extranet Inbox. It is due within 14 days of the date it is issued, and an overdue invoice can lead to your property being closed until it is paid. A user needs the Finance permission to see it. To check which bookings it covers:

1. 1Log in to the extranet.
2. 2Click Finance, then Invoices (or Documents and invoices, if Booking.com takes your guests' payments).
3. 3Choose an invoice and, under Actions, click View statement.
4. 4To keep a copy of the month's bookings, click Download XLS or Download CSV.

Correct a booking, such as a no-show, before its invoice is issued. If a booking is missing from an invoice, Booking.com asks you to tell it through the extranet Inbox. What Booking.com charges, and on what, is in our guide to booking-site commission.

Your tax settings are under Property, then VAT/tax/charges. You can't change them yourself; Booking.com changes them on request:

1. 1Click the Inbox menu and go to Booking.com messages.
2. 2Click See contact options, then select Property details.
3. 3Choose VAT or City tax/extra charges, and write that you want to change your tax or VAT settings.
4. 4Click Send message.

The price in your calendar is not always the price a guest sees. These are the discounts and settings Booking.com's help pages describe that change it:

• Genius: a discount for Booking.com's Genius members, which you fund, not Booking.com. For properties in Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, guests can see the standard Genius discount while signed out too.
• Mobile rates: shown only in Booking.com's app, or on its website on a phone. They add on top of Genius and of some deals.
• Deals: a Secret Deal is shown only to Booking.com members and people who signed up for its newsletter, and country rates only to guests from the countries you choose.
• Booking Sponsored Benefit: Booking.com pays part of the price for some travellers and shows the lower price beside yours. It may be applied when your prices are not competitive, it needs Payments by Booking.com, and you still receive the full value of the booking.
• Taxes and charges: whether local and city taxes are in your price shows under Property, then VAT/tax/charges. Compare tax in on both sides, or tax out on both.

To check by hand:

1. 1Open Booking.com in a private window, signed out, and search for your hotel for one night two weeks away, two adults and one room.
2. 2Note the price of your cheapest room, its cancellation terms, its meals and whether tax is included.
3. 3Find the same room, night and terms on your own website.
4. 4Look again in the Booking.com app on a phone, and signed in to a Booking.com account: mobile rates and members' prices show only there.
5. 5Where Booking.com is lower, check what is switched on for that night under Promotions, and under Boost performance, then Genius partner programme.
6. 6Repeat for several nights each week, weekdays and weekends, on the same dates.

Whether you must match your prices elsewhere depends on your country's terms with Booking.com, explained in our guide to what rate parity is. Checking by hand finds one night at a time. Our guide to checking your hotel's price on every booking site covers the whole method, and OneHorizyn compares your website with every booking site for each of the next 90 nights, with a screenshot of the booking page for the nights that matter.