Expedia Partner Central: a guide for hotels

Expedia Group says Partner Central is your tool for listing and managing your property across its brands and channels: listing rooms, adjusting rates and availability, comparing your property with competitors and joining campaigns. Its homepage puts priority tasks first, such as checking your contact details, with opportunities to make your listing more competitive.

To sign in, go to expediapartnercentral.com, typed into the address bar yourself, or open Log in, then Partner Central, on Expedia Group's partner website, partner.expediagroup.com. The sign-in page asks first for your email address. The address apps.expediapartnercentral.com leads to the same page.

To reset a forgotten password, on Expedia's own sign-in page:

1. 1Select Forgot your password?
2. 2Look for Expedia's email at the address on your Partner Central account: it holds either a 6-digit code or a password reset link.
3. 3Follow the email's instructions. If it hasn't arrived, look in your junk or spam folder.
4. 4Sign in on the login page with your new password.

If you sign in through your company's own system (SSO), your IT team resets the password instead. Partner Central also asks you to verify yourself again before it shows sensitive details, such as a guest's contact details or card. To choose how:

1. 1Select the Profile icon, then User settings.
2. 2Under Security and password, select Secure account.
3. 3Select Add a new verification type.
4. 4Choose Mobile app notification, which Expedia recommends, and confirm on your phone within 3 minutes; or choose Text message, pick the number and enter the code you receive.

For a notification, the Partner Central app must be up to date, signed in at least once, with push notifications on and a lock (biometrics, a PIN or a pattern) on the phone. Expedia says internet (VOIP) numbers can't receive its texts. Holiday rentals have their own sign-in: Expedia Group lists the Vrbo Owner Dashboard separately from Partner Central.

The Partner Central app is Expedia Group's own, on Google Play for Android and the App Store for iOS. Expedia lists what it does:

• Reservations: search by guest name or reservation ID, check the details, and contact guests by message, call or email.
• Rooms & rates: a calendar of closed and sold-out dates, changes by day or in bulk, and adding inventory.
• Messages: your response rate and average response time, every message with in-house and VIP guests labelled, and sending messages.
• Reviews: view and respond to post-stay reviews, share them with staff, and download them for a date range.
• Photos: add, assign, replace or delete property photos.
• Promotions and opportunities: review and create promotions, act on opportunities and compare your performance with the properties you compete with.
• Notices for bookings, refund requests, cancellations, messages and reviews.

Expedia recommends the app even if a channel manager runs your rates, used as you would use Partner Central on a computer. It can also receive Partner Central's security checks, which it asks for when you open guests' details.

These are the pages as Expedia's help pages name them:

• Rooms and rates: Rates and availability, where you change each day's rates and inventory and open or close rooms; Bulk rates and restrictions; Bulk inventory and availability; Rate and availability observations; and Automatic rate match.
• Room types and rate plans: your rooms and what each rate includes. Each room type needs at least one rate plan.
• Property details: your listing, including Photos and amenities.
• Reservations: every booking, confirmed automatically, with cancellations, no-shows and changes.
• Guest Relations: the Message Centre, for writing to guests before, during and after their stay, and Post-stay reviews.
• Marketing: Promotions, such as member-only deals, mobile-only and early booking discounts, same-day deals and extras like free breakfast, and Accelerator.
• Opportunities: suggestions Expedia makes for your property, from your listing, your prices and availability, and how you do against comparable properties.
• Revenue Management (Rev+): free to every hotel, it compares your lowest available rates with the properties you compete with for up to 365 coming dates, beside demand and local events.
• Performance: Visibility performance, with the two scores Expedia says decide your visibility (see below).
• Data and insights: your revenue, how search views turn into page views and bookings, and how you compare with up to 19 properties you choose.
• Payments: invoices, debit memos and credit memos for Hotel Collect bookings, where the guest pays you, and payment for Expedia Collect bookings, where the guest pays Expedia when booking.

Expedia asks for one account per person, never a shared name such as Hotel Manager, so that property and guest details stay safe and it is clear who changed what. Only the property's administrator can add a user:

1. 1Select the Profile icon, then User settings.
2. 2In the People tab, select Manage Users, then Invite user.
3. 3Complete the User details fields and select Next.
4. 4Choose the properties to add the account to, and the role.
5. 5Select Invite User. The new user gets an email to set a password and finish their profile.

To change a rate for one day:

1. 1Select Rooms and rates, then Rates and availability.
2. 2Enter a date, or scroll with the arrows.
3. 3Select the arrow beside the room type to show its rates.
4. 4Select the rate and date you want to change, enter the new rate, and select Update now.

If you don't see the rates under a rate plan, select Customise view, then Rate. To change many rate plans or dates at once:

1. 1Select Rooms and rates, then Bulk rates and restrictions.
2. 2Choose a date range or select the dates in the calendar, then select Next Section.
3. 3Select the rate plans to update, then select Next Section.
4. 4Enter the new rate. To change restrictions too, tick Update restrictions and set Closed to arrival, Closed to departure or Availability.
5. 5Select Preview Updates, check the changes, and select Submit.

To change how many rooms you sell, or to open or close a room type over a period:

1. 1Go to Rooms and rates, then select Rates and availability.
2. 2Choose the room type, then select Edit availability.
3. 3Enter the dates, and deselect any days of the week the change shouldn't apply to.
4. 4Under Availability, choose Open or Close, and enter your Inventory and, if you want one, a Booking cut-off.
5. 5Select Apply update.

To close or open a single day, find the room type or rate plan on Rates and availability, select the green box with a tick to turn it red and close it, or the empty red box to turn it green and open it, then select Update now. Closing a room type closes all its rate plans, and an empty yellow box means no inventory, or a rate plan with no rate. For several room types at once, Expedia's Bulk inventory and availability tool, under Rooms and rates, does the same over a date range.

If a channel manager or another connectivity provider runs your property, change rates and inventory in its software instead: Expedia says some connected properties can't change rates in Partner Central at all.

How you mark a no-show depends on who takes the guest's payment. With Expedia Collect, the guest pays when booking and Expedia pays you after the stay. With Hotel Collect, the guest pays you. Expedia says you are not expected to contact a guest to check whether they will arrive.

Expedia Collect: from 5:00 AM, your local time, on the day after check-in until 30 days after check-out, open the booking on the Reservations page and use Mark as no-show. You can charge the cancellation fee in your policy or waive it for a full refund. Hotel Collect: you reconcile the booking, telling Expedia what you actually collected, so that your invoice is right.

1. 1Go to the Reservations page and search for the reservation.
2. 2Select the guest's name to see the details.
3. 3In Quick tasks, select Mark as no show, or Mark as cancellation for a guest who cancelled after the check-in date.
4. 4Enter the amount you collected from the guest, or 0 if you waived it or couldn't collect it.

Expedia's window for this runs from 5:00 AM the day after check-in until the 4th day of the month after check-out. Collect any fee before you reconcile, because the guest's card details aren't shown afterwards. Each reservation allows two changes at most, a reset included, and a guest marked as checked in can't be reconciled as a no-show. If you don't reconcile in time, your invoice is based on the original booking.

When a guest asks to cancel before check-in:

1. 1Go to the Reservations page.
2. 2Search for the reservation, then select the guest's name.
3. 3In Cancellation policy, select Cancel reservation.
4. 4Tick the box saying you understand the cancellation can't be undone, and select Submit.

Cancelling before check-in waives any cancellation fee, and Expedia charges no compensation on it. Expedia says to cancel only at the guest's request: a booking cancelled without one can mean the guest is relocated at your property's expense. Before check-in, any other change is the guest's to ask of the site they booked on. After check-in, for an Expedia Collect booking, the reservation's Quick tasks offer Change stay dates for a guest who leaves early, and Refund Guest. If a Hotel Collect guest's card doesn't work, request another payment method from the Reservations page rather than asking the guest for card details.

To read and answer guests' messages, select Message Centre under Guest Relations, and use Filters to find a conversation. Messages are for the booking and the stay, never for marketing. Expedia has, for now, hidden travellers' phone numbers in Partner Central because of phishing aimed at travellers, so the Message Centre is the way to reach a guest.

1. 1Select Guest Relations, then Post-stay reviews.
2. 2Select Respond on the review you want to answer.
3. 3Write in the Your response field, and put a nickname or general signature in Your Name: it appears under your reply.
4. 4Select Submit.

Expedia's rules for replies: no phone numbers, email addresses or website addresses, no asking guests to book directly, at most 400 words, and in the language you've chosen in Partner Central, so that the right moderator reads it. Expedia checks each reply, and you can't edit it once you submit it. The name is not shown on Hotels.com reviews at present.

Expedia shows a review score and reviews in its search results once a property has five post-stay reviews, gives newer reviews more weight, and shows reviews left on Expedia.com on its other sites, such as Hotels.com, after 90 days. To ask every guest for a review after check-out:

1. 1Select Guest Relations, then Messages.
2. 2Select Manage templates, then Post-stay review requests.
3. 3Turn the automatic send toggle on, and add a note of your own if you like.
4. 4Select Save.

Expedia doesn't remove a review for being negative, or for claims that it is false or defamatory. It removes one in limited cases, among them: the full name of a member of staff, discriminatory language, a duplicate, a review of the wrong property, a review from a guest you can show was a no-show, or one shown to be fake. To ask:

1. 1Select Contact us, then Message us.
2. 2Fill in the form, and select Attach a file to add your proof, such as the booking marked as a no-show.
3. 3Select Send message.

1. 1Select Property details from the navigation menu, then Photos.
2. 2Select Add photos, choose a photo from your files, then select Open.
3. 3If a pop-up asks about an amenity not yet listed, select Yes if it is right.
4. 4Choose a photo label, then select Upload.

To replace, delete or relabel photos, or to assign them to rooms, choose Select photos, pick them, then select Replace, Delete or Edit, and Save. Expedia asks for at least 6 photos at all times: one of the building outside, one inside or of the lobby, three of guest rooms and one of a bathroom. It says a property with fewer than 6 for more than 30 days can be suspended. New photos show on its sites within 72 hours, marked pending until then.

To create a promotion for travellers on mobile devices:

1. 1In Partner Central, go to Marketing, then select Promotions.
2. 2Select Create a promotion, then Mobile.
3. 3In Booking Dates, choose when travellers can book it, and select Next Section.
4. 4In Stay Dates, choose the dates they can stay at the promotional rate, and select Next Section.
5. 5Enter a Promotion Name, seen only by you, and select Create.

A Member Only Deal starts the same way, with Members only in place of Mobile: you choose a fixed (static) or a dynamic discount, the rooms and rate plans, whether it may stack with other promotions and any dates to block, then select Create promotion. To pause any promotion, go to Marketing, then Promotions, select its name, then Manage this promotion and Pause promotion; Activate brings it back. Opportunities works from its own page:

1. 1Select Opportunities from the navigation menu.
2. 2Select a card under Your available opportunities.
3. 3Follow the instructions in the side panel, and select How does this work? to read more.
4. 4Select Create.

Expedia groups what affects your visibility into two scores, both updated daily, on the Visibility performance page under Performance:

• Guest experience score: relocations or refunds for avoidable problems, check-in ratings, preventable cancellations, and guests' ratings for staff, service, cleanliness, amenities and the property's condition.
• Offer strength score: how good and complete your listing is, and how competitive your prices and availability are.

Expedia also says promotions help travellers find you, through badges and filters in its search results, and it sells a higher place: Accelerator, under Marketing, raises you on dates you choose, paid for with higher compensation only on bookings whose guests stay, and TravelAds Sponsored Listings are adverts in its results, paid for by the click. These are Expedia's own tools: try one on a few months of your own dates and compare the bookings with what it cost.

Expedia calls its commission compensation: a share of the booking set in your contract, applied to the room rate, extra guest fees, cancellation penalties, service charges, taxes and property fees collected at booking. How it reaches you depends on the payment model.

Expedia Collect: the booking notice shows the net rate, what Expedia pays you after its compensation. You can charge the virtual card Expedia issues, for the total in the booking notice or in Partner Central, from the check-in date, and it stays valid for 180 days after check-out; Expedia suggests charging it at check-in and again at the end of the day. Or you can request payment by bank transfer, within 365 days of check-out. Take the guest's own card at check-in for anything extra, and never charge it in place of the virtual card.

Hotel Collect: Expedia's invoice is ready on the 5th of each month and should be paid within 14 days, or your property may be suspended from Expedia's sites. To pay it:

1. 1Go to Payments.
2. 2In Most recent invoice from Expedia Group, select See all invoices.
3. 3Go to an outstanding invoice and select Pay.
4. 4Choose your payment method, or New Payment Method, and select Submit Payment. The status can take up to 3 business days to show Paid.

For properties in India, Expedia asks that every Hotel Collect payment carry the reference S1020SNRRUS followed by your invoice number, in the narration, remarks or payment reference field, exactly as written, and recommends RTGS or NEFT over cheques, which may lose the reference. It says a credit card issued in India can't be saved in Partner Central or used to pay automatically. Our guide to booking-site commission covers what each site says it charges.

The rate you load is not always the price a traveller sees. These are the settings and discounts Expedia's help pages describe that change it:

• Taxes and fees: the country site the traveller books on decides whether the price shown must include all mandatory fees and government taxes, or the fees only, even when your property is elsewhere. Expedia asks you to load every mandatory tax and fee, such as city taxes and resort or cleaning fees, in their own fields.
• Member Only Deals: discounts for Expedia Group members, shown to signed-in account holders and app users, and sometimes beside your public rate so that travellers can compare.
• Mobile promotions: discounts only for travellers booking on their mobile devices.
• Other promotions and campaigns you have switched on, and Automatic rate match if you opted in.

To check by hand:

1. 1Open Expedia in a private window, signed out, and search for your hotel for one night two weeks away, two adults and one room. Do the same on Hotels.com.
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 Expedia app, and signed in as a member: mobile and member prices show only there.
5. 5Where Expedia is lower, check Marketing, then Promotions, and Rooms and rates, then Automatic rate match, for that night.
6. 6Repeat for several nights each week, weekdays and weekends, on the same dates.

Partner Central shows the other side under Rooms and rates, then Rate and availability observations: where you offer different rates, or more availability, on other travel sites than on Expedia. From there, Automatic rate match, which Expedia offers free to eligible properties, adjusts your Expedia rates at least once a day to your most competitive rate on other major booking sites, for the same room type and rate plan, and never above the rate you set. To turn it on:

1. 1Select Rooms and rates, then Rate and availability observations.
2. 2In We can handle this for you, select Get started.
3. 3Read and agree to the terms and conditions, then select Turn on.
4. 4Confirm your property and room type mapping.

To leave it, go to Rooms and rates, then Automatic rate match, and under Summary select I'd like to opt out; Expedia lets you opt in again after 60 days. 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.