Hotel reservations: total prices, guarantees, overbooking and walking guests
For hotel reservations agents, front desk staff and new front office supervisors who take bookings, manage the arrivals list and deal with oversold nights. Basic arithmetic and familiarity with your property management system help; no other prerequisites. You record reservations accurately and quote a total price, explain and apply guarantee and cancellation terms, calculate an overbooking position from your hotel's own history, walk a guest properly when the hotel is oversold, and keep guest and card data to what the booking needs. Legal points cover the US (the FTC Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, 16 CFR Part 464) and the UK (the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the CMA's online hotel booking enforcement). Your hotel's own rate, guarantee, overbooking and walk policies always come first. This is not legal advice and doesn't grant any professional qualification; take legal questions to your manager or your company's legal adviser.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Length
- About 100 minutes
- Contents
- 5 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 10 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Record a reservation accurately and quote the total price, including mandatory fees
- Explain guarantee and cancellation terms and calculate a cancellation or no-show charge from them
- Calculate an overbooking position from rooms available, stayovers, arrivals and the hotel's no-show history
- Walk a guest when the hotel is oversold, following the relocation procedure and recording what was provided
- Protect guest and card data in reservations, keeping only what the booking needs
Course outline
- 1.Recording a reservation accurately and quoting the total priceLesson · 20 min
- 2.Explaining guarantee and cancellation terms and calculating the chargeLesson · 18 min
- 3.Calculating an overbooking position from availability and no-show historyLesson · 22 min
- 4.Walking a guest when the hotel is oversoldLesson · 20 min
- 5.Protecting guest and card data in reservationsLesson · 12 min
- 6.Hotel reservations: total prices, guarantees, overbooking and walking guests: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 14 questions
- 7.Hotel reservations: total prices, guarantees, overbooking and walking guests: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 8.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- FTC: Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, Frequently Asked Questions (short-term lodging)
- 16 CFR 464.1 Definitions (Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, Cornell LII)
- 16 CFR 464.2 Hidden fees prohibited (Cornell LII)
- CMA case page: Online hotel booking (consumer enforcement, 2017 to 2019)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 50: Information about the trader or service to be binding (legislation.gov.uk)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 54: Consumer's rights to enforce terms about services (legislation.gov.uk)
- FTC: Protecting Personal Information, A Guide for Business
- ICO: Principle (c) Data minimisation (UK GDPR guidance)
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