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Lodging cancel waiver skill
Article Record Type
Legacy
Article Number
000003205
Legacy Id
40675
Publication Status
Published
New Info
Last Published Date
2/15/2024, 5:07 PM
Topics:
All Roles
All Brands
Cancel
Expedia
Lodging
Details
Summary

You and travelers can now cancel in-penalty and non-refundable lodging bookings using the Virtual Agent on our website or in Voyager Next. If the traveler doesn't want to cancel with penalty, the Virtual Agent can also check if a waiver request can be sent to the supplier or if a request has already been sent.

This new Virtual Agent feature applies to lodging bookings that are:

Cancellation requests (not to be used for change requests)
Standalone and Packages (for packages, if the property approves the waiver request, only the lodging portion of the package will be automatically canceled and refunded).
Pay Now
Non-refundable, in-penalty
Non-EPS and non-3PI
Availability: This feature is available for BEX (Brand Expedia) and HCOM (Hotels.com).

Traveler self-service
Travelers can self-serve through the Virtual Agent on our website.

When trying to cancel a non-refundable or in-penalty booking, the Virtual Agent will inform them of the cancellation fee and ask them to either cancel with the fee, return to the main menu, or see other options.
If travelers select See other options, the Virtual Agent will offer them to send a waiver request to the property.
Travelers are asked to select the reason for their cancellation request and to add a message for the property.
Similar to the Agent Virtual Agent process, the Traveler Virtual Agent sends the request to the property who then has 24 hours to approve or deny the request.
If the property doesn’t action the request within 24 hours, the request is queued to an offline agent for follow up.
Travelers will be kept informed through automated emails when the request has been sent to the property, when the property replies, and when the property hasn’t replied within 24 hours and the request is being handled by one of our agents.
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Agent skill: Cancel a booking inside penalty — Frontline
Important: Even if the traveler insists you call the property, you must follow the process below exactly. Do not make exceptions.

In Voyager Next, select the booking and choose See cancel options.
The Virtual Agent displays the following message:
The total cost for this booking at [property] is [full penalty amount]. Because this is a non-refundable booking, the traveler won't receive a refund if they decide to cancel now.


Follow according to the traveler's request:
If the traveler wants to cancel:
Inform the traveler of all cancellation disclosure details according to your Point of Sale before processing the cancellation.
Select Yes, cancel.
If the traveler does not want to cancel now:
Select Not right now
Ask the traveler if you can help them with anything else.
If the traveler asks for an exception to the penalty fee:
Select Contact supplier. The Virtual Agent checks if the booking is eligible for waiver automation and if there are any open service requests (SRs).
Follow the table below based on the booking information in Voyager Next.
If

Then

The Virtual Agent offers to help you contact the property

Follow the prompts from the Virtual Agent.
This is where you are advocating for the traveler.
Be sure to select the correct intent and clearly explain why the traveler should get a waiver.
Your explanation should include the facts of the situation, rather than how the traveler feels.
The Virtual Agent will take your responses and will send the following:
An automated message to the property
An email to the traveler to confirm the request has been sent to the property
The traveler will receive an update via email and in their conversations in their online account within 24 hours.
If the property doesn't respond within 24 hours, an SR is automatically opened for Offline.

The Virtual Agent gives you the property's contact information

If the Virtual Agent can't request an automated waiver for the booking (some bookings are ineligible), it will provide the property contact information.

Contact the supplier using existing processes.
Only make one (1) call to the appropriate (or correct) contact phone number.
Call during business hours.
If Voyager says there's no availability, do not no contact the property except for exception scenarios outlined in Contact the property .
If the waiver request is approved: In Voyager Classic, cancel the booking with a refund. Follow the steps to cancel lodging inside penalty (fee to cancel) in Help Topic Cancel a lodging booking.
3PI booking
The Virtual Agent will indicate it's a 3PI booking.
Do not disclose this information, or the name of the 3PI provider, to the traveler.
The Virtual Agent won't be able to request an automated waiver for the booking from the property.
It will invite you to refer to your existing processes for identifying and servicing 3PI bookings.
Virtual Agent 3PI screenshot

Booking has an open SR

SR has been open less than 24 hours:
The Virtual Agent will advise you to tell the traveler to look for an update via email within 24 hours of the original request. They can also check for an update from the property via chat in their conversations.
If the traveler doesn't want to wait, explain that the request is currently with the property, and there's nothing we can do unless they haven't responded in over 24 hours.
Do not create a new SR.
SR has been open longer than 24 hours: The Virtual Agent will direct you to contact the property.
Tell the property there is a pending refund request and they can still approve in Expedia Partner Central but the traveler is contacting us for an update.
Document that the traveler called for an update and whether you were able to reach the property.
If the waiver request is approved: In Voyager Classic, cancel the booking with a refund. Follow the steps to cancel lodging inside penalty (fee to cancel) in Help Topic Cancel a lodging booking.
If the request is declined: If the traveler still wants to cancel, cancel the booking (without a waiver) in Voyager Next.
If follow-up is needed: Follow existing processes to edit and document the SR. Explain that the traveler called for an update but you couldn't get an answer from the property.
Waiver was already denied

The Virtual Agent may find a closed SR for this booking with a denied waiver request.

Inform the traveler the request was denied.
Locate the denial email in Voyager Next and provide the traveler with the reason for the denial.
Do not create an SR.
The traveler's options are:

Proceed to cancel anyway (do this directly in Voyager Next)
Choose not to cancel and keep the booking as-is
Traveler says they got approval directly from the property: If the traveler can provide the name and position of the person who gave the approval:
Call the property to confirm.
If approved: In Voyager Classic, cancel the booking. Follow the steps to cancel lodging inside penalty (fee to cancel) in Help Topic Cancel a lodging booking.
Property is on the "Do Not Contact" list

Inform the traveler that the property doesn't approve requests to waive penalty fees.
Based on what they say, you can:

Proceed to cancel anyway
Choose not to cancel
Traveler says they got approval directly from the property: Follow steps in the Virtual Agent to contact the property for confirmation.
Early checkout or extenuating circumstances: These are exceptions to the "Do Not Contact" rule. Follow Contact the property to contact the property for a waiver.
Traveler purchased insurance: The Virtual Agent will give you the phone number of the insurance provider. The traveler can call this number to make a claim.
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Agent skill: Cancel a booking inside penalty — Offline
If a supplier doesn't respond to the automated waiver request within 24 hours:

An email update is sent to the traveler to inform them that we're still trying to get an answer from the property.
The initial waiver request then gets queued as a Waiver service request (SR).
Identify an automated Waiver SR
Both travelers and agents can fill in a waiver request through the Virtual Agent. The Created by: field on the SR will tell you whether it was created by a traveler or an agent:

Screenshot of SR created by message

What to do
Follow existing processes for servicing the Waiver SR.

If approved: In Voyager Classic, cancel the booking. Follow the steps to cancel lodging inside penalty (fee to cancel) in Cancel a lodging booking.
If the request is declined: If the traveler still wants to cancel, cancel the booking (without a waiver) in Voyager Next.
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