Please Note: This feature is an optional extra and must be activated.

Smart Vouchers are a new feature on the GuestDiary which enable a property to create and sell customised vouchers on the booking engine.

Here are some of the things you can do with Smart Vouchers

You can create voucher types on the diary by going to Vouchers (expand) > Voucher Types, then clicking on the [+ Create new voucher type] button in the top right corner of the page.

You must provide a name, description, terms and conditions, and a cost and value for the voucher. The cost is the price that the voucher is being sold for. The value is the amount of redeemable credit available on the voucher. You may also choose whether the voucher should be sold on the booking engine or not (enabled by default).

If you have sold a voucher by means other than the booking engine, you will have to manually input the sale into the system which in turn will generate a voucher code to be used to redeem the voucher.

To do this, go to Vouchers (expand) > Voucher Sales. Start by inputting the details of a new guest, or select a previous guest. Next, select the voucher type sold. The sale price and retail price field will be automatically filled with the default values of the voucher, but you can change these if you wish. You may also provide the name and address of the person to whom the voucher is being addressed to. These details will be displayed on the printable voucher.

Additional voucher line items can be added if the customer has bought more than one voucher. Apply any payments that were made by the customer. Finally, hit save and you will be presented with voucher codes which can be used in the diary. A bill is also generated at this step, but you can add future payments if necessary.

The vouchers search page can be found by navigating to Vouchers(expand) > Search in the left navigation pane. You can search for vouchers by date range or by voucher code. Additionally, you can search for any vouchers that have not been activated yet.

From this page, you can also print or email any voucher. An example of a generated printable voucher is shown below.

Once the vouchers feature has been activated on your property, a navigation link leading to the vouchers page will appear on the booking engine navigation bar. The vouchers page features all voucher types created which are configured to be sold online. An example of a voucher listing is shown below.

When a customer orders a voucher, they will not receive the voucher code straight away, but they will receive a confirmation of the order. The voucher code is withheld by the property until the payment for the voucher has been processed and the voucher has been activated. 

Whenever a voucher is ordered from the booking engine, a notification will be sent out to your property about the order, similar to the one sent for new bookings. Additionally, a badge indicating the number of unacknowledged vouchers will be displayed beside the Vouchers menu item as shown below.

To view all vouchers needing attention on your property, click on the red badge shown above. This will take you to the voucher search page and automatically perform a search for all unacknowledged vouchers. 

To acknowledge vouchers, click on the 'Acknowledge' button on the voucher as shown below. Acknowledging a voucher means you are aware that the voucher is pending payment and activation, and is not yet usable.

Just like reservations, credit/debit card payment details for the vouchers have to be retrieved through the vault if bought by credit/debit card. Once a payment has been processed, you can add it to the voucher from the vouchers search page.

Any payments made will appear under the expandable payments section, as shown below. When a voucher is fully paid, you will be able to activate the voucher and generate a bill for it. 

Once the voucher has been activated, and the bill has been generated, you can either view/print the bill, or email it to the customer. If for any reason you wish to deactivate a voucher, you can do so by clicking the 'Deactivate' button. The voucher will no longer be available for use as a payment until reactivated.

To charge a voucher, go to the reservation you wish to charge and in the add payment section, select Voucher as the payment method. Input the voucher code in the reference field and hit the search icon. If the voucher is valid, you will be prompted to apply the remaining voucher balance. You may modify the amount to be debited before adding the payment.

Like what you see? If you would like to enable and start using Smart Vouchers on your property, you can get in contact with us and we will offer a quote as soon as possible.