What is Direct Booking?

All Travelnest customers have their own personal Direct Booking website with unique property URL(s) for each of their properties, which can be accessed, managed and shared from within the Travelnest account.

The website is complete with a seamlessly integrated live calendar, photo gallery, interactive map and a secure payment system giving guests a great overview of the property itself. Best of all, it’s completely optimised for mobile. The information which appears on your Direct page will be taken straight from your Travelnest account and automatically updated regularly. As it's direct, there are no added channel fees – meaning you’ll only pay 5% commission which includes payment processing fees. Travelnest handles all the hard stuff. All you need to do is share the page with potential guests.

We've also put together a handy video guide to get you started, click below to watch it. 

How to find Direct Booking:

• On the homepage, you'll find a card pointing to 'Direct'. Click on that to view your direct listing. 
  
  

Guests can book from available dates on a fully integrated calendar, and make payments using our secure payment system. All of the information is taken straight from your account so there is no need to add this to your listing. As it's direct, you only pay a 5% Travelnest fee in commission on any bookings made with Direct. Within 48 hours of their booking, we will charge the card they entered in full. If it declines, we will email the guest to secure a payment, if they do not contact us, we will cancel the booking. 

Please note you are responsible for handling guest enquiries and any cancellations. Guests are presented with a cancellation policy at the time of booking, relative to what you have selected in your marketing preferences. If the booking is within a free cancellation window, the guest can cancel unchallenged. Should a guest wish to cancel a booking that is in a non-refundable window, they will be advised to contact you for approval. In the unfortunate event that you need to cancel a guest booking, please first contact your guest to explain. You should then contact the Travelnest Customer Support team who will help with processing the cancellation. 

Frequently asked questions:

• How is this different from the other channels?
  
  With online agencies like Airbnb and Booking, you are leaving the marketing side of listing to the channel. Once your listing is live, the channel will attract guests to your listings to generate bookings. This is how they justify the large fees. With Direct, you are doing the marketing bit. Your webpage is created by Travelnest with all of your content, you just share that URL with potential guests or previous bookers.
• Where can I find my listings?
  
  When you log into your Travelnest account, simply click the ‘Manage my listings’ button and you’ll be directed to your listings.
• How do I take payment?
  
  Travelnest handles the payment for you. In fact, Travelnest handles almost everything. After you have shared your URL with potential guests, either directly or via social media, there is nothing more you need to do. A guest who follows your URL to your listing page will see a live calendar and pricing. They can select their dates, see the price, cancellation policy, and other house rules, then enter card details for payment. We’ll send the booking to you the same way as an OTA booking.
• How much does it cost me?
  
  Travelnest has a fixed 5% commission fee for all bookings. This fee is inclusive of card processing fees. There are no hidden or surprise fees to worry about, just a flat 5% of the total value of your booking value.
• When does the guest pay?
  
  When guests proceed through the checkout, we capture their intent to pay. This is then fully processed once the booking has been created in the Travelnest account. We currently do not offer a ‘pay later’ option, so all funds are captured shortly after the booking request has been submitted.
• What if I need to cancel a booking?
  In the unfortunate event that you need to cancel a guest’s booking, please first contact your guest to explain. You should then contact Travelnest’s Customer Services team who will help with processing the cancellation.
• What happens if a guest wants to amend or cancel their booking?
  
  Guests are presented with a cancellation policy at the time of booking, relative to what you have selected in your marketing preferences. If the booking is within a free cancellation window, the guest can cancel unchallenged. Initially, they will do that by following a link in their booking confirmation email which will put them in touch with our Customer Service team. We will be adding functionality for guests to automatically process such changes, as they would on a marketing channel, should they be within their free cancellation window. Should a guest wish to cancel or amend a booking that is in a non-refundable window, they will be advised to contact you for approval.
• Do I need to turn on Direct?
  No. Direct is automatically added for all Travelnest properties that have been validated and are live/bookable. To use it you simply need to access “Direct” in the navigation or from the homepage to get your property listing links to share.
• Why when I access my Direct properties in Travelnest does it look different?
  
  We’re currently in the process of rolling out an improved experience across Travelnest. Part of that is a new navigation flow. Direct is the first to receive this with other areas following very soon.
• I have an idea to improve things, how can I share this with you?
  
  We welcome and even encourage feedback from our valued customers. If you have a suggestion you think could make the Travelnest product better, we’d love to hear it! Please email [email protected] or click here to fill out our survey.