Guarantees: money held, not collected

A guarantee is not a payment. It is security you hold in case something goes wrong.

You have not taken the money. You have arranged that you could, or you hold something that stands in for it.

Payment or guarantee?

• Money that is yours now and reduces what the customer owes is a payment.
• Money or an undertaking you hold in case, which does not reduce what they owe, is a guarantee.

A 200 EUR damage deposit held on a card is a guarantee. If you charge it because they broke something, that becomes a payment.

Add one

1. Open the booking and go to Payments.
2. Expand Guarantees at the bottom.
3. Click Add guarantee.
4. Choose the Type and Status.
5. Enter the Amount and Currency.
6. Fill in the Provider, such as Stripe or a bank name.
7. Paste the Reference number from that provider.
8. Set Expires at if the hold lapses.
9. Click Add guarantee.

The eight types

• Deposit is a sum held as security, such as a damage deposit.
• Credit card records that you hold a card as cover.
• Preauthorization is an amount reserved on a card but not charged.
• Card on file is a stored card you may charge later, with the customer's agreement.
• Bank transfer covers money sitting with you as security rather than payment.
• Voucher is a voucher held against the booking.
• Agency letter is a written undertaking from a travel agency that they will settle.
• Other is anything else.

The six statuses

• Pending means arranged but not confirmed.
• Active means live and holding.
• Released means you let it go, because the trip finished with no problem.
• Failed means it did not work, for example a preauthorization the bank declined.
• Cancelled means you cancelled it deliberately.
• Expired means the hold lapsed on its own.

Expiry matters

Card preauthorizations do not last forever. Most banks release them after a few days to a month.

Set Expires at so you know when the cover disappears. A guarantee that quietly expired before the trip is no cover at all.

Most leisure bookings never need one. They matter for hire, for anything with a damage risk, and for agency business where a letter stands in for payment.