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Accommodations (Attendee Form)

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Accommodations (Attendee Form)

Access:  Plan > Forms > (form) > Accommodations

 

Jump to::  Section Header ( Entry)  ||    Accommodations Entry Setup  ||  Arrival and Departure Dates || Accommodations List Setup  ||   Payment Options  ||  Text Labels  ||  Custom Questions  ||  Edit Permissions  ||  Roommate Options  ||  Text Labels  ||  Error Messages

To collect accommodation reservation requests as part of the online registration process, include the Accommodations section on a form (Plan > Forms > Setup).

For accommodations to be included on a form, accommodation blocks must first be set up on Plan > Accommodation > Blocks. (These are pre-booked blocks of rooms at hotels set up on Accommodation > Hotels, using account-level room types set up on Plan > Accommodation > Room Types.) You cannot include Accommodations on a form if no accommodation blocks have been set up.

Overview

The accommodation reservation process can be divided into two steps:

  • Accommodations Entry – An optional section normally included with other sections (such as Questions or Categories) on the page immediately prior to the Accommodations Selection section. Its purpose is to ask the registrant if they need an accommodations reservation, how many rooms they need, and what their arrival and departure dates/times are.

    The Accommodations Entry section is optional. If used, it must be placed on the page immediately preceding the Accommodations section. If the Accommodations section is used without the Accommodations Entry section, then the registrant is only able to request one room. The Accommodations Entry section enables the registrant to request any number of rooms, up to a limit set by the meeting planner.

  • Accommodation – This is the main section that collects the accommodation reservation information, including the hotel, room type, guest names, payment guarantee, and other information.

Section Header – Accommodations Entry (Optional)

The Text Above Header, Header Text, and Text Below Header are displayed (in that order) at the top of the Accommodations Entry section, in the same manner as on all other sections on the form. Please see Section Header instructions for more information.

Accommodations Entry Setup

The main question asked on the Accommodations Entry section is the number of rooms that the registrant needs. This is normally asked in one of two ways:

  • Select the number of rooms that you need:  {0|1|2|....|N}

  • Do you need a hotel room?  {Yes|No}

Use the following options to configure this question:

  • Accommodations Needed Question – The text that will appear on the registration form in the Accommodation Entry section. For example, "Do you need accommodations?"

  • Include an empty option with the label: – If this check box is selected, the form includes an empty option in the drop-down list, for which you can optionally provide a label.

  • Include an option to hide the Accommodations section when there is an existing room reservation. Label: – If this check box is selected, the registrant has the option to hide the Accommodations section if they already have a room reservation and don't need to edit it. The label is the text the attendee sees.

  • Label for 0 rooms – The text that represents 0 rooms (ex. "0", "No", or "None"). 

  • Label for 1 room – The text that represents 1 room (ex. "1", "Yes", or "Yes, please make a reservation for me").

  • Minimum # of rooms – The minimum number of rooms the registrant can request (usually 0). 

  • Maximum # of rooms – The maximum number of rooms the registrant can request (limited by the accommodation block inventory). 

  • Default answer – The answer to the Accommodations Needed Question that is pre-selected when a new registrant first sees the Accommodations Entry section. (A preview of the question seen by the attendee is also shown.)

  • Collect arrival and departure dates on the accommodation entry section? – Selecting this check box enables a planner to collect the registrant's arrival and departure dates on the Accommodation Entry page of the form (dates will be collected again in the Accommodations section of the form.)

Arrival and Departure Dates

If Collect arrival and departure dates? is selected in the Accommodations Entry Setup section, then the arrival and departure dates and times will be collected on both the Accommodations Entry and the Accommodations sections. (The attendee will be able to select different arrival and departure dates for each room in the Accommodations section.)

If you do not collect the registrant's arrival and departure dates on the Accommodations Entry section, and a given room type does not have available rooms for the entire run of the event (i.e. one of the nights is sold out), then that room type will not be available in the Room Type field in the Accommodations section.

If there are no room types that have available rooms for the run of the event, then no room types will be available for the registrant. For this reason, if you believe there is any possibility of selling out one or more nights of a particular room type, it is strongly recommended that you enable the Collect arrival and departure dates on the accommodations entry section feature so that registrants will be alerted to the fact that certain nights are not available and they may select a different arrival or departure date on the Accommodations Entry section. In general, gathering the arrival and departure dates of the registrant on the Accommodations Entry page is a good practice, since it enables Certain to determine which room types are available for the registrant for the duration of their stay, rather than assuming that they desire accommodations for the entire event.

Note: If an attendee is editing their reservation, and has changed the arrival/departure dates on the Accommodation Entry section, then their existing room will only be listed if its room block still has inventory for all nights of the new dates.

  • Arrival Label and Departure Label – Text displayed in front of the arrival and departure select lists.

  • Include an empty option with the label – If selected, includes an empty option in the date drop-down lists, for which you can optionally provide a label.

  • Arrivals Start and End dates – Make a selection from the drop-down lists. The Default date is pre-selected when the registrant first views this section.

  • Departs Start and End dates – Make a selection from the drop-down lists. The Default date is pre-selected when the registrant first views this section.

Section Header – Accommodations Selection

The Instructions, Header Text, and Page HTML are displayed at the top of the Accommodations Selection section, in the same manner as on all other sections on the form. Please see Section Header instructions for more information.

Accommodations List Setup

The accommodations available to the registrant are listed at the top of the Accommodations section.

  • Display accommodations' images? – If selected, then the accommodations image, if any, will be shown next to each accommodation option. The accommodations displayed may depend upon both the accommodation block setup and the attendee's attendee type, answers to previous profiling questions, and block inventory. 

  • Show accommodations address in confirmations

  • Display for multiple accommodations options – If more than one accommodations option is available to the attendee, this text shows at the top of the accommodations list. Provide additional instructions here for attendees who have a choice of accommodations. Default = "Select your accommodations".

  • "No accommodations needed" option – If the Accommodations Entry section is not used, then you may wish to add an option in the accommodations list to represent "No accommodations needed." Enter the text to show for that option here. If this field is left blank, then the option will not be shown in the accommodations list, and the attendee will be required to select accommodations. Default ="No accommodations needed."

  • "No rooms available" – If no rooms are available to the registrant, this text will be shown to them instead of the accommodations select list.

    If you remove the default text, then registrants see a blank accommodation page, without any feedback indicating how they might correct the situation. (If you are in doubt as to how to use this section, we recommend leaving the default text in place.)

    Default text: "There are not enough rooms available in the accommodation block for your requested number of rooms and nights. You may use the Back button on your browser, and search for a different number of rooms or range of nights. Or you may complete the registration without accommodation, and contact customer service for further assistance."

Accommodations Payment Options

Note that these options are only to do with payment guarantees for the hotel, nothing to do with payment processing.

  • Collect payment guarantee information? – Select one of the three options:

    • Optional– gives registrants the choice of using a credit card to guarantee a reservation in case of late arrival

    • No – do not display the credit card collection fields

    • Require – attendees must provide the information

  • Display on Confirmation – The label text to be shown on registrant's confirmation; e.g. "Payment method:"

  • Guarantee instructions – If collected, the guarantee instructions display above the guarantee options.
    Default text: "Credit Card guarantee is recommended in case of late arrival (after 6:00PM). Note: Your credit card will not be charged until you check out."

  • Accommodations Guarantee Options – Select one or more credit card payment methods that registrants can use to guarantee a reservation in case of late arrival. Visa, MasterCard, etc.

  • Online payment processor account to use to generate token from accommodation guarantee payment – (Shown only if Enable Token Generation is selected for the Accommodation Module on Plan > Configure > Options.) Select the payment processor account set up to generate a token when an attendee enters their accommodation guarantee payment. (That token is then used to generate a future payment.)

Note: You can customize the labels for the credit card fields on the Forms > Payment page, in the 'Credit Card Payment Options section.
The Financial module must be enabled for your event for you to see that section.

Text Labels for Accommodations Room List

The labels entered in these fields are shown on the form to collect room reservation information, and on the registration confirmation.

You may leave the labels for Non-Smoking and Smoking, or "Guest Requests" empty in order to not display those question fields on the registration form.

  • Room #

  • Guest Name(s)

  • Room Options

  • Accommodations

  • Room Type

  • Room Rate – If a label is provided, then the rate per night is displayed to the attendee on the form.

  • Guest Requests – Default label = "Special Instructions"

  • Number of Guest Names to Collect (per Room) – determines the number of rows shown to collect guest names.

Custom Questions for Room and Guest Category

The form can collect one question about each room, and one question about each guest in that room. (Custom questions specific to accommodations do not count against the limit of 135 custom questions.)

  • Guest Category – Click  Add to create a custom question (in a pop-up Questions window). Common guest category questions include:

    • Gender (M/F)

    • Guest Type (Attendee | Guest | VIP | Staff)

  • Room Category – Click Add to create a custom question (in a pop-up Questions window). Common room category questions include:

    • Number of beds (Single | Double) – used with Run-of-House room types

    • Payment classification (Guest pays all | Guest pays incidentals | Master account pays all)

After a question has been created, you have these options instead of Add:

  • Change – Replace the existing question with a new one

  • Delete – Remove the existing custom question

Accommodations Edit Permissions

Note: These settings apply only to the editing of an existing reservation.

  • Allow registrants to edit: – Select the fields in an existing registration that a registrant can edit:

    • Room type

    • Arrival date

    • Departure date.

  • Allow registrants to cancel their room reservations – If selected, a registrant can cancel an existing reservation.

    • Cancel option – The label to be shown if cancellations are permitted.

    • Canceling warning – The warning message to be shown for a successful cancellation.

Roommate Options

Each of these text fields may include HTML tags. You can also click the </> icon after each one to enter text using the HTML Editor.

  • Room Sharing – Make a selection from the drop-down list for room sharing / roommate matching options

    • No Room Sharing – The default setting for room sharing / roommate matching options

    • Optional – If  selected, additional fields are displayed.

    • Required (based on room type capacity) – If  selected, additional fields are displayed.

  • Header Text – Text used as a header for the roommate matching section of the form. Default: "Room Sharing".

  • Room Sharing Instructions – Instructions for the attendee.

  • 'No' option – Available only if Room Sharing  = "Optional" was selected; this is the label. for the option for the attendee to say "No" to sharing the room. For example, "No, I do not want to share this room."

  • 'Yes' option – Available only if Room Sharing  = "Optional" was selected; this is the label for the option for the attendee to say "Yes" to sharing the room.  For example, "Yes, I would like to try to share this room with roommate(s)."

  • Matching Options – Only the options that were selected as Roommate Matching Preferences on the Plan > Accommodation > Roommates page are available here.

    (In other words, if the Registrants can select roommate from a drop-down list option was not selected there, the Select from a drop-down list option is not displayed here.)
    This means that the Planner can remove options at the Form level, but cannot add any options that weren't set up for the event. If no options were selected on the Plan > Accommodation > Roommates page, then the Matching Option(s) field is not displayed. On the attendee view of the form, the drop-down list only includes roommates who match the required data fields of the current registration.

  •  

    • Select from a drop-down list – If selected, the following additional fields are dynamically displayed:

      • Label – if more than one Matching Option is selected, this is the label for the radio button to select this option. If this is the only option selected, it is displayed on the form.

      • Select List Label – This label replaces the label above when the page is re-displayed with the drop-down list.

      • Include incomplete registrations in drop-down list – If this option is selected, incomplete registrations (from a data import, for example) are included in the drop-down list.

      • 'No Roommates' – If no matching roommates were found in the system, this text is displayed when the page is re-displayed.

      • 'Selected' – This option is displayed when the Include incomplete registrations... check box is selected. If the current registration has been selected by another registrant, that other registrant's name is displayed, followed by the text entered here.

      Note:

    • Enter roommate request – If selected, additional fields are displayed:

      • Label – If more than one Matching Option is selected, this is the label for the radio button to select this option. If this is the only option selected, it displays on the form.

      • Default Value – If values are entered in this field, they display as default text in the text field on the form. For example, "FirstName LastName".

    • Planner will match – This option is hidden unless at least one other option is selected.

      • Label – If more than one Matching Option is selected, this is the label for the radio button to select this option. Otherwise, the label text is not displayed on the form. For example,"I would like to have my roommate(s) chosen for me."

Note: On the attendee view of the form, if the registrant selects a room type with capacity = 1, then they won't get any roommate options, regardless of the settings in this section. (For example, attendees first select their attendee type. Managers get assigned to Single room type (via Room Type - to - Attendee Type restrictions), while Participants get assigned to Double room types. Single room types have a capacity of 1, thus can't be share. Double room types have a capacity of 2 and can be shared.

Text Labels for Error Messages

You can customize the following error messages when the defaults aren't suitable, perhaps because you need to translate them.

  • "Credit Card Name Mismatch Error" – Default: "You must enter your name as it appears on card."

  • "Credit Card Type Error" – Default: "Credit Card Type"

  • "Invalid Credit Card Number Error" – Default: "The Credit Card Number you entered is invalid."

  • "Credit Card Type Mismatch with Credit Card Number Error" – Default: "The Credit Card Type does not match the Credit Card Number you entered."

  • "Credit Card Number Mismatch Error" – Default: ""

  • "Credit Card Type Mismatch with Credit Card Number Extended Error" – Default: "Credit Card Type does not match the Credit Card Number you entered. The Type has been changed to agree with the Number entered."

  • "Credit Card Type Required Error" – Default: "Credit Card Type is a required field. It has been changed based on the credit card number you entered."

  • "Insufficient Inventory Error" – Default: "The selected Sub-Block does not have sufficient inventory in the selected Hotel and Roomtype for the selected dates."

  • "Hotel and Room Type Required Error" – Default: "You must select a Hotel and Room Type."

  • "Required Questions Error" – Default: "You must answer the required questions under"

  • "Credit Card not Verified Error" – Default: "The credit you card you entered was unable to be verified for generation of a secure token with the message"

  • "Double check Credit Card Information Error"– Default: "please double-check your card information."

Text Labels for Room Sharing and Roommate Matching

Enter text to customize the labels for fields displayed in the Options section above. You may customize the language for:

  • Roommate Awards Number

  • Roommate Rewards Program

  • Smoking Preference

  • Roommate Arrival

  • Roommate Departure

  • Show Roommate Choices

  • Roommates

  • Requested Roommates

  • Sharing Room?

  • Confirm Information

Accommodations Error Messages

Click the Advanced button to preview or customize the error messages related to accommodation reservations and roommate matching.

  • The selected room type is not available for the selected accommodations. Please select a accommodations and room type from the available options.

  • The selected accommodations room type does not have room available for the requested nights. Please select another accommodation, room type, or range of nights.

  • Please select the type of room that you want for each room requested.

  • Please select an accommodation from the list of available accommodations.

  • The arrival date or time is not valid. Please select another night.

  • The departure date or time is not valid. Please select another night.

  • The arrival date must be at least one day before the departure date. Please select valid arrival and departure dates.

  • Please provide at least one guest name for each hotel room requested.

  • The number of guest names provided exceeds the listed capacity for the selected room type. Please select a room with a larger capacity, or remove the extra guest names.

  • Please select a guest category for each room.

  • An accommodation reservation may not be modified after it has been cancelled.

  • The credit card number you have entered is invalid.

  • The credit card expiration date you have entered is invalid.

  • The credit card number you have entered can contain only numbers, spaces, or dashes.

  • An unknown accommodation reservation error has occurred.

  • A database transaction error has occurred. Please submit your request again.

  • There has been an internal system error (invalid varWhichTask). Please try your action again. If you continue to get this message, contact your support provider with this error code: [error RSRM1301]

  • There has been an internal system error (unknown RSRM exception). Please try your action again. If you continue to get this message, contact your support provider with this error code: [error RSRM1302]

  • Accommodation reservation information has NOT been saved! [warning RSRM1303]

  • The system encountered this error of type [internal] when attempting to save to the database: [undefined] [error RSRM1304]

  • There has been an internal system error (missing or incorrect required attributes). Please try your action again. If you continue to get this message, contact your support provider with this error code: [error RSRM1305]

  • There has been an internal system error (invalid reg_id). Please try your action again. If you continue to get this message, contact your support provider with this error code: [error RSRM1306]

  • There has been an internal system error (invalid ZERO hot_id). Please try your action again. If you continue to get this message, contact your support provider with this error code: [error RSRM1307]

  • There has been an internal system error (invalid data to save). Please try your action again. If you continue to get this message, contact your support provider with this error code: [error RSRM1308]

  • There has been an internal system error (invalid math result). Please try your action again. If you continue to get this message, contact your support provider with this error code: [error RSRM1309]

  • There has been an internal system error (accommodation data save() returned with code:[internal] but failed to return a valid strReturnVars.reg_hot_id). Please try your action again. If you continue to get this message, contact your support provider with this error code: [error RSRM1311]

  • There has been an internal system error (accommodation data save() failed with error code:[internal]). Please try your action again. If you continue to get this message, contact your support provider with this error code: [error RSRM1312]

  • There has been an internal system error (accommodation data delete() failed with error code:[internal]). Please try your action again. If you continue to get this message, contact your support provider with this error code: [error RSRM1313]

  • There has been an internal system error (accommodation data delete() failed with error code:[internal]). Please try your action again. If you continue to get this message, contact your support provider with this error code: [error RSRM1314]

  • To share this room you must provide the required room sharing information. [error RSRM1360]

  • Invalid profile data was sent in to save. Please provide valid information. [error RSRM1361]

  • Please choose a roommate from the list of available roommates below.

  • You must agree to the privacy policy if you will be shown as a potential roommate to other registrants. [error RSRM1366]

  • Your selected choice(s) for roommate(s) are no longer available. Please choose again. [error RSRM1367]

  • You must select a roomshare option if you will be sharing this room. [error RSRM1368]

  • Your preferences no longer match your selected roommate. If you change your room sharing preferences (gender, smoking preference, etc...), you must also re-choose a room sharing option. (This is to insure that only roommates with compatible preferences are matched together.) [error RSRM1369]

  • If you choose this room sharing option, you must provide the full name of the person you wish to share your room with. [error RSRM1372]

  • You cannot share a room of this type. Please choose a different room type, or choose not to share this room. [error RSRM1373]

  • An internal error occurred. [error RSRM1374] Please contact your support provider with the following error code:

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