1. Cloudbeds
  2. Front Desk Operations
  3. Groups

Manage Group Profiles

Gabriela Garcia
Updated

Overview

After you learn how to create, edit, and remove group profiles, the next step is to master their management.

  • Under the Reservations tab on the group profile, you can quickly check, edit, or unlink the reservations that belong to the Group.
  • Under the Folios and Credit Cards tabs, you can add payments as records, add credit card details, and authorize charge and refund collections.

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How to manage Group Profiles

Link and unlink reservations

Once you've created a Group Profile, you can link your existing reservations to the group or quickly import reservations using the Manual Quick Import tool.

How to link existing reservations to a Group

  1. From the Reservations tab of the desired Group profile, click +Add Reservation, and select Link Existing Reservation.

  1. (Optional) Select the Allotment Block in which you would like to add the reservation
  2. Type the reservation number or guest name and select the reservation from the drop-down.

 If you assign a reservation to an Allotment Block, there should be availability in the allotment block for the corresponding dates and the accommodation type. If not, you will receive an error:

  1. The reservation will be added to the list. You can add as many reservations as needed. When you are done, click Add Reservations.

  1. The reservation will appear in the list under the Reservations tab, and the Group Profile header numbers will recalculate.

 You can route the transactions automatically to the Group Folio when you link the reservation. Please follow the steps described in the article Group Folios.

How to unlink a reservation from a Group

  1. Go to the Reservations tab of the desired Group profile.
  2. Click the gear icon of the desired reservation and select Unlink Reservation.

 Unlinking a reservation from a Group is not possible when routed transactions have been posted to the Group Folio.

 It is only possible to unlink a reservation from a Group when the routed transactions are still pending to be posted; unlinking the reservation will un-route all the routed pending transactions.

Unlinking reservations versus the Allow Overbookings feature

  • When unlinking a reservation created with the allotment type Block, pay attention to the availability in the Remaining Inventory. Once the reservation is unlinked, the allotment block will still be held for the group, and the system will use availability from your inventory to accommodate this booking.
  • Learn more about Allotment Blocks.

If there is "0" or less availability in the inventory, the following will happen:

  • If the Allow Overbooking setting is disabled, you CAN'T unlink the reservation from the Group.

  • If Allow Overbooking is enabled, you can unlink the reservation from the Group. In this case, the availability in the Remaining Inventory will become negative (if the Amount Allotted For Sale is configured to be lower or higher than the Remaining Inventory, the system will take the Amount Allotted For Sale into account).

Example:

You have 1 room type with 5 rooms available:

  • 3 are added to the group allotment block (allotment type: block).
  • Your remaining general inventory is 2.

You created a reservation with 3 rooms from this allotment block and decided to unlink it from the group (this booking will now require 3 rooms from your remaining inventory).

Because you had only 2 rooms in the remaining inventory, and the unlinked reservation took up 3 rooms, your availability is now -1.

 When your availability is negative, the system will send 0 availability to your channels (OTAs), and you will not be able to create a direct reservation; this is to prevent undesirable overbooking.

  Solutions:

  1. You can increase the Amount Allotted For Sale by adding more availability to accommodate the unlinked reservation and create or receive reservations from OTAs. Please be mindful and take a proper note of your actual availability to avoid unwanted overbooking.
  2. You can change the allotment type to Based on Availability. The system will release the Group Allotment Block and calculate the availability for the unlinked reservation from your Amount Allotted For Sale.

Create and import reservations

How to create a new reservation in a Group

  1. From the Reservations tab of the desired Group profile, click +Add Reservation, and select Create and Add New Reservation.

  1. You will be redirected to the New Reservation page, where you must select the Allotment Block to add the reservation, which will define the availability displayed after clicking Search.

Select proper Check-In and Check-Out dates for the Allotment Block to show in the dropdown and for the correct availability to be displayed on the page after clicking Search.

 The field for selecting the Allotment Block is also available on the Reservations page when accessed from outside of Groups, as long as you have enabled your Groups module.

  1. Proceed with creating the reservation by following the usual process:

  1. Once the reservation is created, it will be automatically added to the Group profile (and the selected Allotment Block). Click on the Group Profile name to find it under the Reservations tab.

On the calendar, for the reservations that are booked within a Group Profile or an Allotment Block, the system will display the plus sign "+" next to the names and the "3 people" icon Groups icon.png next to the reservation name when you click on it to open up details group profile name next to the icon. On this pop-up, you have:

  • A link to View Group Profile
  • A link to View Allotment Block (if a reservation is also in an Allotment Block)

How to import reservations into a Group

Quickly transfer reservations from a previous system to Cloudbeds PMS by following the steps described in this article.

Group Profile Bulk actions

  1. From the Reservations tab of the desired group profile, select the reservations for which you would like to perform the bulk action.

  1. Click Bulk Action and select the action. You have these options:
  • Check-In
  • Check-Out
  • Add Payment
  • Delete Reservations
  • Unlink Reservation

 The Add Payment action will add the payment transaction to the reservations and automatically route it to the group folio if routing is set up for that transaction type.

 The Delete Reservations action is not equivalent to unlinking them from the group. This action will delete the reservations from Cloudbeds PMS, and this action cannot be undone. All the data related to the reservation will be erased from the system.

  1. The system will open a drawer on the right side of your screen for you to verify the details or fill in the mandatory fields (if applicable). Confirm the action by clicking the blue button.

Send messages to guests in a Group

Send custom messages or email templates to guests from within the Group Profile and track all customer message exchanges.

 Users must send all messages manually as the scheduling emails feature is currently unavailable for the Groups module.

Follow these steps to access the compose message feature:

  1. In the desired Group Profile page, click the Actions button
  2. Click Compose Message
  3. Fill in the fields in the Compose Message window; you will be asked whether you want to send an email from an existing template or create a new message.
  4. Click Send

How to send emails from an existing template

 Check the following article to learn how to create an Email Template.

  1. Select the desired email template - some fields will be pre-populated as they come from the selected template.
  • The default templates (created by the system) such as reservation confirmed, pending confirmation, reservation canceled, reservation folio, reservation invoice, group invoice, and group folio) won't be displayed in this drop-down.
  • Please note that changing the message or the fields auto-populated from a selected template won't affect the existing one.
  1.  If needed, you can send the message in a different language.

How to compose a custom message

The Compose Message function works almost identically to the Reservation details page except for the Send to field.

  • If you have contact details under Group Profile, the system will allow you to choose the desired email from a drop-down menu.

  • If you have contact details under Group Profile, the system will allow you to choose the desired email from a drop-down menu.

 Learn more about the Custom Message window fields here.

How to track email messages

When users send a composed email, it's possible to see log entries under the following logs:

Credit card transactions in Group Profiles

  If Payment Processing is enabled, you can add the credit card and process authorization, charge, or refund under the Credit Cards tab. The transactions will then be displayed in the Group Folio.

  If you link reservations with credit cards to the Group Profile, their credit cards will NOT be imported to the Credit Cards tab under the Group Profile.

If you need to charge the card associated with one of the linked reservations, you will need to add the credit card to the Credit Cards tab under the Group Profile again and then proceed with the charge.

How to add a credit card to a Group Profile

Under the Credit Cards tab, you can add the credit card and then select this card as a payment method when adding a charge or refund to the Group Folio.

To add a credit card:

  1. In the Group Profile, open the Credit Cards tab
  2. Click +Add Card

  1. Enter the credit card details.
  2. Click on Save

  1. You will see the credit card in the Group Profile.

 The system permanently stores Credit card information for groups. You can use this information to charge frequent groups if they frequently return to your property.

Learn about data retention times for regular (non-group) reservations: How long is credit card data stored?

How to add a credit card payment as a record to a Group

Once the credit card is added, you can select it as a payment method when adding payment or refund to the Group Profile folio as a record (without charging the card).

  1. In the Group Profile, open the Folios tab
  2. Click ADD/REFUND PAYMENT and choose Add Payment

  1. Select the Folio
  2. Add the Amount
  3. In Payment Type, choose the credit card
  4. In Collect Payment, choose Record previous payment (Do not charge)
  5. Check or uncheck the box Post with current date and time

 When this box is checked, the current date and time for the transaction will be posted when you click the Continue button. You can uncheck if you are adding a transaction for some time in the past or future.

  1. Leave Notes (when needed)
  2. Click on Continue. You will see the transaction in the Group Folio.

 The Allocate Payment box is checked by default (if this functionality is enabled). Learn more about payment allocation here.

Credit card authorizations, charges, and refunds for Groups

 You require the Payment Processing feature to perform the actions below.

How to authorize cards from the Credit Cards tab

  1. In the Group Profile, open the Credit Cards tab
  2. Click Authorize

  1. Enter the Authorization Amount
  2. Click Authorize

  1. The Total Authorized will appear, along with the follow-up options of Authorize (more), Capture, or Void (release an authorized amount).

 Learn more about authorized credit cards, Capture funds, and Void existing authorizations here.

How to charge from the Folios tab

  1. In the Group Profile, open the Folios tab
  2. Click ADD/REFUND PAYMENT and choose Add Payment

  1. Select the Folio
  2. Enter the Amount
  3. In Payment Type, choose the credit card
  4. In Collect Payment, choose Charge
  5. Leave Notes (when needed)
  6. Click Continue. You will see the transaction in the Group Folio.

How to refund from the Folios tab

  1. In the Group Profile, open the Folios tab
  2. Click ADD/REFUND PAYMENT and choose Refund Payment

  1. In Payment Type, choose the credit card
  2. Select the Folio
  3. In Refund Type, choose Refund Payment Gateway
  4. Select the transaction to refund (if there were several charges on one card)
  5. Enter the Refund Amount and Date
  6. Leave Notes (when needed)
  7. Click Continue

You will see the transaction in the Group Folio.

 Learn more about refunds: Payment Gateway Refunds - Frequently Asked Questions.

FAQ

Can I extend the group reservation dates if the Allotment Blocks have been released?

Once an allotment block is released, changes to reservation dates are no longer possible.

These are the suggested solutions:

  • Option A:
    1. Create a new allotment block with the new intervals.
    2. Create a new reservation under the new allotment block for the additional dates.
  • Option B:
    1. Unlink the existing reservation from the Group Profile.
    2. Make the changes to the reservation.
    3. Link the reservation again, to the Group Profile, leaving the Allotment Block field as “Nothing Selected.”

  This process will work as long as you have availability outside the allotment block for the booked room type. If you added all rooms for the room type to your allotment block, you may still be able to do these steps, but you will have to temporarily enable overbookings in your Availability Matrix.

See Allow overbookings (Availability Matrix) for more information.

How can I modify a group reservation's room type or unit?

If you want to keep the same room type but change the unit, go to the Reservation > Accommodations > Edit Reservation > Assignment column > Select the desired unit.

You can also drag and drop the reservation via the calendar. Both options work if the "block-specific unit" option is not selected when creating the allotment.

If you added specific units when you created the Assignment Block, make sure that the new unit you are assigning the room to is also included in said Assignment Block. If it's not, edit the block and include the new unit before making the reservation change.

 The editing option won't work if you want to change the room type. Instead of showing all available room categories (image A), the system will only display the Accommodation Types included in the Allotment Block, if available (image B).

Also, when you go to the reservation in the Calendar, drag and drop it to the desired room type, and confirm the new charge or override, you may receive a message saying there is no availability, even if there is. This can happen because the allotment block doesn't include that specific accommodation type or unit.

The solutions would be:

  • Option A

First, edit the Allotment Block to include the accommodation type or unit and then move the existing reservation to the desired room.

  This option will work if the inventory has yet to be released. It will not work once you release the inventory because, at the moment, the group feature cannot add rooms once the inventory is released.

  • Option B
    1. Unlink the reservation from the Group Profile.
    2. Make the changes to the reservation.
    3. Link the reservation to the Group Profile again, leaving the Allotment Block field as “Nothing Selected.”

  Option B also allows you to link existing reservations to a group in the following scenarios:

    • When the allotment block has been released,
    • If the guest did not book using the Group Booking URL and has stay dates outside the allotment block,
    • If the guest booked a room not included in the allotment block but is a guest of the group.

  This process will work as long as you have availability outside the allotment block for the booked room type. If you added all rooms for the room type to your allotment block, you may still be able to do these steps, but you will have to temporarily enable overbookings in your Availability Matrix.

See Allow overbookings (Availability Matrix) for more information.

  Refer to this article to learn how to access and use the dedicated Group Reports.

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