4 level security.

Apartbook offers 4 levels of security checks:

1. Address
2. Postcode 
3. CVC
4. 3D Secure

While 1,2 and 3 offer protection to confirm the user of the card is the owner of the card, they will not protect you against chargebacks being made against you. 

A payment through 3D Secure will ensure you can dispute chargebacks and in turn protect your business revenue. 

How to process 3D Secure.

In order to process a 3D Secure payment, you will have to send a payment link to the customer. This will then force the guest to make payment through your banks relevant security methods eg- passwords, OTP numbers, app confirmations. 

You can find the Send Payment Request button in the top right-hand corner of the payment card of the booking screen.

Fill in the customer details and a message, then click Send Request.

Once the payment has been made you will receive an email and be notified in Apartbook. 

Bookings made through the booking engine will also go through the 3D Secure process.

3D Secure payments are for one-time payments only.

When you store a card in the Apartbook to charge at a later date the payment will not be protected by 3D Secure, this includes payments made through your booking engine. Only the initial payment will be considered 3D Secure. 

Does this work on my account?

Your payment gateway should have been set up with maximum security levels. If this is not the case please contact us to and we will be able to assist you. 

Thanks,

Apartbook team 

Agoda.com is an online travel agency and metasearch engine for hotels, vacation rentals, flights, and airport transfer.

You can now promote and sell your apartments directly from Apartbook to Agoda. 

If you would like to connect your apartments free of charge through our channel manager please contact a member of the team. 

Thank you, 

Apartbook team.

Updates to the booking screen will now be going live. 

The updates include redesign and added functionality. 

We have worked hard to simplify the booking screen, however, any redesign will mean some changes which may mean you have to familiarise yourself with the new screen.

Added Features

Door Code:

A door code can now be added to the booking. This could be door codes to your apartment or a safe. A tag has been added so this will automatically be added to email correspondence with your guests. You will be able to add this tag to your email templates. 

You will find the door code in the notes and additional information area of the booking screen.

Payment Security:

You will now be able to see the security levels of your payments. 

Icons have been added indicating the different security levels your payment has been through. The most secure payments will have all 4 levels of security passed. 

A separate update on best practice to make sure you have the highest level of payment security will follow.

The update is available for Stripe and Breathepayment users. 

American Express Payments:

You can now verify and store American Express cards for a booking.

To verify cards:

1. Click Add Card
2. Enter the guest details 
3. Select the Verify from the Card Action dropdown 
4. Click Verify and Save

If you verify a card it will not pass the 3D secure process which allows you all 4 levels of security. Only payment link request will complete the 3D secure process and protect your payment from any chargeback disputes. 

Payment Status:

Payment Icons have been added to the status bar making it easier to see the current status of your transaction. A full list of the icons will be explained in the best practice update to follow. 

Booking Settings:

Booking settings is a new drop-down for the booking screen.

Booking settings will be the new area where you can switch on different settings for the booking like taxes and covid VAT rates. This area will grow with new settings as the software improves and develops. 

The update will go live within the next 24 hours. 

Thank you, 

Apartbook team. 

It has come to our attention that Booking.com has reactivated the auto-replenishment feature. 

This was switched off for all accounts during COVID 19 global lockdowns. 

What is ‘auto-replenishment on closed rooms’?

Auto-replenishment on closed rooms is a Booking.com default functionality that puts cancelled rooms back up for rent, even if the partner has removed availability for that particular date.

If you accept this feature on your Booking.com we can not close the availability from our side and this will leave the dates open to selling. 

For more information and how to deactivate this setting, or check to see if it is on your Booking.com account please click the link below. 

https://partner.booking.com/en-gb/help/rates-availability/how-can-i-set-auto-replenishment-closed-rooms   

If this is something you do not want to happen, we would suggest you check to see if this has been activated on your account, even if it wasn't before the global lockdown. 

Thank you,  

Apartbook Team

Apartbook is passionate about supporting you and your business. 

We have now started to upload how-to videos to help you use the system.

To access the videos click the GET SUPPORT button at the bottom of your system's screen. 

We will continue to add more video guides monthly. 

You can also view our videos on our YouTube channel - Apartbook YouTube

New functionality is important to everyone using Apartbook and we want to keep you posted with new and exciting functionality.

New Reports

• Year on year 
• Debtors 
• Booking Acquisitions 

Details on how the reports work will be released as the update is pushed live. 

Downloading information 

• Report downloads 

There are continuing projects and features being developed alongside this announcement which we will update all customers about when testing has been completed. 

Thank you for choosing Apartbook to support the running of your business. 

Apartbook Team 😃 

At Apartbook we want to be the best we can be at communicating with you. In order to help us achieve this, we have introduced a new support service to the system. The support service helps us to manage any tickets raised. It allows us to create projects, track progress and priorities functionality requests. 

As Apartbook grows, new people will be introduced to the business with direct email communication for support and feature request becoming more difficult to manage. Our new support software means anyone in the team will be able to pick up on a request and assist you. 

Moving forward when requesting tech support or future improvements please raise a ticket in the Get Support area of Apartbook. Of course, we are still at the end of the phone to talk to, as we love to have a chat, but even the team at Apartbook sometimes need to sleep. 😴 

To use the Support area click the Get Support button

This will take you to the Help Centre page 

You can then raise a ticket by clicking Raise a Support Ticket button.

This will take you to the Helpdesk page. Please select a category you would like support with from the options on the screen. 

Finally fill in the details required and leave us a message.

Please give us as much information as possible, include images if required and help us to understand the request. The more we know the quicker the issue will be dealt with or a feature designed and built. 

We are working hard to bring you a full manual and a knowledge base of Apartbook, which is also being created for the Customer Help Centre. 

Thank you for trusting Apartbook with your business and supporting our growing company to bring you the best technology available in the industry. 😀 

Richard & Mikey 

Following feedback we have fixed the position from of the overbooking alert. Although overbooking should be rare it is important to alert all users of of the issues should they arise.

If you get a overbooking, you will now see a red band appear at the top of the screen. This will not block anything else on the screen, however the band will continue to show until the over booking is dealt with.

With so much uncertainty surrounding the current global health situation we wanted to reassure you our customer that nothing has changed at Apartbook.

We are continuing with development and support of the software from home allowing us social distancing as recommended. You can still call us on the phone or raise support tickets.

We hope you and your teams are well and stay safe during this difficult time.

Thank you,

Richard & Mikey

Please be aware at 11.00 PM tonight (10th March 2020) we will be carrying out maintenance on the system.

This should last no more than 30 Minutes.

All bookings will still come through to the SAMS.

We are asking for all users to be logged off during this period.

Thank you,

Richard