Overview
AmenitizPay can automatically charge your Booking.com guests on the schedule defined by your Sales Terms — deposit at booking, balance before arrival, pre-authorisations, refunds, 3D Secure — without you touching a card manually.
This only works when Booking.com sends you the guest's real credit card. If you're currently on "Payments by Booking.com" (where Booking collects payment and sends you a bank transfer or a virtual card), you'll need to switch first.
Use it to:
Apply the same payment schedule (deposit, balance) to Booking.com that you use for direct bookings
Pre-authorise a guarantee on every Booking.com card
Take payments on the dates your terms specify, automatically
Issue refunds back to the original card from your admin
Before you start
AmenitizPay must be active on your account. See How to activate AmenitizPay.
Booking.com must be connected via the channel manager.
"Use for OTA" must be on in AmenitizPay → Settings (this is the toggle that lets AmenitizPay charge OTA reservations, not just direct bookings).
Your Sales Terms must define a payment schedule — see How to set up your payment schedule.
Your Booking.com cancellation policy must match your Sales Terms (options: 1 night, 50%, or 100%). If they don't match, guests can dispute charges by pointing to the OTA policy.
The two Booking.com payment models
Booking.com offers properties two different payment setups. Only one of them works with AmenitizPay automation:
Payments by Booking.com — Booking.com collects payment from the guest, then either bank-transfers you or issues a virtual credit card (VCC) loaded with the exact reservation amount. AmenitizPay cannot apply your payment schedule here — Booking owns the payment flow.
Real card-passing model — Booking.com passes the guest's actual credit card to your channel manager. AmenitizPay can then charge it on the schedule defined in your Sales Terms. This is the model you need for automation.
If you're currently on Payments by Booking.com, follow the steps below to switch.
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1 — Confirm you have real-card access
Send this message to Booking.com support:
Hello,
Could you please confirm if my account allows direct access to client credit cards? I would like this confirmation before deactivating the "Payments by Booking.com" option.
Thank you.
If they say access isn't available yet, try again in a few weeks. Once they confirm, go to Step 2.
Step 2 — Opt out of "Payments by Booking.com" in the extranet
In your Booking.com extranet, go to
Finance→Finance settings→ Deactivate Payments by Booking.com. Pick a reason and confirm.Go to
Property→Policies→Other policies→Guest payment options. By default Cash only is selected — click Edit, answer Yes to "accept credit cards", and save.
Step 3 — Activate CVC access
CVC codes are required to charge most cards. Send Booking.com one more message:
Hello,
Please activate client CVC access on my account.
Thank you.
Step 4 — Configure your Sales Terms
Your Sales Terms define when AmenitizPay charges (deposit at booking, balance N days before arrival, pre-authorisation amount, etc.). The same Sales Terms apply to direct bookings and Booking.com reservations once the toggle is on. See How to set up your payment schedule and How to create and modify your sales terms.
Step 5 — Confirm OTA charging is enabled in AmenitizPay
Open
AmenitizPay→Settings.Check that Use for OTA is on.
If you also want AmenitizPay to handle Booking.com virtual cards (when they're issued), enable Use for VCC.
How automated charging works once enabled
For every new Booking.com reservation that comes with a real card:
The card is tokenised securely by AmenitizPay's gateway — Amenitiz itself never stores card numbers or CVCs in plain text.
The first scheduled payment (typically the deposit) is charged immediately, according to your Sales Terms.
If your Sales Terms include a pre-authorisation, a hold is placed on the card for the guarantee amount.
Future payments (e.g. balance due N days before arrival) are scheduled and charged automatically on their due date by a background job.
If a charge fails, you receive an email and an in-app notification with the failure reason. You can retry from the booking's Payments tab.
Handling 3D Secure / authentication
European cards often require 3D Secure (SCA) authentication. Booking.com normally emails the guest with the authentication link automatically. If the guest doesn't complete it, the payment stays in Authentication required status and you can re-share the link:
Open the reservation and go to the
Paymentstab.In the AmenitizPay section, click the 3 dots and choose
Payment details.Copy the link from Payment needs authentication and share it with the guest.
💡 Tip — Use Message guest in the Client tab to send the authentication link by WhatsApp or email.
Refunds
Refunds are manual — cancelling a booking does not auto-refund charged payments (only pre-authorisations are auto-released).
Open the reservation →
Paymentstab.Find the payment to refund and click the eye icon for details.
Click Refund, enter the amount (full or partial), confirm.
The refund goes back to the original card. If the original was a Booking.com VCC, you'll also need to reconcile the refund with Booking.com on their platform.
Cancellations
When a Booking.com reservation is cancelled, the booking is automatically marked Cancelled in Amenitiz.
Any pending pre-authorisation is released automatically.
Any already-charged payments are not auto-refunded — you must issue the refund manually if your cancellation policy requires it.
Any scheduled future payments stop firing.
Important rules
📌 Match Booking.com cancellation policy to your Sales Terms — Your Booking.com cancellation rules (1 night, 50%, 100%) should align with what AmenitizPay charges. Mismatches lead to disputes and chargebacks.
Real cards vs virtual cards (VCC) — Real cards charge on the Sales Terms schedule. VCCs are loaded with the exact reservation amount — never retry charges on a VCC that's already been charged in full, the attempt will fail.
⚠️ Refunds are manual — Cancelling a booking releases pre-authorisations but does not refund actual charges. Always action the refund yourself if the cancellation policy applies.
FAQs
Does AmenitizPay store my guests' card numbers?
Does AmenitizPay store my guests' card numbers?
No. Card data is tokenised by AmenitizPay's gateway (powered by Stripe) the moment it arrives from Booking.com. Amenitiz never stores card numbers or CVCs in plain text — only the Stripe payment method ID needed to process charges.
Why did my charge fail?
Why did my charge fail?
The most common reasons:
Insufficient funds — the card doesn't have the requested amount available.
Card expired — Booking.com cards can expire between the booking date and the charge date.
3D Secure not completed — the guest hasn't validated the authentication challenge. See "Handling 3D Secure" above.
VCC already drained — repeating a charge on a Booking.com virtual card that's been fully charged will fail.
The failure reason is in the email notification and in the booking's Payments tab. Retry from there once the issue is resolved.
Can I disable automatic charging for specific Booking.com reservations?
Can I disable automatic charging for specific Booking.com reservations?
Not per-reservation — the charging is driven by the Sales Term linked to the rate plan, applied uniformly. To disable for a specific reservation, you'd need to cancel the scheduled payment from the booking's Payments tab before its due date.
Is "Use for OTA" the same as "Use for VCC"?
Is "Use for OTA" the same as "Use for VCC"?
No. Use for OTA covers real-card OTA reservations (the standard Booking.com flow once you've opted out of Payments by Booking.com). Use for VCC specifically covers virtual credit cards issued by Booking.com or Airbnb. Most properties want both on.
How do I know which payment model my Booking.com account is on?
How do I know which payment model my Booking.com account is on?
If you're receiving bank transfers from Booking.com after each guest's stay, or your reservations come with virtual credit cards, you're on Payments by Booking.com. If you see the real guest's card details in your channel manager / reservation list, you're on the card-passing model. When in doubt, ask Booking.com support.
Does Amenitiz charge a refund for me when a guest cancels free of charge?
Does Amenitiz charge a refund for me when a guest cancels free of charge?
No. Cancellations release pre-authorisations automatically, but charges already taken are not refunded automatically. If your cancellation policy entitles the guest to a refund, you must issue it manually from the Payments tab.
The guest's card was charged but they never received my 3D Secure link. What now?
The guest's card was charged but they never received my 3D Secure link. What now?
Open the booking → Payments → 3 dots → Payment details, and copy the link from "Payment needs authentication". Send it via email or WhatsApp using Message guest in the Client tab. Once the guest completes the challenge, the payment moves from Authentication required to Paid.
Will AmenitizPay also work for Expedia, Airbnb and other OTAs?
Will AmenitizPay also work for Expedia, Airbnb and other OTAs?
Yes. With Use for OTA and Use for VCC enabled, AmenitizPay charges cards from any connected OTA that passes a real card or a virtual card. Behaviour matches the Booking.com flow described above.