When a booking changes before the guest arrives — new dates, another room, more guests, a new price, an extra or city tax — the amount owed changes with it. Amenitiz recalculates the payments on that booking so it is not left overpaid or underpaid.
What happens next depends on who collects the money. If the OTA collects it, Amenitiz records the difference so your accounts match what the OTA actually paid you. If AmenitizPay collects it, Amenitiz also rebuilds the payment schedule on the new booking total.
Before you start
Any change counts, whoever makes it: a modification sent by Booking.com or Expedia, or a change you make yourself (dates, rooms, guests, price, extras, city tax).
It applies to changes made before the stay starts. From the arrival day (arrival day included), nothing is recalculated — charge or refund the difference yourself from the Payments tab.
AmenitizPay must be active, and the booking's Sales Terms must have a payment schedule, for payments to be rescheduled.
When the OTA collects the payment
The guest paid Booking.com or Expedia, so the money never moved through AmenitizPay. There is no payment schedule to change — Amenitiz records the difference against the booking so your bills match the OTA payout.
The new total is lower
The OTA refunds the guest directly. Amenitiz logs a refund for the difference against the booking, and cancels any payment still sitting in Scheduled. No money leaves your account — the logged refund is an accounting entry that keeps the booking balanced.
The new total is higher
The OTA collects the extra amount from the guest. Amenitiz logs a payment for the difference against the booking, so the booking shows the full amount the OTA will pay you.
📌 Note
Logged refunds and logged payments do not move money. They record what the OTA has already done, so the booking total, your bills and your reports agree. Read how to refund a payment for the difference between a refund and a logged refund.
When AmenitizPay collects the payment
This covers bookings from your website, manual bookings created with Follow rate-plan schedule, and Booking.com or Expedia bookings where AmenitizPay charges the guest's card. Manual bookings created without a payment are not affected.
Here Amenitiz holds the card and owes the guest a correct schedule. It compares what the guest has already paid against the new booking total, then acts on the difference.
Already paid matches the new total
Nothing is owed. Amenitiz cancels every payment still in Scheduled and leaves the booking settled.
Already paid is more than the new total
Amenitiz cancels every payment still in Scheduled. Nothing is refunded automatically: the bill shows Overpaid with the extra amount, and you decide whether to refund the guest or move the money to another bill.
Already paid is less than the new total
Amenitiz cancels every payment still in Scheduled, works out what is left to collect, and builds a fresh schedule for that amount from the Sales Terms on the booking, using the new stay dates. Anything the guest has already paid counts towards the earliest instalments first, so the guest is never asked twice for the same money.
A guest has paid 650 across two payments. The booking is then extended and the new total is 1,000. The Sales Terms say 40% at booking, 30% ninety days before check-in, 20% one day before check-in, 10% one day before check-out.
The 400 due at booking is already covered. Of the 300 due ninety days before check-in, 250 is covered, so Amenitiz schedules 50. It then schedules 200 for one day before check-in and 100 for one day before check-out, both on the new stay dates.
⚠️ Important
If part of the new total is already due under your Sales Terms — for example when they ask for 100% at booking, or when the new arrival date is closer than the balance deadline — that amount is charged at the next daily payment run, the following morning (around 10:30, Madrid time). Adding an extra or raising the price of a fully paid booking can therefore charge the guest's card the next morning.
📌 Note
Cancelling a scheduled payment always emails the guest, and that includes the ones cancelled by the recalculation. If the booking still had several instalments to run, the guest receives one email per cancelled payment before the new schedule appears.
If you don't want the guest charged automatically
If the guest prefers to pay at the desk, with another card or in cash, cancel the new scheduled payment before the next morning's payment run:
Open the booking and go to the
Paymentstab.Find the new payment with the status
Scheduledand clickCancel payment.Collect the amount later from the
Paymentstab — with the card on file, a payment link, the card terminal or cash.
⚠️ Important
Any later change to the booking before the stay starts recalculates the schedule again. Check the Payments tab after each change.
📌 Note
If the charge has already gone through, refund it from the Payments tab and collect the amount the way the guest prefers. See how to refund a payment.
Bookings with more than one bill
When the booking has several bills, Amenitiz fills them in bill-number order, lowest first, until each one is covered — the same order it uses when you reallocate an overpayment to another bill. Refunds are spread across the bills the original payment covered.
Security deposits
Where your Sales Terms set the security deposit as a percentage of the booking, the pre-authorisation amount moves with the new total. A fixed-amount deposit stays as it is. See How to automate AmenitizPay Pre-authorisations.
Step by step
You are not notified when a booking is recalculated, so check the booking after a modification comes through to see what the guest has been charged.
Go to
Reservationsand open the modified booking.Click
View booking details.Open the
Paymentstab and read the payment lines. Cancelled instalments show asCancelled, new ones asScheduled, and a refund appears under the payment it came from.Open the
Billstab and check no bill is left with an amount due or anOverpaidbadge.If something does not add up, charge or refund the difference yourself from the
Paymentstab.
Important rules
⚠️ Important
Changes you make yourself count too. Editing a price on the Bills tab, adding an extra or adding city tax before the stay starts recalculates the payment schedule, just like an OTA modification — see how to modify the price of a reservation.
⚠️ Warning
Cancellations are not covered. Cancelling a Booking.com or Expedia booking releases any pre-authorisation but does not refund money already charged. If your cancellation policy entitles the guest to a refund, issue it yourself.
📌 Note
A change made from the arrival day is not recalculated. Charge or refund the difference yourself from the Payments tab.
FAQs
Does this work for Airbnb or my other channels?
Does this work for Airbnb or my other channels?
It works for every booking that follows an AmenitizPay payment schedule: bookings from your website, manual bookings created with Follow rate-plan schedule, and Booking.com or Expedia bookings where AmenitizPay charges the guest's card. On other channels, charge or refund the difference yourself after a change.
I changed the booking myself — why was the guest charged?
I changed the booking myself — why was the guest charged?
Before the stay starts, any change to the booking total recalculates the payment schedule, including your own edits. If the new total makes part of it already due, it is charged at the next morning's payment run. To avoid that, cancel the new scheduled payment in the Payments tab before then.
Could the guest be charged twice for the same night?
Could the guest be charged twice for the same night?
No. Amenitiz counts everything the guest has already paid before it schedules anything new, and only the shortfall is scheduled. Instalments the guest has already covered are left alone.
Does the refund go back to the guest's card?
Does the refund go back to the guest's card?
AmenitizPay never refunds automatically. When you refund a payment AmenitizPay took, the money returns to the original card within 5 to 10 business days. When the OTA collected the payment, the OTA refunds the guest and Amenitiz logs the refund so your accounts match — no money leaves your account.
What if the Sales Terms on the booking have no payment schedule?
What if the Sales Terms on the booking have no payment schedule?
Nothing can be rescheduled, because there is no schedule to follow. Collect the difference yourself from the Payments tab, and add a payment schedule to that sales term so future bookings are covered. Read how to set up and schedule payments in AmenitizPay.
A bill still shows Overpaid after a modification — what do I do?
A bill still shows Overpaid after a modification — what do I do?
If another bill on the same reservation still has an amount due, move the extra money onto it instead of refunding — see how to reallocate an overpayment to another bill. If everything else is settled, refund the overpaid amount from the Payments tab.
My guest got payment cancellation emails after changing their booking — why?
My guest got payment cancellation emails after changing their booking — why?
Because every cancelled scheduled payment sends the guest the standard cancellation email, including the ones the recalculation cancels. Nothing has gone wrong: the new instalments appear straight after as Scheduled. If the guest asks, tell them their payment plan was rebuilt for the new dates.