This process should be seamless for your client, and there is a lot you can do along the way to streamline the back and forth that comes with booking. Read on for our step-by-step best practices for booking.
Moving from proposal to booking
01
Collect client information
Before anything can be booked, you must collect the traveler’s legal information exactly as it appears on their government-issued ID or passport. This includes full legal name, date of birth, and any additional details required for booking (such as passport number, if applicable). Discrepancies in identification can result in your clients being denied boarding or check-in at their hotel, so please take the time to double check all information. Many suppliers will ask for a photo of the front page of their passport, so it is a good idea to ask for this up front.
If you are using VCRM, then you should use the VCRM Booking Form to streamline this process. It creates a timestamped record of the client’s submission, ensures the client puts in their own data, and reduces the risk of errors or miscommunication. Never collect sensitive travel details verbally or via informal message—always use the form. This also comes with the added benefit of being able to store your clients' information for future use, so you do not have to make the same request every trip. Email is also acceptable to collect this information.
02
Finalize the booking with the supplier
Once the client’s information is submitted, proceed to secure the reservation with your supplier(s). Ensure that all components align with the agreed proposal, including accommodations, transfers, tours, air, and more. Double check that all pricing and details have remained the same since the clients signed off on the proposal, and confirm all components. If the pricing has changed or one of the trip components (e.g., room category at a hotel) has changed, you must notify the client before moving forward with the booking.
At this time, unless you are quoting insurance through Travel Insured, you should have presented insurance information to the client and will add their selection to the reservation. If you are using Travel Insured, let the clients know that you will send the quote for travel insurance as soon as the deposit is received.
03
Enter the trip into VCRM and invoice the client
Now that you have finalized the requested reservation with the supplier, you need to enter the trip into VCRM, create an invoice, and send it to your clients. Please return to the VCRM section of our agent support portal if you need a refresher on how to do this.
Note: This process is different for suppliers who offer a direct payment link. In this case, you still need to input the trip and total cost details into VCRM for sales tracking, commission tracking, and payment reminder scheduling, but you will direct the client to the supplier's secure payment link instead of sending the invoice through VCRM. You also need to ensure that you send Travel with Awestruck's terms and conditions to the client alongside the supplier payment link. See our "Resources" page under "Important documents" for details.
04
Wait for clients to submit their deposit
Once you have sent your clients their VCRM invoice, you will wait for them to submit their payment information to make their deposit. Unless paying directly on a supplier link, they must deposit through the secure payment link sent via VCRM. Credit card information can never be accepted over the phone, email, text, or any way other than the secure payment link. Accepting information via any other channel creates a massive risk and legal liability for you and for our agency. Travel with Awestruck reserves the right to terminate your contract immediately if you are not collecting credit card information using our secure system. If you are working under your own brand, you must check in with Jenene to confirm that your client terms and conditions and process is acceptable and PCI compliant.
Once a client submits their deposit through VCRM, they are also agreeing to Travel with Awestruck terms and conditions. You will receive a notice in VCRM that a new payment has been submitted as soon as your clients make their deposit.
05
Apply payment
Once your clients have submitted their payment, you must go in and submit the payment to the supplier, then also record the payment in VCRM to ensure that the invoice is correct and the trip balance remains accurate for future payments.
When you record the payment in VCRM, you must clear out the section containing CVV information. It is a massive personal liability to you to store CVV information with a client's credit card. After clearing out the CVV information, be sure to hit "Save" before proceeding further.
If you would like to save the card for future payments, you may do so by clicking the "update profile with payment information" button at the top of the screen. Again, you must clear our the section containing CVV information before saving to a client profile. If you would like to save the CVV for future payments, you should put only the CVV numbers in the agent notes section of the profile (NOT LABELED CVV OR ANY OTHER IDENTIFYING LABEL).
06
Send invoice
After you have applied the payment, your clients must receive an invoice within 48 hours. Please return to the VCRM section of our agent support portal if you need a refresher on how to send an invoice to your clients via email after processing a payment.
Be sure that you preview the invoice before sending to ensure it is correct, and ensure that the client's CVV code is not listed on the invoice. If the CVV is shown, you made an error in saving the payment information, and must go back and correct before sending.
