With Tab, you can charge your customers before they arrive using two different features:
Advance Booking: Charge Card Now
Advance Booking: Send Payment Link
Advance Booking: Charge Card Now
If you receive customer card details from Booking.com or Expedia, you can charge them directly using this feature.
To do so, follow the below steps:
Log into your Tab account dashboard at account.tab.travel;
Click on the 'Create New' tab on the top left corner of your screen;
Select 'Advance Booking: Charge Card Now';
Fill out the form and after you've entered the customer's card details, press the green 'Take Payment' button;
And you're all done! We'll let you know immediately if we've been able to charge the card. If the payment attempt is not successful, a pop-up will show on your screen and you'll be given the option to send the customer a payment link so that they can still pay.
Click on the video below to expand the demo and learn how this feature works:
Please note that you can only charge customers automatically if you have clearly explained this in your Booking.com/Expedia terms and conditions. You cannot use this method to charge a customer if they are a no-show. As with other Advance Bookings, the funds will be paid out after the customer checks in.
If Booking.com or Expedia do not provide you with your customer's card information (including the CVV), please contact their customer service to request access to this.
We don't support other OTAs such as HostelWorld for immediate charging at the moment, but this will be available soon.
We recommend that you include the following text in your Booking.com/Expedia terms and conditions:
Please note that a prepayment will be charged via Tab (our booking platform). This is required to secure your reservation.
If you prefer to pay in cash or using another method, you can do this when you arrive. Once the business confirms to us that you have paid by a different method, we will issue a full refund for this payment.
We have charged your card in your card's currency, which means you don't pay any foreign usage fees to your bank or credit card provider (often 3-5%) - instead, you are paying a 4% fee to Tab for issuing this prepayment voucher. We never hide commission fees in our exchange rate – we always use pure mid-market exchange rates.
If you do not agree to Tab's terms and conditions (available here: https://book.tab.travel/terms), you can also arrange to pay the property by a different method. We will issue a full refund once the property confirms to us that you have paid by a different method.
Once the payment is successful, the funds will be instantly added to your Pending Balance. Advance bookings are held by Tab until the date that your customer arrives, to protect customers and your business.
Once your customer has arrived, you need to check-in the booking to move the payment from your pending balance to your available balance. You can find instructions on how to check-in a booking here.
Don't receive customer card details from booking.com or Expedia or want to charge a customer who have booked on another platform? See our guide on how to send a customer an Advance Booking payment link using the Advance Booking: Send Payment Link feature here.