To accept a charter booking request, open the request in Bookings, click Review & Accept, check the price and click Send special offer. To refuse it, click Decline. Only the company owner can accept or decline a request.
If you are a team member and not the owner, the accept is refused with Only the owner can accept bookings. Ask the owner of your company account to answer the request. Who can do what is explained in How do I add a team member, and what can a member do?.
Where requests come from
A request arrives when a guest books a boat that is set to Approval Needed. How to choose that setting is in Instant Booking or Approval Needed. A request shows as Pending Approval in Bookings. Nothing is paid until you accept. The other status words are explained in What do Option, On waitlist and the other booking statuses mean?.
How to accept a request
- In your dashboard, open Bookings.
- Click the request. It reads Pending Approval.
- The booking page opens. On the left you see Booking # with its reference, the badge, and a line saying the guest has requested to book. Below are two buttons: Review & Accept and Decline.
- Click Review & Accept. The Special offer sheet opens. It is already filled with the boat's listed price and fees for the dates the guest asked for.
- Check the figures. Change anything you want to change (see below), or leave it as it is.
- Click Send special offer. The message Special offer sent confirms it.
The booking is now an Option. The guest gets an email and a notification asking them to pay, and sees the booking as Awaiting payment. They pay from their booking page. You do not need to do anything else.
What you can change in the special offer
Accepting and sending a special offer are the same step. If you change nothing, the guest pays the listed price. If you change something, the guest sees your new terms.
Dates opens the date picker, so you can offer other dates.
Check-in time and Check-out time start on Boat's own time. Pick an hour only if this charter should differ.
Charter is the charter price. Type a new amount to give a discount or to charge more.
The fees are in three groups. Mandatory Extras are fees the guest must pay. Optional Extras are fees the guest can choose. Offered Free are fees you give at no charge.
Click the ✕ next to a mandatory extra to make it optional. Click the ✓ next to an optional extra to make it mandatory. Type 0 as a fee's amount to move it to Offered Free. A deposit, or an item charged at the charter company's own figure, cannot be changed here.
Type whole numbers only, in the boat's own currency. Cents are not accepted.
The bottom of the sheet shows Total price and the line Includes €45 platform fee. The platform fee is paid by the guest. When some fees are paid at the base, the total is split into Paid online and Paid at the marina.
If you lower the price, a line tells you You can discount up to an amount off the listed price. That limit is your own payout on this booking. A discount comes off what you receive, not off our commission.
An offer on dates with no published price is refused with These dates have no published price, so an offer cannot be made against them. Add a price for those dates first, or offer other dates. Setting prices is covered in How do I set my boat's prices and seasons?.
How to decline a request
- Open the request in Bookings.
- Click Decline.
- A box asks Are you sure you want to decline this booking? This cannot be undone. Click Decline again.
- The message Booking declined confirms it.
The guest is emailed. The dates become free again, so other guests can book them.
Other tools on an unpaid booking
Until the guest pays, the booking page also shows an Operator Only Section, with the note Visible only to your company. Guest won't see this panel.
Discount coupon lets you pick one of your coupons and click Apply. New coupon for this reservation lets you type a percentage or an amount and click Create & apply. That coupon is one-time: this boat, these dates, one use. Manage coupons opens your coupon list. Coupons are explained in How do I create a discount coupon for my boats?.
Guest link copies a link you can send the guest so they can open and claim the booking. The message Guest link copied to clipboard confirms it.
Talking to the guest
On the booking page, under the guest's name, Message opens your chat with the guest. Call appears when the guest gave a phone number. The guest's email is shown beside them. Ask questions before you accept if anything about the request is unclear.
For the other screens in your dashboard, see the Owner Dashboard guide. If something on this screen does not match what you see, ask Mermaid in the chat, or write to support@charter.boats.