Can I ask for credit card details without taking payment? I wish to charge the customer card at a later stage.

Yes, you can ask for credit/debit card details without charging the card at the time of the booking. In HBook > Payment > Payment settings, you will set that “Customers have to leave their credit card details to book an accommodation”. Please note that this option is only available with Stripe as payment gateway.

In HBook > Payment > Stripe settings, you will enable “Store payment method”. Once enabled, you will see in the column “Payment” of the Reservations list the option to “Charge” the customer, and the option to “Refund” a payment (if a charge has been done).

It is important to understand that : 

• these charge or refund actions must be carried out manually in the “Payment” column of the reservation in Reservations menu

• the transactions are done with Stripe, even if you can do them from the HBook admin directly. No credit card information is stored on your server.

• it is not a pre-authorization: indeed, the pre-authorization is only valid for 8 days (which does not correspond to the needs of the hotel sector)

• a Stripe client is therefore created, with the associated payment method. This allows for a later debit or refund.

This functionality is handy for various cases:

• Booking requests : if you wish to receive booking requests that you review before confirming a reservation. Once you confirm the reservation, you can charge the deposit or full amount.

• “No-show” : a customer does not show up, and you need to charge him for a certain amount as per your terms and conditions.

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