Can This Trip Be Saved? The Difference Between "Guaranteed" and "Confirmed"
by John Hawks

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"Guaranteed" reservations require your clients to post a means of payment, like a credit card, when you make their initial booking. In return for the guaranteed payment, the hotel agrees to hold a room for your clients for the entire arrival day, even if they stumble into the hotel lobby at 2 a.m. due to a delayed airline flight. If they fail to show up, or if they (or you) did not cancel the room in advance, then the hotel will charge them for the room as agreed.

On the other hand, "confirmed" reservations mean that you have requested a room from the hotel, but you have not yet posted a means of payment for your clients.

If your clients guaranteed their reservation, then the hotel is legally bound to provide the room as agreed (unless your clients or you waived that right in the fine print of the hotel's reservations policies). In this case, if the hotel does not provide the room as guaranteed, then it must "walk" your clients to a nearby property at the same or a higher level of quality. Guaranteed reservations give travelers much stronger legal rights than confirmed reservations!

Like many crises in life, you may find that you have to fight for your clients' legal rights immediately or lose the chance to recover damages. In other words, if your clients arrive at a hotel with a guaranteed booking to find that the hotel says it's "oversold," you must recommend to your clients that they remain at the front desk while politely (but firmly) talking with a manager who should take care of the problem.

Here's the bottom line: Booking hotel rooms through your agency gives your clients excellent protection against these types of mishaps, because they can call you from the road if something unexpected happens during their trip!