New reservation system needed

[notAgrandma]

I'm another happy ReservationKey customer! The system is great, reliable, offers a ton of reports, looks very polished, integrates seamlessly with credit card processors and MyAllocator, and it automatically adjusts to mobile-phone format -- *not* just "mobile-friendly" (you know, like those shrunken web pages that you can't read!). This is crucial because half of my website hits are via mobile phones. Plus the owner of ResKey, John, has great customer service skills and replies promptly to emails. Prices start at $20/month.
MyAllocator pulls the reservations from all OTAs and automatically plugs them into ResKey. It's $25/month. It's worth it to me because when I was trying to manage OTA reservations manually, I had 2 accidental double-bookings which were a bad experience for me, the guests, and hurt my standings with the OTAs. I have no idea if B&B.con can be integrated with ResKey directly, but it is integrated into my system via MyAllocator.
Last few item related to B&B.con and OTAs: My listing on the OTAs has a generic description of "queen bed, private bath". I do not list all of my rooms individually on the OTAs, and only 1 room is linked to myAllocator -- the room that used to have the lowest occupancy in previous years. By doing this, my OTA listings all have an urgent call-to-action message in red font: "In high demand! Only 1 room left!" When an OTA reservation comes in, I can move those guests to any room I want that has a queen bed & private bath. Also, ResKey allows me to send custom email messages to the OTA guests vs my direct bookings. The OTA guests get an email stressing our check in/out times (OTA guests seem even more oblivious to these details than others), telling them they HAVE to contact the OTA to cancel because we can't cancel reservations made via a 3rd party site, and stating that if they wanted a specific room they needed to book direct. I consider room choice to be a benefit provided only to my direct bookings. I'm not selling my 2-person Jacuzzi suite for $99 a night. If you wanted that room, shoulda called me!

 

[Morticia]

I'm another happy ReservationKey customer! The system is great, reliable, offers a ton of reports, looks very polished, integrates seamlessly with credit card processors and MyAllocator, and it automatically adjusts to mobile-phone format -- *not* just "mobile-friendly" (you know, like those shrunken web pages that you can't read!). This is crucial because half of my website hits are via mobile phones. Plus the owner of ResKey, John, has great customer service skills and replies promptly to emails. Prices start at $20/month.
MyAllocator pulls the reservations from all OTAs and automatically plugs them into ResKey. It's $25/month. It's worth it to me because when I was trying to manage OTA reservations manually, I had 2 accidental double-bookings which were a bad experience for me, the guests, and hurt my standings with the OTAs. I have no idea if B&B.con can be integrated with ResKey directly, but it is integrated into my system via MyAllocator.
Last few item related to B&B.con and OTAs: My listing on the OTAs has a generic description of "queen bed, private bath". I do not list all of my rooms individually on the OTAs, and only 1 room is linked to myAllocator -- the room that used to have the lowest occupancy in previous years. By doing this, my OTA listings all have an urgent call-to-action message in red font: "In high demand! Only 1 room left!" When an OTA reservation comes in, I can move those guests to any room I want that has a queen bed & private bath. Also, ResKey allows me to send custom email messages to the OTA guests vs my direct bookings. The OTA guests get an email stressing our check in/out times (OTA guests seem even more oblivious to these details than others), telling them they HAVE to contact the OTA to cancel because we can't cancel reservations made via a 3rd party site, and stating that if they wanted a specific room they needed to book direct. I consider room choice to be a benefit provided only to my direct bookings. I'm not selling my 2-person Jacuzzi suite for $99 a night. If you wanted that room, shoulda called me!.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

 

[MidwestBB]

I'm another happy ReservationKey customer! The system is great, reliable, offers a ton of reports, looks very polished, integrates seamlessly with credit card processors and MyAllocator, and it automatically adjusts to mobile-phone format -- *not* just "mobile-friendly" (you know, like those shrunken web pages that you can't read!). This is crucial because half of my website hits are via mobile phones. Plus the owner of ResKey, John, has great customer service skills and replies promptly to emails. Prices start at $20/month.
MyAllocator pulls the reservations from all OTAs and automatically plugs them into ResKey. It's $25/month. It's worth it to me because when I was trying to manage OTA reservations manually, I had 2 accidental double-bookings which were a bad experience for me, the guests, and hurt my standings with the OTAs. I have no idea if B&B.con can be integrated with ResKey directly, but it is integrated into my system via MyAllocator.
Last few item related to B&B.con and OTAs: My listing on the OTAs has a generic description of "queen bed, private bath". I do not list all of my rooms individually on the OTAs, and only 1 room is linked to myAllocator -- the room that used to have the lowest occupancy in previous years. By doing this, my OTA listings all have an urgent call-to-action message in red font: "In high demand! Only 1 room left!" When an OTA reservation comes in, I can move those guests to any room I want that has a queen bed & private bath. Also, ResKey allows me to send custom email messages to the OTA guests vs my direct bookings. The OTA guests get an email stressing our check in/out times (OTA guests seem even more oblivious to these details than others), telling them they HAVE to contact the OTA to cancel because we can't cancel reservations made via a 3rd party site, and stating that if they wanted a specific room they needed to book direct. I consider room choice to be a benefit provided only to my direct bookings. I'm not selling my 2-person Jacuzzi suite for $99 a night. If you wanted that room, shoulda called me!.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

What doesn't make any sense is a reservation system where you need to purchase another 3rd party system to make it all work. You shouldn't have to purchase the myallocator service, that functionality should be part of whatever reservation system that you go with.

 

[gillumhouse]

I'm another happy ReservationKey customer! The system is great, reliable, offers a ton of reports, looks very polished, integrates seamlessly with credit card processors and MyAllocator, and it automatically adjusts to mobile-phone format -- *not* just "mobile-friendly" (you know, like those shrunken web pages that you can't read!). This is crucial because half of my website hits are via mobile phones. Plus the owner of ResKey, John, has great customer service skills and replies promptly to emails. Prices start at $20/month.
MyAllocator pulls the reservations from all OTAs and automatically plugs them into ResKey. It's $25/month. It's worth it to me because when I was trying to manage OTA reservations manually, I had 2 accidental double-bookings which were a bad experience for me, the guests, and hurt my standings with the OTAs. I have no idea if B&B.con can be integrated with ResKey directly, but it is integrated into my system via MyAllocator.
Last few item related to B&B.con and OTAs: My listing on the OTAs has a generic description of "queen bed, private bath". I do not list all of my rooms individually on the OTAs, and only 1 room is linked to myAllocator -- the room that used to have the lowest occupancy in previous years. By doing this, my OTA listings all have an urgent call-to-action message in red font: "In high demand! Only 1 room left!" When an OTA reservation comes in, I can move those guests to any room I want that has a queen bed & private bath. Also, ResKey allows me to send custom email messages to the OTA guests vs my direct bookings. The OTA guests get an email stressing our check in/out times (OTA guests seem even more oblivious to these details than others), telling them they HAVE to contact the OTA to cancel because we can't cancel reservations made via a 3rd party site, and stating that if they wanted a specific room they needed to book direct. I consider room choice to be a benefit provided only to my direct bookings. I'm not selling my 2-person Jacuzzi suite for $99 a night. If you wanted that room, shoulda called me!.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

What doesn't make any sense is a reservation system where you need to purchase another 3rd party system to make it all work. You shouldn't have to purchase the myallocator service, that functionality should be part of whatever reservation system that you go with.
.

Sorry, but I disagree. RezKey i reservation system, just as the OTAs are reservation systems. B.con does not update other calendars, why should RezKey? I do not use another system (OTA) why should I pay for the traffic cop (Allocator) who directs all the traffic from various systems (an extra John would have to charge for to integrate)? NONE of the reservation systems do what you are expecting.

 

[MidwestBB]

I'm another happy ReservationKey customer! The system is great, reliable, offers a ton of reports, looks very polished, integrates seamlessly with credit card processors and MyAllocator, and it automatically adjusts to mobile-phone format -- *not* just "mobile-friendly" (you know, like those shrunken web pages that you can't read!). This is crucial because half of my website hits are via mobile phones. Plus the owner of ResKey, John, has great customer service skills and replies promptly to emails. Prices start at $20/month.
MyAllocator pulls the reservations from all OTAs and automatically plugs them into ResKey. It's $25/month. It's worth it to me because when I was trying to manage OTA reservations manually, I had 2 accidental double-bookings which were a bad experience for me, the guests, and hurt my standings with the OTAs. I have no idea if B&B.con can be integrated with ResKey directly, but it is integrated into my system via MyAllocator.
Last few item related to B&B.con and OTAs: My listing on the OTAs has a generic description of "queen bed, private bath". I do not list all of my rooms individually on the OTAs, and only 1 room is linked to myAllocator -- the room that used to have the lowest occupancy in previous years. By doing this, my OTA listings all have an urgent call-to-action message in red font: "In high demand! Only 1 room left!" When an OTA reservation comes in, I can move those guests to any room I want that has a queen bed & private bath. Also, ResKey allows me to send custom email messages to the OTA guests vs my direct bookings. The OTA guests get an email stressing our check in/out times (OTA guests seem even more oblivious to these details than others), telling them they HAVE to contact the OTA to cancel because we can't cancel reservations made via a 3rd party site, and stating that if they wanted a specific room they needed to book direct. I consider room choice to be a benefit provided only to my direct bookings. I'm not selling my 2-person Jacuzzi suite for $99 a night. If you wanted that room, shoulda called me!.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

What doesn't make any sense is a reservation system where you need to purchase another 3rd party system to make it all work. You shouldn't have to purchase the myallocator service, that functionality should be part of whatever reservation system that you go with.
.

Sorry, but I disagree. RezKey i reservation system, just as the OTAs are reservation systems. B.con does not update other calendars, why should RezKey? I do not use another system (OTA) why should I pay for the traffic cop (Allocator) who directs all the traffic from various systems (an extra John would have to charge for to integrate)? NONE of the reservation systems do what you are expecting.
.

Well, I disagree with your disagreement!
It doesn't cost anything extra for a reservation system to be able to update calendars on the OTA sites. Which means you as a customer shouldn't pay anything extra either.
It all comes down to the reservation software using the API (Application programming interface) that the OTA's publish. That's just a little bit of development time for a reservation system to implement the feature. Pretty trivial, actually.

Anyway, I wouldn't use a reservation system that wouldn't update my calendars on all the other sites and I certainly wouldn't pay extra for it.

I will have to use a reservation system for a month or two while I write my own. But eventually, when I'm done, I'll have a reservation system that is 100% free for me to use.

Sorry, but I disagree. RezKey i reservation system, just as the OTAs are reservation systems. B.con does not update other calendars, why should RezKey? I do not use another system (OTA) why should I pay for the traffic cop (Allocator) who directs all the traffic from various systems (an extra John would have to charge for to integrate)? NONE of the reservation systems do what you are expecting.

 

[gillumhouse]

I'm another happy ReservationKey customer! The system is great, reliable, offers a ton of reports, looks very polished, integrates seamlessly with credit card processors and MyAllocator, and it automatically adjusts to mobile-phone format -- *not* just "mobile-friendly" (you know, like those shrunken web pages that you can't read!). This is crucial because half of my website hits are via mobile phones. Plus the owner of ResKey, John, has great customer service skills and replies promptly to emails. Prices start at $20/month.
MyAllocator pulls the reservations from all OTAs and automatically plugs them into ResKey. It's $25/month. It's worth it to me because when I was trying to manage OTA reservations manually, I had 2 accidental double-bookings which were a bad experience for me, the guests, and hurt my standings with the OTAs. I have no idea if B&B.con can be integrated with ResKey directly, but it is integrated into my system via MyAllocator.
Last few item related to B&B.con and OTAs: My listing on the OTAs has a generic description of "queen bed, private bath". I do not list all of my rooms individually on the OTAs, and only 1 room is linked to myAllocator -- the room that used to have the lowest occupancy in previous years. By doing this, my OTA listings all have an urgent call-to-action message in red font: "In high demand! Only 1 room left!" When an OTA reservation comes in, I can move those guests to any room I want that has a queen bed & private bath. Also, ResKey allows me to send custom email messages to the OTA guests vs my direct bookings. The OTA guests get an email stressing our check in/out times (OTA guests seem even more oblivious to these details than others), telling them they HAVE to contact the OTA to cancel because we can't cancel reservations made via a 3rd party site, and stating that if they wanted a specific room they needed to book direct. I consider room choice to be a benefit provided only to my direct bookings. I'm not selling my 2-person Jacuzzi suite for $99 a night. If you wanted that room, shoulda called me!.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

What doesn't make any sense is a reservation system where you need to purchase another 3rd party system to make it all work. You shouldn't have to purchase the myallocator service, that functionality should be part of whatever reservation system that you go with.
.

Sorry, but I disagree. RezKey i reservation system, just as the OTAs are reservation systems. B.con does not update other calendars, why should RezKey? I do not use another system (OTA) why should I pay for the traffic cop (Allocator) who directs all the traffic from various systems (an extra John would have to charge for to integrate)? NONE of the reservation systems do what you are expecting.
.

Well, I disagree with your disagreement!
It doesn't cost anything extra for a reservation system to be able to update calendars on the OTA sites. Which means you as a customer shouldn't pay anything extra either.
It all comes down to the reservation software using the API (Application programming interface) that the OTA's publish. That's just a little bit of development time for a reservation system to implement the feature. Pretty trivial, actually.

Anyway, I wouldn't use a reservation system that wouldn't update my calendars on all the other sites and I certainly wouldn't pay extra for it.

I will have to use a reservation system for a month or two while I write my own. But eventually, when I'm done, I'll have a reservation system that is 100% free for me to use.

Sorry, but I disagree. RezKey i reservation system, just as the OTAs are reservation systems. B.con does not update other calendars, why should RezKey? I do not use another system (OTA) why should I pay for the traffic cop (Allocator) who directs all the traffic from various systems (an extra John would have to charge for to integrate)? NONE of the reservation systems do what you are expecting.

.

Good for you. Meanwhile, this numpty is thrilled with what ReservationKey does. I am very happy you will be able to do it in a month or two.

 

[Morticia]

I'm another happy ReservationKey customer! The system is great, reliable, offers a ton of reports, looks very polished, integrates seamlessly with credit card processors and MyAllocator, and it automatically adjusts to mobile-phone format -- *not* just "mobile-friendly" (you know, like those shrunken web pages that you can't read!). This is crucial because half of my website hits are via mobile phones. Plus the owner of ResKey, John, has great customer service skills and replies promptly to emails. Prices start at $20/month.
MyAllocator pulls the reservations from all OTAs and automatically plugs them into ResKey. It's $25/month. It's worth it to me because when I was trying to manage OTA reservations manually, I had 2 accidental double-bookings which were a bad experience for me, the guests, and hurt my standings with the OTAs. I have no idea if B&B.con can be integrated with ResKey directly, but it is integrated into my system via MyAllocator.
Last few item related to B&B.con and OTAs: My listing on the OTAs has a generic description of "queen bed, private bath". I do not list all of my rooms individually on the OTAs, and only 1 room is linked to myAllocator -- the room that used to have the lowest occupancy in previous years. By doing this, my OTA listings all have an urgent call-to-action message in red font: "In high demand! Only 1 room left!" When an OTA reservation comes in, I can move those guests to any room I want that has a queen bed & private bath. Also, ResKey allows me to send custom email messages to the OTA guests vs my direct bookings. The OTA guests get an email stressing our check in/out times (OTA guests seem even more oblivious to these details than others), telling them they HAVE to contact the OTA to cancel because we can't cancel reservations made via a 3rd party site, and stating that if they wanted a specific room they needed to book direct. I consider room choice to be a benefit provided only to my direct bookings. I'm not selling my 2-person Jacuzzi suite for $99 a night. If you wanted that room, shoulda called me!.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

What doesn't make any sense is a reservation system where you need to purchase another 3rd party system to make it all work. You shouldn't have to purchase the myallocator service, that functionality should be part of whatever reservation system that you go with.
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

What doesn't make any sense is a reservation system where you need to purchase another 3rd party system to make it all work. You shouldn't have to purchase the myallocator service, that functionality should be part of whatever reservation system that you go with.

All of the systems I've checked have had that as an add on, not built in.
So, in your spare time...
It's trying to figure out what works with what that's the bear here. My booking engine links with something that charges $800 to do the set up. That's absurd, so I haven't done it. Then there is a per use fee.
Looking for something less expensive than that.

 

[Arks]

I'm another happy ReservationKey customer! The system is great, reliable, offers a ton of reports, looks very polished, integrates seamlessly with credit card processors and MyAllocator, and it automatically adjusts to mobile-phone format -- *not* just "mobile-friendly" (you know, like those shrunken web pages that you can't read!). This is crucial because half of my website hits are via mobile phones. Plus the owner of ResKey, John, has great customer service skills and replies promptly to emails. Prices start at $20/month.
MyAllocator pulls the reservations from all OTAs and automatically plugs them into ResKey. It's $25/month. It's worth it to me because when I was trying to manage OTA reservations manually, I had 2 accidental double-bookings which were a bad experience for me, the guests, and hurt my standings with the OTAs. I have no idea if B&B.con can be integrated with ResKey directly, but it is integrated into my system via MyAllocator.
Last few item related to B&B.con and OTAs: My listing on the OTAs has a generic description of "queen bed, private bath". I do not list all of my rooms individually on the OTAs, and only 1 room is linked to myAllocator -- the room that used to have the lowest occupancy in previous years. By doing this, my OTA listings all have an urgent call-to-action message in red font: "In high demand! Only 1 room left!" When an OTA reservation comes in, I can move those guests to any room I want that has a queen bed & private bath. Also, ResKey allows me to send custom email messages to the OTA guests vs my direct bookings. The OTA guests get an email stressing our check in/out times (OTA guests seem even more oblivious to these details than others), telling them they HAVE to contact the OTA to cancel because we can't cancel reservations made via a 3rd party site, and stating that if they wanted a specific room they needed to book direct. I consider room choice to be a benefit provided only to my direct bookings. I'm not selling my 2-person Jacuzzi suite for $99 a night. If you wanted that room, shoulda called me!.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

Yes, until I dropped them last month, I was paying them $25/month to pick up my ResKey calendar and pass it on to Booking. And that's up from $17/month I was paying up until April 2016. No additional charge based on sales. Flat $25/month for a place the size of mine (5 rooms).

 

[Morticia]

I'm another happy ReservationKey customer! The system is great, reliable, offers a ton of reports, looks very polished, integrates seamlessly with credit card processors and MyAllocator, and it automatically adjusts to mobile-phone format -- *not* just "mobile-friendly" (you know, like those shrunken web pages that you can't read!). This is crucial because half of my website hits are via mobile phones. Plus the owner of ResKey, John, has great customer service skills and replies promptly to emails. Prices start at $20/month.
MyAllocator pulls the reservations from all OTAs and automatically plugs them into ResKey. It's $25/month. It's worth it to me because when I was trying to manage OTA reservations manually, I had 2 accidental double-bookings which were a bad experience for me, the guests, and hurt my standings with the OTAs. I have no idea if B&B.con can be integrated with ResKey directly, but it is integrated into my system via MyAllocator.
Last few item related to B&B.con and OTAs: My listing on the OTAs has a generic description of "queen bed, private bath". I do not list all of my rooms individually on the OTAs, and only 1 room is linked to myAllocator -- the room that used to have the lowest occupancy in previous years. By doing this, my OTA listings all have an urgent call-to-action message in red font: "In high demand! Only 1 room left!" When an OTA reservation comes in, I can move those guests to any room I want that has a queen bed & private bath. Also, ResKey allows me to send custom email messages to the OTA guests vs my direct bookings. The OTA guests get an email stressing our check in/out times (OTA guests seem even more oblivious to these details than others), telling them they HAVE to contact the OTA to cancel because we can't cancel reservations made via a 3rd party site, and stating that if they wanted a specific room they needed to book direct. I consider room choice to be a benefit provided only to my direct bookings. I'm not selling my 2-person Jacuzzi suite for $99 a night. If you wanted that room, shoulda called me!.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

Yes, until I dropped them last month, I was paying them $25/month to pick up my ResKey calendar and pass it on to Booking. And that's up from $17/month I was paying up until April 2016. No additional charge based on sales. Flat $25/month for a place the size of mine (5 rooms).
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

Yes, until I dropped them last month, I was paying them $25/month to pick up my ResKey calendar and pass it on to Booking. And that's up from $17/month I was paying up until April 2016. No additional charge based on sales. Flat $25/month for a place the size of mine (5 rooms).

Good to know. I've seen rates from flat fees of $8/transaction to 3%/transaction.
There's no way to budget for moving target fees.
What are you using now?

 

[Morticia]

I'm another happy ReservationKey customer! The system is great, reliable, offers a ton of reports, looks very polished, integrates seamlessly with credit card processors and MyAllocator, and it automatically adjusts to mobile-phone format -- *not* just "mobile-friendly" (you know, like those shrunken web pages that you can't read!). This is crucial because half of my website hits are via mobile phones. Plus the owner of ResKey, John, has great customer service skills and replies promptly to emails. Prices start at $20/month.
MyAllocator pulls the reservations from all OTAs and automatically plugs them into ResKey. It's $25/month. It's worth it to me because when I was trying to manage OTA reservations manually, I had 2 accidental double-bookings which were a bad experience for me, the guests, and hurt my standings with the OTAs. I have no idea if B&B.con can be integrated with ResKey directly, but it is integrated into my system via MyAllocator.
Last few item related to B&B.con and OTAs: My listing on the OTAs has a generic description of "queen bed, private bath". I do not list all of my rooms individually on the OTAs, and only 1 room is linked to myAllocator -- the room that used to have the lowest occupancy in previous years. By doing this, my OTA listings all have an urgent call-to-action message in red font: "In high demand! Only 1 room left!" When an OTA reservation comes in, I can move those guests to any room I want that has a queen bed & private bath. Also, ResKey allows me to send custom email messages to the OTA guests vs my direct bookings. The OTA guests get an email stressing our check in/out times (OTA guests seem even more oblivious to these details than others), telling them they HAVE to contact the OTA to cancel because we can't cancel reservations made via a 3rd party site, and stating that if they wanted a specific room they needed to book direct. I consider room choice to be a benefit provided only to my direct bookings. I'm not selling my 2-person Jacuzzi suite for $99 a night. If you wanted that room, shoulda called me!.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

Yes, until I dropped them last month, I was paying them $25/month to pick up my ResKey calendar and pass it on to Booking. And that's up from $17/month I was paying up until April 2016. No additional charge based on sales. Flat $25/month for a place the size of mine (5 rooms).
.

Another question - is it $25/connection or for unlimited connections to OTA's?
So, $25 to connect to booking, $25 to connect to air, $25 to connect to exp? Or $25 to connect to all bazillion of them?

 

[Arks]

I'm another happy ReservationKey customer! The system is great, reliable, offers a ton of reports, looks very polished, integrates seamlessly with credit card processors and MyAllocator, and it automatically adjusts to mobile-phone format -- *not* just "mobile-friendly" (you know, like those shrunken web pages that you can't read!). This is crucial because half of my website hits are via mobile phones. Plus the owner of ResKey, John, has great customer service skills and replies promptly to emails. Prices start at $20/month.
MyAllocator pulls the reservations from all OTAs and automatically plugs them into ResKey. It's $25/month. It's worth it to me because when I was trying to manage OTA reservations manually, I had 2 accidental double-bookings which were a bad experience for me, the guests, and hurt my standings with the OTAs. I have no idea if B&B.con can be integrated with ResKey directly, but it is integrated into my system via MyAllocator.
Last few item related to B&B.con and OTAs: My listing on the OTAs has a generic description of "queen bed, private bath". I do not list all of my rooms individually on the OTAs, and only 1 room is linked to myAllocator -- the room that used to have the lowest occupancy in previous years. By doing this, my OTA listings all have an urgent call-to-action message in red font: "In high demand! Only 1 room left!" When an OTA reservation comes in, I can move those guests to any room I want that has a queen bed & private bath. Also, ResKey allows me to send custom email messages to the OTA guests vs my direct bookings. The OTA guests get an email stressing our check in/out times (OTA guests seem even more oblivious to these details than others), telling them they HAVE to contact the OTA to cancel because we can't cancel reservations made via a 3rd party site, and stating that if they wanted a specific room they needed to book direct. I consider room choice to be a benefit provided only to my direct bookings. I'm not selling my 2-person Jacuzzi suite for $99 a night. If you wanted that room, shoulda called me!.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

Yes, until I dropped them last month, I was paying them $25/month to pick up my ResKey calendar and pass it on to Booking. And that's up from $17/month I was paying up until April 2016. No additional charge based on sales. Flat $25/month for a place the size of mine (5 rooms).
.

Another question - is it $25/connection or for unlimited connections to OTA's?
So, $25 to connect to booking, $25 to connect to air, $25 to connect to exp? Or $25 to connect to all bazillion of them?
.

Another question - is it $25/connection or for unlimited connections to OTA's?
So, $25 to connect to booking, $25 to connect to air, $25 to connect to exp? Or $25 to connect to all bazillion of them?

For $25/month you get all of them. Not $25 each. Here's a list of all the companies they connect to.

 

[Arks]

I'm another happy ReservationKey customer! The system is great, reliable, offers a ton of reports, looks very polished, integrates seamlessly with credit card processors and MyAllocator, and it automatically adjusts to mobile-phone format -- *not* just "mobile-friendly" (you know, like those shrunken web pages that you can't read!). This is crucial because half of my website hits are via mobile phones. Plus the owner of ResKey, John, has great customer service skills and replies promptly to emails. Prices start at $20/month.
MyAllocator pulls the reservations from all OTAs and automatically plugs them into ResKey. It's $25/month. It's worth it to me because when I was trying to manage OTA reservations manually, I had 2 accidental double-bookings which were a bad experience for me, the guests, and hurt my standings with the OTAs. I have no idea if B&B.con can be integrated with ResKey directly, but it is integrated into my system via MyAllocator.
Last few item related to B&B.con and OTAs: My listing on the OTAs has a generic description of "queen bed, private bath". I do not list all of my rooms individually on the OTAs, and only 1 room is linked to myAllocator -- the room that used to have the lowest occupancy in previous years. By doing this, my OTA listings all have an urgent call-to-action message in red font: "In high demand! Only 1 room left!" When an OTA reservation comes in, I can move those guests to any room I want that has a queen bed & private bath. Also, ResKey allows me to send custom email messages to the OTA guests vs my direct bookings. The OTA guests get an email stressing our check in/out times (OTA guests seem even more oblivious to these details than others), telling them they HAVE to contact the OTA to cancel because we can't cancel reservations made via a 3rd party site, and stating that if they wanted a specific room they needed to book direct. I consider room choice to be a benefit provided only to my direct bookings. I'm not selling my 2-person Jacuzzi suite for $99 a night. If you wanted that room, shoulda called me!.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

Yes, until I dropped them last month, I was paying them $25/month to pick up my ResKey calendar and pass it on to Booking. And that's up from $17/month I was paying up until April 2016. No additional charge based on sales. Flat $25/month for a place the size of mine (5 rooms).
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

Yes, until I dropped them last month, I was paying them $25/month to pick up my ResKey calendar and pass it on to Booking. And that's up from $17/month I was paying up until April 2016. No additional charge based on sales. Flat $25/month for a place the size of mine (5 rooms).

Good to know. I've seen rates from flat fees of $8/transaction to 3%/transaction.
There's no way to budget for moving target fees.
What are you using now?
.

What are you using now?

I've grown old and grouchy. I dropped Booking, Air, V-R-B-O, all of them. It's just me and my website now. I get hits regularly from the local tourism assn. website, the state tourism website, the local chamber of commerce, etc., plus a lot of people just say I found you on Google or TA.

 

[Momma Smurf]

I'm another happy ReservationKey customer! The system is great, reliable, offers a ton of reports, looks very polished, integrates seamlessly with credit card processors and MyAllocator, and it automatically adjusts to mobile-phone format -- *not* just "mobile-friendly" (you know, like those shrunken web pages that you can't read!). This is crucial because half of my website hits are via mobile phones. Plus the owner of ResKey, John, has great customer service skills and replies promptly to emails. Prices start at $20/month.
MyAllocator pulls the reservations from all OTAs and automatically plugs them into ResKey. It's $25/month. It's worth it to me because when I was trying to manage OTA reservations manually, I had 2 accidental double-bookings which were a bad experience for me, the guests, and hurt my standings with the OTAs. I have no idea if B&B.con can be integrated with ResKey directly, but it is integrated into my system via MyAllocator.
Last few item related to B&B.con and OTAs: My listing on the OTAs has a generic description of "queen bed, private bath". I do not list all of my rooms individually on the OTAs, and only 1 room is linked to myAllocator -- the room that used to have the lowest occupancy in previous years. By doing this, my OTA listings all have an urgent call-to-action message in red font: "In high demand! Only 1 room left!" When an OTA reservation comes in, I can move those guests to any room I want that has a queen bed & private bath. Also, ResKey allows me to send custom email messages to the OTA guests vs my direct bookings. The OTA guests get an email stressing our check in/out times (OTA guests seem even more oblivious to these details than others), telling them they HAVE to contact the OTA to cancel because we can't cancel reservations made via a 3rd party site, and stating that if they wanted a specific room they needed to book direct. I consider room choice to be a benefit provided only to my direct bookings. I'm not selling my 2-person Jacuzzi suite for $99 a night. If you wanted that room, shoulda called me!.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

Yes, until I dropped them last month, I was paying them $25/month to pick up my ResKey calendar and pass it on to Booking. And that's up from $17/month I was paying up until April 2016. No additional charge based on sales. Flat $25/month for a place the size of mine (5 rooms).
.

Another question - is it $25/connection or for unlimited connections to OTA's?
So, $25 to connect to booking, $25 to connect to air, $25 to connect to exp? Or $25 to connect to all bazillion of them?
.

Another question - is it $25/connection or for unlimited connections to OTA's?
So, $25 to connect to booking, $25 to connect to air, $25 to connect to exp? Or $25 to connect to all bazillion of them?

For $25/month you get all of them. Not $25 each. Here's a list of all the companies they connect to.
.

Do we get a discount with RK? Just went to the MA page and was given a price of $41 a month (5-6) rooms!!

 

[JimBoone]

I'm another happy ReservationKey customer! The system is great, reliable, offers a ton of reports, looks very polished, integrates seamlessly with credit card processors and MyAllocator, and it automatically adjusts to mobile-phone format -- *not* just "mobile-friendly" (you know, like those shrunken web pages that you can't read!). This is crucial because half of my website hits are via mobile phones. Plus the owner of ResKey, John, has great customer service skills and replies promptly to emails. Prices start at $20/month.
MyAllocator pulls the reservations from all OTAs and automatically plugs them into ResKey. It's $25/month. It's worth it to me because when I was trying to manage OTA reservations manually, I had 2 accidental double-bookings which were a bad experience for me, the guests, and hurt my standings with the OTAs. I have no idea if B&B.con can be integrated with ResKey directly, but it is integrated into my system via MyAllocator.
Last few item related to B&B.con and OTAs: My listing on the OTAs has a generic description of "queen bed, private bath". I do not list all of my rooms individually on the OTAs, and only 1 room is linked to myAllocator -- the room that used to have the lowest occupancy in previous years. By doing this, my OTA listings all have an urgent call-to-action message in red font: "In high demand! Only 1 room left!" When an OTA reservation comes in, I can move those guests to any room I want that has a queen bed & private bath. Also, ResKey allows me to send custom email messages to the OTA guests vs my direct bookings. The OTA guests get an email stressing our check in/out times (OTA guests seem even more oblivious to these details than others), telling them they HAVE to contact the OTA to cancel because we can't cancel reservations made via a 3rd party site, and stating that if they wanted a specific room they needed to book direct. I consider room choice to be a benefit provided only to my direct bookings. I'm not selling my 2-person Jacuzzi suite for $99 a night. If you wanted that room, shoulda called me!.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

What doesn't make any sense is a reservation system where you need to purchase another 3rd party system to make it all work. You shouldn't have to purchase the myallocator service, that functionality should be part of whatever reservation system that you go with.
.

Sorry, but I disagree. RezKey i reservation system, just as the OTAs are reservation systems. B.con does not update other calendars, why should RezKey? I do not use another system (OTA) why should I pay for the traffic cop (Allocator) who directs all the traffic from various systems (an extra John would have to charge for to integrate)? NONE of the reservation systems do what you are expecting.
.

Well, I disagree with your disagreement!
It doesn't cost anything extra for a reservation system to be able to update calendars on the OTA sites. Which means you as a customer shouldn't pay anything extra either.
It all comes down to the reservation software using the API (Application programming interface) that the OTA's publish. That's just a little bit of development time for a reservation system to implement the feature. Pretty trivial, actually.

Anyway, I wouldn't use a reservation system that wouldn't update my calendars on all the other sites and I certainly wouldn't pay extra for it.

I will have to use a reservation system for a month or two while I write my own. But eventually, when I'm done, I'll have a reservation system that is 100% free for me to use.

Sorry, but I disagree. RezKey i reservation system, just as the OTAs are reservation systems. B.con does not update other calendars, why should RezKey? I do not use another system (OTA) why should I pay for the traffic cop (Allocator) who directs all the traffic from various systems (an extra John would have to charge for to integrate)? NONE of the reservation systems do what you are expecting.

.

MNVinyardBB, sounds like a new business opportunity for you should you develop a system that does everything and choose to provide services to others at a reasonable rate like RK.
The issue I see is that those systems that do offer more features seem to charge much higher rates, it may not cost them more, but they seem to like us to pay more for the extra profit.
For me I don't use OTA's or an Allocator to feed them so RK works quite well and I'm not forced to purchase something I don't use.

 

[Arks]

I'm another happy ReservationKey customer! The system is great, reliable, offers a ton of reports, looks very polished, integrates seamlessly with credit card processors and MyAllocator, and it automatically adjusts to mobile-phone format -- *not* just "mobile-friendly" (you know, like those shrunken web pages that you can't read!). This is crucial because half of my website hits are via mobile phones. Plus the owner of ResKey, John, has great customer service skills and replies promptly to emails. Prices start at $20/month.
MyAllocator pulls the reservations from all OTAs and automatically plugs them into ResKey. It's $25/month. It's worth it to me because when I was trying to manage OTA reservations manually, I had 2 accidental double-bookings which were a bad experience for me, the guests, and hurt my standings with the OTAs. I have no idea if B&B.con can be integrated with ResKey directly, but it is integrated into my system via MyAllocator.
Last few item related to B&B.con and OTAs: My listing on the OTAs has a generic description of "queen bed, private bath". I do not list all of my rooms individually on the OTAs, and only 1 room is linked to myAllocator -- the room that used to have the lowest occupancy in previous years. By doing this, my OTA listings all have an urgent call-to-action message in red font: "In high demand! Only 1 room left!" When an OTA reservation comes in, I can move those guests to any room I want that has a queen bed & private bath. Also, ResKey allows me to send custom email messages to the OTA guests vs my direct bookings. The OTA guests get an email stressing our check in/out times (OTA guests seem even more oblivious to these details than others), telling them they HAVE to contact the OTA to cancel because we can't cancel reservations made via a 3rd party site, and stating that if they wanted a specific room they needed to book direct. I consider room choice to be a benefit provided only to my direct bookings. I'm not selling my 2-person Jacuzzi suite for $99 a night. If you wanted that room, shoulda called me!.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

Yes, until I dropped them last month, I was paying them $25/month to pick up my ResKey calendar and pass it on to Booking. And that's up from $17/month I was paying up until April 2016. No additional charge based on sales. Flat $25/month for a place the size of mine (5 rooms).
.

Another question - is it $25/connection or for unlimited connections to OTA's?
So, $25 to connect to booking, $25 to connect to air, $25 to connect to exp? Or $25 to connect to all bazillion of them?
.

Another question - is it $25/connection or for unlimited connections to OTA's?
So, $25 to connect to booking, $25 to connect to air, $25 to connect to exp? Or $25 to connect to all bazillion of them?

For $25/month you get all of them. Not $25 each. Here's a list of all the companies they connect to.
.

Do we get a discount with RK? Just went to the MA page and was given a price of $41 a month (5-6) rooms!!
.

Do we get a discount with RK? Just went to the MA page and was given a price of $41 a month (5-6) rooms!!

Either they've upped it again (they nearly doubled it last time) since I dropped it a couple of weeks ago, or I was locked in at $25 for the rest of the year, or something. Because I never paid more than $25.

Last year John at ResKey said he was going to look into exporting/importing directly between ResKey and Booking, since that's the main one people use MA for, but he never got around to it. I think he could charge people extra for adding the feature. It could still be a lot cheaper than using MA.

 

[MidwestBB]

I'm another happy ReservationKey customer! The system is great, reliable, offers a ton of reports, looks very polished, integrates seamlessly with credit card processors and MyAllocator, and it automatically adjusts to mobile-phone format -- *not* just "mobile-friendly" (you know, like those shrunken web pages that you can't read!). This is crucial because half of my website hits are via mobile phones. Plus the owner of ResKey, John, has great customer service skills and replies promptly to emails. Prices start at $20/month.
MyAllocator pulls the reservations from all OTAs and automatically plugs them into ResKey. It's $25/month. It's worth it to me because when I was trying to manage OTA reservations manually, I had 2 accidental double-bookings which were a bad experience for me, the guests, and hurt my standings with the OTAs. I have no idea if B&B.con can be integrated with ResKey directly, but it is integrated into my system via MyAllocator.
Last few item related to B&B.con and OTAs: My listing on the OTAs has a generic description of "queen bed, private bath". I do not list all of my rooms individually on the OTAs, and only 1 room is linked to myAllocator -- the room that used to have the lowest occupancy in previous years. By doing this, my OTA listings all have an urgent call-to-action message in red font: "In high demand! Only 1 room left!" When an OTA reservation comes in, I can move those guests to any room I want that has a queen bed & private bath. Also, ResKey allows me to send custom email messages to the OTA guests vs my direct bookings. The OTA guests get an email stressing our check in/out times (OTA guests seem even more oblivious to these details than others), telling them they HAVE to contact the OTA to cancel because we can't cancel reservations made via a 3rd party site, and stating that if they wanted a specific room they needed to book direct. I consider room choice to be a benefit provided only to my direct bookings. I'm not selling my 2-person Jacuzzi suite for $99 a night. If you wanted that room, shoulda called me!.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

What doesn't make any sense is a reservation system where you need to purchase another 3rd party system to make it all work. You shouldn't have to purchase the myallocator service, that functionality should be part of whatever reservation system that you go with.
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

What doesn't make any sense is a reservation system where you need to purchase another 3rd party system to make it all work. You shouldn't have to purchase the myallocator service, that functionality should be part of whatever reservation system that you go with.

All of the systems I've checked have had that as an add on, not built in.
So, in your spare time...
It's trying to figure out what works with what that's the bear here. My booking engine links with something that charges $800 to do the set up. That's absurd, so I haven't done it. Then there is a per use fee.
Looking for something less expensive than that.
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

What doesn't make any sense is a reservation system where you need to purchase another 3rd party system to make it all work. You shouldn't have to purchase the myallocator service, that functionality should be part of whatever reservation system that you go with.

All of the systems I've checked have had that as an add on, not built in.
So, in your spare time...
It's trying to figure out what works with what that's the bear here. My booking engine links with something that charges $800 to do the set up. That's absurd, so I haven't done it. Then there is a per use fee.
Looking for something less expensive than that.

I haven't researched this one yet but a lot of people are recommending freetobook. You might want to look it over to see if it would work for you. The basic service is free and then if you want additional features there is a fee you pay. For me, right now, I believe the free service would work. We're only listed on Air so if I just need to go to the Air app on my phone and block out a date because I got a direct booking via my site, that's not a big deal.

 

[Morticia]

I'm another happy ReservationKey customer! The system is great, reliable, offers a ton of reports, looks very polished, integrates seamlessly with credit card processors and MyAllocator, and it automatically adjusts to mobile-phone format -- *not* just "mobile-friendly" (you know, like those shrunken web pages that you can't read!). This is crucial because half of my website hits are via mobile phones. Plus the owner of ResKey, John, has great customer service skills and replies promptly to emails. Prices start at $20/month.
MyAllocator pulls the reservations from all OTAs and automatically plugs them into ResKey. It's $25/month. It's worth it to me because when I was trying to manage OTA reservations manually, I had 2 accidental double-bookings which were a bad experience for me, the guests, and hurt my standings with the OTAs. I have no idea if B&B.con can be integrated with ResKey directly, but it is integrated into my system via MyAllocator.
Last few item related to B&B.con and OTAs: My listing on the OTAs has a generic description of "queen bed, private bath". I do not list all of my rooms individually on the OTAs, and only 1 room is linked to myAllocator -- the room that used to have the lowest occupancy in previous years. By doing this, my OTA listings all have an urgent call-to-action message in red font: "In high demand! Only 1 room left!" When an OTA reservation comes in, I can move those guests to any room I want that has a queen bed & private bath. Also, ResKey allows me to send custom email messages to the OTA guests vs my direct bookings. The OTA guests get an email stressing our check in/out times (OTA guests seem even more oblivious to these details than others), telling them they HAVE to contact the OTA to cancel because we can't cancel reservations made via a 3rd party site, and stating that if they wanted a specific room they needed to book direct. I consider room choice to be a benefit provided only to my direct bookings. I'm not selling my 2-person Jacuzzi suite for $99 a night. If you wanted that room, shoulda called me!.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

What doesn't make any sense is a reservation system where you need to purchase another 3rd party system to make it all work. You shouldn't have to purchase the myallocator service, that functionality should be part of whatever reservation system that you go with.
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

What doesn't make any sense is a reservation system where you need to purchase another 3rd party system to make it all work. You shouldn't have to purchase the myallocator service, that functionality should be part of whatever reservation system that you go with.

All of the systems I've checked have had that as an add on, not built in.
So, in your spare time...
It's trying to figure out what works with what that's the bear here. My booking engine links with something that charges $800 to do the set up. That's absurd, so I haven't done it. Then there is a per use fee.
Looking for something less expensive than that.
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

What doesn't make any sense is a reservation system where you need to purchase another 3rd party system to make it all work. You shouldn't have to purchase the myallocator service, that functionality should be part of whatever reservation system that you go with.

All of the systems I've checked have had that as an add on, not built in.
So, in your spare time...
It's trying to figure out what works with what that's the bear here. My booking engine links with something that charges $800 to do the set up. That's absurd, so I haven't done it. Then there is a per use fee.
Looking for something less expensive than that.

I haven't researched this one yet but a lot of people are recommending freetobook. You might want to look it over to see if it would work for you. The basic service is free and then if you want additional features there is a fee you pay. For me, right now, I believe the free service would work. We're only listed on Air so if I just need to go to the Air app on my phone and block out a date because I got a direct booking via my site, that's not a big deal.
.

So, my allocator is only $25/month? No commission based on sales?

What doesn't make any sense is a reservation system where you need to purchase another 3rd party system to make it all work. You shouldn't have to purchase the myallocator service, that functionality should be part of whatever reservation system that you go with.

All of the systems I've checked have had that as an add on, not built in.
So, in your spare time...
It's trying to figure out what works with what that's the bear here. My booking engine links with something that charges $800 to do the set up. That's absurd, so I haven't done it. Then there is a per use fee.
Looking for something less expensive than that.

I haven't researched this one yet but a lot of people are recommending freetobook. You might want to look it over to see if it would work for you. The basic service is free and then if you want additional features there is a fee you pay. For me, right now, I believe the free service would work. We're only listed on Air so if I just need to go to the Air app on my phone and block out a date because I got a direct booking via my site, that's not a big deal.

I thought about this one, but then I keep reading about people who have 'outgrown' FTB and want something with more bells and whistles.

 

[MidwestBB]

How are you handling your payment processing with reservation key? Do you use the option to just collect credit card numbers or do you use automatic payment? If automatic, what service are you using for that?
Right now we use Square for processing CC's but when I finish the web site and have online booking I'll need a means of handling the credit cards. I haven't seen any booking system yet that integrates with square.

 

[gillumhouse]

How are you handling your payment processing with reservation key? Do you use the option to just collect credit card numbers or do you use automatic payment? If automatic, what service are you using for that?
Right now we use Square for processing CC's but when I finish the web site and have online booking I'll need a means of handling the credit cards. I haven't seen any booking system yet that integrates with square..

I do not take deposits with rezkey - my choice. Most the others with rezkey do take deposits and full payments. The only thing I take deposits for is my Elopement packages and that is a CHECK for 25% (a check cannot have a chargeback if they cancel - I had one cancel 3 weeks prior hence the deposit nad the decision for a check). I rarely have a room cancellation and then it is far enough out that it would not be in a time to be charged anyway.
I use Square to process cards.

 

[JimBoone]

How are you handling your payment processing with reservation key? Do you use the option to just collect credit card numbers or do you use automatic payment? If automatic, what service are you using for that?
Right now we use Square for processing CC's but when I finish the web site and have online booking I'll need a means of handling the credit cards. I haven't seen any booking system yet that integrates with square..

How are you handling your payment processing with reservation key?

We use Authorize.net, in our case the service is packaged through the bank that provides our credit card machine, but you can work with Authorize directly if you choose.