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Add-Ons are here! (Also known as "Optional Surcharges")

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Hey everyone, been awhile since we've chatted!  We've been pushing out release after release, working with users on quality-of-life enhancements all over the app, as well as continuing to develop some of our big upcoming changes.  However, I wanted to take a quick second to show something that a lot of users have asked for: Add-Ons (sometimes called "optional surcharges").  This is something you're going to want to take a look at.

Let's get right to the fun part of it, and then I'll back up and show how the linkage works under the hood.

Imagine that you've sent a quote to a guest (or they came through your Book Now widget on your website).  You want them to be able to "add on" some optional thing - pool heat, linen service, flowers, whatever.  Now you can.  Here's a live quote I just created:

(click images for full-size view)

Next to each of those Add-Ons, you can place a "What is this?" link.  When clicked, the Add-On expands to show a large rich-text explanation.

In the following picture, I've just clicked "What is this?" link next to the Bounce House Add-On.

Not only can you include a rich-text explanation with picture and formatting, but you can also insert field codes.

Field codes allow you to merge in information about your account or property so that the Add-On explanation is customized to talk about the current property the guest is looking at.

Notice the property name "Acme Retreat" in this explanation.  That's coming from a field code which changes the output based on which quote the guest is looking at.

Pretty cool, right?  I know!

Now how does this thing work?

At the moment, we've placed Add-Ons in the Surcharges area and used an "Optional" flag on the Surcharge to denote that it's an Add-On.  We will be creating a separate settings area for Add-Ons soon, but for now it lives as an "Optional" Surcharge.

So head over to Settings > Surcharges and create a new Surcharge.  Set the Applied field to Optional.  You'll notice an Explanation field appear with a rich-text editor.  The Explanation field is optional.  If you don't enter anything, the "What is this?" link won't be shown to guests.

Some items are self explanatory and don't require an explanation.  Others, like pricier options, should get an explanation with pictures and formatting so that you can draw the guest in.

Use the Property criteria to decide which properties get the Add-On, and that's pretty much it.  At the moment, the Seasons and Bookings criteria do not affect Add-Ons.  Only the Property criteria determines whether the Add-On will be displayed.

Charge Linkage

There's another important part of this, and that's how surcharges are now linked to charges.  Previously, there was no strict linkage between surcharges and charges.  When a surcharge was entered into a quote or booking's charges, only the description and amount were entered.  There was no way of knowing which bookings had which surcharges.

We've changed that.  Surcharges are now similar to Taxes in that you can see them in the charges grid directly, select the one you want and it creates linkage that can be reported on later.

If all that sounds confusing, take a look at this picture.  Notice that instead of just "Surcharge" in the drop-down, you can now see a specific list of surcharges.

When saving a surcharge, the charges grid now makes sure that the row is linked, under the covers, with your list of surcharges.

Why is this important?  This might sound like just a bunch of technical mumbo-jumbo, but it's actually quite important.  As we continue iterating on Add-Ons, and other charge types, it's important that you know which bookings have paid for which surcharges.  Reporting and fulfillment will require it.  Imagine if there was no way of knowing "how many guests have rented bounce houses this month?".  It would also mean no way of triggering off that logic.  If a guest rents a bounce house, you might want a special trigger email sent to your staff so that they know to get it ready.

Happy February, everyone!

5 Comments (add yours)

Ella
Feb 2, 2017 12:01 PM
Joined May, 2014 139 posts

Awesome!!!! :)

Siltcoos Station
Apr 19, 2023 6:14 PM
Joined Apr, 2023 1 post

Is there a way to put in a quantity of what I have available for Add-on's? 

 

For example, I have 2 available kayaks and 1 pontoon boat available to rent out. But I want the option to only get offered to the first people who reserve it. Is that an option?

Ken T
Apr 19, 2023 6:25 PM
OR Team Member Joined Aug, 2019 1448 posts

At present, unfortunately, there is not.  However, there are plans to add that and many other related capabilities to the Add-On Services feature in the future.

Ocean Zen
Jan 16, 2024 6:54 PM
Joined Jun, 2022 70 posts

Is there any way to send out a trigger with a link to purchase the Add-on after the time of booking. IE pool heating that guests don't want to purchase until closer to stay. Also, is there a way to automatically create a TAG if an add-on is purchased so that we can use it to create trigger emails/messages?

Caleb M
Jan 22, 2024 4:08 PM
OR Team Member Joined Mar, 2022 114 posts

Hello,

We do have an article on addons here that may be worth a look: https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/add-on-services

As for offering add-ons to Channel guests by way of OwnerRez, there are two options worth considering, the first one would be the most relevant to your situation I believe.


1. You can create custom email Templates and Triggers to send to your booked channel guests, making them aware of what add-on services you have available, as well as the associated costs for each. Let them know that they can respond to your email if they'd like to have any of those included with their booking. Also let them know that should they opt to add anything on, you'll charge their card for the added costs (if the card has already been received). Then, you can go into their booking and manually add that charge, and run their card to collect the payment

Airbnb would prefer you go through the Resolution Center to add those charges, but Vrbo API bookings are treated like Direct Bookings.


Of course, we recommend written consent prior to collecting additional payment for any booking, regardless of the source.


Using custom Templates and Triggers means that you'll have to be paying attention to those emails back from the guests, and there would be no way to pull any reporting to show you what was or wasn't opted for. There is another method that would allow you to pull a report to gather that data.

 

2. Another option is to create a Custom Field Definitions that present a question to those guests on the Point of Contact form they fill out after the booking has been created, but there's still no way for their selection to automatically apply the charge to the booking. You'd set up optional Custom Fields that are Yes or No questions, and use the description box for each Custom Field to clearly outline what is being offered, and the associated costs. You'd then need to manually add the Surcharge for any service requested to the booking charges table on a case by case basis, so that means that you'd need to be on the lookout for anyone who marked Yes for any of those services. You can see their responses in the Custom Fields tab on the booking itself, as well as in some reporting.

Regarding automatically tagging, this isn't possible at this time but is on our roadmap. We have this mentioned here - https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/tags-common-issues-questions#automation