How to connect to Expedia - WooDoo

    This article will explain the initialization procedure of the Expedia channel and the peculiarities of this connection.


    However, the activation of a channel needs preliminary operations, such as channel acquisition on Woodoo, which are the same for all WooDoo channels.
    For this reason, we have created general articles describing these procedures:


    ☞ Docs: Acquiring a Channel

    ☞ Docs: Configuring a Channel

    The activation of a channel is a procedure that can be done autonomously by Wubook users. Still, if it's been a long time since your training and even following these instructions, you don't feel confident to proceed, you can contact our staff to guide you through this process.


    ☞ Docs: How to ask for assistance


    Expedia Quick Connect initialization


    After acquiring the channel in WooDoo and entering your Expedia Hotel ID, click on "Configure" to enter the channel initialization phase: this is the authorization request that the OTA portal must issue to WuBook to enable the connection.



    It's time to access your Expedia extranet. After login, click on ROOMS AND RATES on the left and then on EXPEDIA CONNECTIVITY SETTINGS.

    WooDoo connects to Expedia through Expedia Quick Connect (EQC) technology. This type of connection is for independent hotels or small chains (the type of connection dedicated to large chains is Expedia Connect, EC).

    In your Expedia extranet, you have to click on ROOMS AND RATES on the left and then on EXPEDIA CONNECTIVITY SETTINGS.
    You can request the activation of the XML connection with the Channel Manager Woodoo, with no need to send the contract.



    At this point, choose WOODOO as provider and remember to set the two-way connection (AR&BR): availability & rates update (AR: availability & rates) and booking retrieve (BR: booking retrieve).


    At this point, our systems will automatically initialize the channel, and in a few minutes, you will be able to configure it independently, i.e., to map rooms and rates. By re-entering or updating the Woodoo channel page, you will find the CONFIGURE button.


    The configuration of rooms and rates on the Expedia channel has no peculiarities than the one described in the generic article. However, if you have activated the price model for Occupancy, you will find an additional table that will allow you to manage prices per Occupancy.

    ☞ Docs: Configuring a Channel


    Pricing model


    Expedia has three pricing models:

    • Per Day Pricing (PDP),
    • Occupancy Based Pricing (OBP)
    • Per Person Pricing (PPP) model.

    WooDoo supports only the first two models: Per Day Pricing (PDP), Occupancy Based Pricing (OBP), so you need to set one of these two models on the Expedia extranet to work with our channel manager.

    If you have activated the Occupancy Based Pricing (OBP) with Expedia, you can send the price to the various occupancy of the same room through the virtual rooms of Wubook.
    In this case, in addition to the configuration procedure described in the dedicated article, you will also find the Occupancy Based Pricing table.


    NB. It is not possible to differentiate availability and restrictions on different occupancies of the same room. You can only differentiate the price.


    Preferences



    Always honour WuBook Restrictions closed dates

    The Wubook Restrictions apply to direct sales on your site. When you close a day/room on Wubook Restrictions, the day/room is no longer for sale on the Online Reception, even if you still have rooms available.
    However, on channels, the date would remain open on the portals' rates not associated with the Wubook Restrictions.
    If you want it to be closed on all OTAs connected via channel manager when closing a room on your site, you have to tick this preference.


    MinStay Error Behaviour

    Expedia generally imposes a maximum limit of 4 nights on the length of stay restriction. If this limit is active in your Expedia account when WooDoo tries to send a Min Stay too high (higher than 4), Expedia reports an error and refuses the update. You can choose between these options:

    • Skip: Ignore the error and proceed (the data will not be updated)
    • Decrease: Decrease Min Stay to 4 or 3. In case it is not enough, a new error will be generated (Recommended)
    • Close date: Set Min Stay= 1, but try to close the Rate (pay attention to allotments, see paragraph below)
    • Stop: it blocks the update and generates an error


    Last rate

    This option is used to select a rate (for example, a non-refundable rate), on which to sell your last availability exclusively.
    The other rates will be automatically closed to sale by WooDoo for the rooms that remain with only one availability, and only the selected rate will be bookable.
    In case you have allotments on Expedia, only the selected rate will be bookable for allotment availability (Expedia BASIC availability).

    If no rate is selected, all the rates available on the channel, which are active in the relevant room), will be bookable.


    Length Of Stay type

    You can set a Wubook restriction to send to Expedia (Min/Max Stay or Min/Max Stay on arrival). Expedia accepts only one of these two values: it supports both of them; it allows you to enable only one of them, excluding the other.

    Here you need to select the same restriction (Arrival-based or Through-based) that you set on your Expedia account.

    You must specify a value to make the connection work.


    Price Error Behaviour

    Expedia usually imposes maximum and minimum limits on room prices. For example, the standard price per night cannot be lower than 15 euros. It is essential to be aware of these limits.

    If the channel manager sends a price that violates these limits, the update fails, and the prices are not updated.
    In this case, you can choose whether:


    • Ignore: Ignore the error and proceed (the price in error will not be updated)
    • Set to Expedia limit (BETA): WooDoo will try to set the price respecting the limit required by Expedia. If this is not possible, Woodoo will stop the update and generate an error.
    •  Stop update: Stops the update and generates an error.

    When you click on the SAVE button, an update to the portal will start automatically for the maximum time range manageable by the channel manager (about a couple of years).
    When you go back to WooDoo's home page, next to the Expedia channel, you'll display a central green icon: it means that the connection has been successful and that Expedia was correctly connected to WooDoo.


    CONGRATULATIONS: the channel is active, and your Expedia account is now connected to the Channel Manager!


    Updates check

    As for all the other channels, in the WooDoo > Updates section, you can check Expedia updates' status, and you can also check if there are any updates in error.

    This check is essential: if there are any update errors, the portal remains out of date for the entire period affected by the update.

    The most common cause of update errors is price limits and minimum stay limits. To prevent this from happening, you will probably have to act on the Channel Preferences, just described, or, better still, contact Expedia to remove the limits that cause the errors.

    ↳ Link: WuBook/WooDoo > WooDoo > Updates
    ☞ Docs: Check updates - WuBook
    Since the first update covers a very long period, it will take longer than the daily updates.

    After waiting a few minutes, please check in the  > Updates section that the first update had been executed.
    We also recommend to check in the portal's extranet if the values of availability, prices, and restrictions correspond to those you've set on Wubook. If this is not the case, contact our support, specifying a day/room on which you have verified a misalignment.

    NB: please remember to make this verification on the channel extranet, not on the public booking portal: here, the data update does not depend on the channel manager but OTA's technical timing!


    Reconfiguring the channel

    If you change your room and rate map on Expedia, for example, by creating a new room or rate, you will need to RECONFIGURE the channel in Woodoo.
    To reconfigure the channel, you can read the following article:

    ☞ Docs: Reconfiguring a Channel


    Important notice about Min stay

    ! IMPORTANT! Expedia does not simultaneously manage "min stay" AND "min stay arrival". You have to choose one of them!
    When configuring your account on the Expedia extranet, you can decide whether the "min stay" you set on the extranet (or channel manager, in this case) should be read as "MinStayThrought" or "MinStayArrival."
    Remember that Expedia's "MinStayThrought" corresponds exactly to Wubook's "Min Stay" and Expedia's "MinStayArrival" corresponds to Wubook's "Min Stay Arrival."
    ! IMPORTANT ! Make sure which value you set in the minStay field in your Expedia account !
    ! IMPORTANT! Whatever value you set in Woodoo, Expedia will read that data as you set it on the portal's extranet!
    If on Woodoo you choose to send the value you set in the "min stay" field, but on Expedia, you've decided to read that value as "min Stay arrival," then your Wubook "min Stay" will be read by Expedia as a "min Stay arrival!"
    For this reason, we strongly recommend that you set in the Woodoo Channel Preferences the same type of "min stay" that is valid on your Expedia extranet.

    On Expedia you can have the allotment (basic availability)



    Expedia has two fields for availability:

     Flexible
     Basic.

    The Channel Manager updates only the flexible availability, the basic one is in allotment. On the WooDoo channel it is possible to indicate the allotment (basic availability of Expedia) for each room category.

    ☞ Docs: Allotment
    The allotment is subtracted from the availability sent by WuBooK so that the sum: flexible availability + basic availability on Expedia matches the one configured on WuBooK.

    Expedia Collect or Expedia Hotel Collect


    Expedia could act as an economic intermediary and withhold the booking amount directly from the booking user. In this case, the reservation is Expedia Collect.
    Otherwise, the guest can pay the booking amount directly to the property. In this case, the reservation is Expedia Hotel Collect.


    Reconciliations


    On Expedia, it is possible to request a " reconciliation" (Expedia Partner Central - Tab Accounting - Reconcilable bookings) of the amounts due to:


    • no show
    • modification of the reservation
    •  cancellation of reservation

    This functionality allows you to update the amount collected by the customer (even setting it to 0 if necessary, for example, if the credit card details are not valid) to avoid paying Expedia fees for uncollected amounts.

    ! WARNING! Reconciling on the Expedia portal a reservation as no show does NOT imply the cancellation of the reservation and the updating of availability! Only the reconciliation for cancellation involves the actual cancellation of the reservation and the restoration of room availability.



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