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Q: Why did I receive this notification to bid?
A: We are a booking agent that places the client in direct contact
with any number of hotels. The client comes to us with
their dates of stay and room requests. On their page for registration they fill out
options such as star rating and any additional comments they may have. After
they submit their request, we send it out to our registered database
and any hotels the client requests specifically. When you receive
our email and are not registered, you follow the link to our site which
has the details of the work you are to give us a quote for. On the left
you will see a link to register your hotel and place an offer. There is no fee to
register nor will there ever be any sort of subscription costs. Once
you have registered, you can program your account to only send you
exactly the type of requests you'd like. Once
registered we will notify you only when a party or individual is
traveling to your area with the criteria you specified. In the event
that the client accepts your rates, we will notify you and request 10%
commission after the client checks out (the industry standard for travel agents.) We do not ask you
to hold rooms and we never will raise your rates for the client.
What you quote is what they get.
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Q: Why should my hotel sign up? What is different about Lexyl?
A: Lexyl is different from anything else you have experienced. Our technology is currently up for a patent and our clients have had great things to say about us.
"Lexyl Travel Technologies, Inc., also known as Lexyl.com, has become the first online travel company to offer real-time online group bookings for up to 30 rooms per night in 90% of worldwide travel destinations. Lexyl.com also provides a venue for travel agents and wholesalers to gather rates for their clients as well as bid for potential new business."
- The Daily Lodging Report for 12/21/03
Not only do we pass through travel agent reservations to your hotel at no charge, we are also the only company that will feature your resort with a direct link to your website via our hotel directories. This will improve your search engine ranking, as well as send you direct bookings to your website.
We have calculated that 1 out of 3 booking requests actually call the hotel directly since we give our clients so much hotel contact information on our website. But we do this in order to stay true to our mission statement, to be an informational travel forum and not a wholesaler of any kind.
We will only send you clients' requests within the star rating and number of rooms per night you have specified when you register. We will never tell you what rate to offer them, nor will we ever interfere with that rate. We want to let you control your inventory and rate integrity as much as possible. We respect the fact that you know the best way to run your hotels. In the same respect, we only want to do what we do best, which is create a computer enhanced travel forum that makes both hotels and clients happy.
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Q: I only deal with groups of 10 rooms or more, why are you contacting me for individual room reservations?
A: Lexyl's website is designed with the user in mind. Once a hotel has become registered it is wholly in the hands of the hotel to decide how and when they are notified for business. If, for instance, a representative from a particular hotel only wishes to be notified when groups of ten or more rooms are needed, that representative can update their settings to work for them. During the registration process, the representative will notice an option at the bottom of the page that allows for selective processing. Once this option has been selected the representative can choose the minimum and maximum number of rooms a client has to reach before they are notified thereby ameliorating the need to wade through unwanted notices in your inbox. We can also only notify you based on the client's target nightly rate.
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Q: Our company does not permit placing bids online, can I fax or email my bid?
A: First and foremost, we are not asking you to place a bid in its most literal sense. What we are looking for from the hotels is a realistic, competitive rate. Because we are not a wholesaler we do not require you to hold blocks of rooms, nor will we ever raise the price you post in order to make a profit. What you post in our database--for each individual customer, no rate will ever carry to another client--is what the client will see. That being said, we at Lexyl could not understand why your company would disallow you to post your rates online. Furthermore, when you place the bid yourself, it inherently instills a sense of confidence in your product. A client is more likely to choose a hotel who posts their own rates than one who doesn't show up at all.
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Q: What are the costs or fees for signing up my hotel to place bids?
A: Lexyl will never charge you to sign up, post your rates or browse our site. We have developed a community that is friendly and attractive for both the client and the hotel and as such, charges would only inhibit our users and our intentions. Registration is entirely free and will stay so. The only time you will ever be requested to pay us at Lexyl would be after we have brought you business. In that case, we would send you a request for the industry standard ten percent commission.
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Q: How did you find my hotel?
A: We find hotels in a myriad of ways. Primarily we use hotels that we have experienced first hand. We prefer to contact hotels that we, as travelers ourselves, have appreciated. We also take our customers' recommendations very seriously. Every time we have a satisfied client mention to us the great time they had at a hotel, we research it and try to get them to become members. Finally, we here at Lexyl know that the word on the street carries just as much importance as any recommendation or personal experience. For that reason, we are all reading periodicals, newspapers, and trade publications in order to try to find the next great hotel.
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Q: How will I know if my bid is accepted?
A: In the event one of your bids on Lexyl is accepted by the client, you will be notified via e-mail with the client's contact information and instructions on how to bill the client. At this point, the client has been instructed to contact you at the phone number provided for your account. We also highly encourage you to contact the client at this point to finalize arrangements as fits best for both parties. E-mails with instructions will go out to both you and the client. If you do not receive an e-mail or call from the client, your offer was not accepted.
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Q: Why aren't my bids being accepted?
A: First, please make sure you have read through our Help section. There are a number of things to consider when placing a bid. You must take into account the clients' budget, the desired star rating and any specifications the client may ask for (i.e. banquet space or proximity to locals). In the event that you are paying attention to all of these things and you are still not receiving work through Lexyl, you should probably take a comparative look at your amenities versus your rates. We are a competitive booking agency and as such, many hotels will post rates lower than their standard fairs.
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Q: What should I do if our hotel has sold out after I placed a bid?
A: You should "archive" and then "delete" your bid in this instance. The client must make final arrangements with you personally anyways, so at this time you should tell them you have sold out since the bid was placed.
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Q: How do I delete/change my offer?
A: You should "delete" your offer and then post a new offer. In your summary, click the "Delete" button next to the offer you want to delete. Now you can repost an offer and disregard your initial offer.
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Q: What is offer expiration?
A: This is where you can specify the length of time that your offer is valid for after the client receives it for the first time. The client may still contact you regarding their stay, but you are no longer obligated to extend your offer after the expiration. This is an effective sales technique to entice the client to contact you sooner rather than later.
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Q: If a travel agent books, do we need to pay 10% to Lexyl and 10% to the travel agent?
A: No, you will only have to pay 10% to Lexyl and we will make sure the travel agents commission is paid promptly.
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Q: Are you a member of IATA?
A: Yes, please email us for our number.
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Q: What happens after my offer has been accepted? Do we charge the client or HotelPlanner?
A: Our online system can collect the payment method from the client or from each person
in their group if each guest is paying separately. The system will then
automatically build a rooming list for your hotel and allow you to login and
view their credit card information securely online in order to transfer the
reservations into your system. You will be notified via email each time a group member is added to the rooming list. We do not bill their credit cards unless
instructed by the hotel and client in a special case. This
process will take place after the contract is signed with the booking party.
After a hotel offer is accepted, the most important step is to make sure you and
the client have a chance to talk so that any details can be worked out and a contract is put into place if one is required for your hotel.
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Q: What is a Cut Off Date?
A: This is the date before check in, when reservations under the group block will no longer be accepted.
Ex: Assume a Check In Date of: June 15th
A "One Week" cut off date would mean that reservations under the group block would no longer be honored as of June 8th.
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