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On Booking.com, a reservation can be paid to your property or to Booking.com. It depends on how your account is set up and on the rate the guest chooses: the same property can have rates of both kinds. Knowing who collects each reservation avoids charging the guest twice and tells you what to do in Roomdoo.
Booking.com defines these payment options and their conditions, and they can vary by country. This summary is based on Booking.com’s official partner help (links at the end) and on what we checked in real extranets in October 2026. The screenshots show the Spanish version of the extranet.

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Payment options

Some details about the virtual credit card, according to Booking.com’s help:
  • Each reservation has its own card, and it can only be charged from an activation date. The reservation shows “Not activated yet” and the date from which you can charge it.
  • For non-refundable reservations it’s activated straight away. For the rest, when the reservation can no longer be cancelled for free.
  • You have up to 12 months after the guest’s check-out to charge it.
Anything not included in the Booking price (for example, the tourist tax) is still charged by your property.

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How to tell which one your property uses

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In your extranet

1

Check whether Payments by Booking.com is active

Type payments in the extranet search box and open Payments by Booking.com. It shows whether it’s active and a table of who collects payment depending on the condition the guest chooses.
Payments by Booking.com page with the table of who facilitates payment depending on the guest's condition
2

Check how Booking.com pays you

In Finance → Finance settings, under Payments by Booking.com, you’ll see the method: virtual credit card or bank transfer.
Finance settings with the virtual credit card payment method enabled
3

Review your booking policies

In Property → Policies, each policy says who charges and when. For example: “Booking.com will charge the guest the full prepayment amount before the free cancellation period ends”.
Booking policies with the cancellation and prepayment policy
4

Confirm it in each reservation

In the reservation details, the payment section says, for example, that payment is made through Payments by Booking.com, and shows the virtual card with its activation date.
Reservation payment details with the virtual credit card not activated yet

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From the outside, on your property’s Booking.com listing

If you don’t have the extranet at hand, the public listing gives plenty of clues. Next to each rate, Booking.com shows the guest texts like these (shown here as they appear on the Spanish site): Check rate by rate and on several dates: each rate can be collected differently.

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What you’ll see in Roomdoo

If Booking.com collects the reservation, don’t ask the guest to pay: they have paid or will pay Booking.com. To stop it showing as outstanding in Roomdoo, charge the virtual card from its activation date and record that payment. If you think a guest has paid twice, see Real overpayment / duplicate charge.
To record the virtual card payment, follow How to record a payment, using the journal you use for your card terminal.

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Common cases

Booking.com most likely collects it and pays you with a virtual card. Check the reservation details in your extranet. If so, don’t charge the guest: charge the virtual card once it’s active and record the payment in Roomdoo.
Check its activation date in the reservation details: it can’t be charged before then. If it’s already active and the charge fails, contact Booking.com.
It’s a typical rounding mismatch. See Cent-level overpayments on prepaid OTA reservations.

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When to contact support

  • A Booking.com reservation paid by bank transfer doesn’t show the payment recorded in Roomdoo.
  • You think a guest has paid a Booking.com reservation twice.

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Booking.com sources

Booking.com: how your emails reach the guest

How to record a payment

Real overpayment / duplicate charge

Guest details sent by the OTAs