When a reservation has an invalid credit card and has been reported for this reason, you might need to cancel this reservation.
The following are the conditions set by Booking.com so you can cancel without them charging their commission:
- If you don’t receive updated credit card details within 24 hours, or the guest provides invalid credit card details again, you can cancel the booking. You can also cancel bookings until 3 pm (local time) on the day of arrival.
- For bookings made within 48 hours of check-in, if the card is invalid, the customer will have 12 hours (or until 3 pm, whichever is earlier) to update these details (instead of the usual 24 hours).
- The customer is always given at least 2 hours to update these details, i.e. if the booking is made after 2 pm on the day of arrival.
- For last-minute bookings of 10 or more room nights, partners can cancel two hours after marking the credit as invalid.
This information comes from Booking.com directly, you can read the full article here.
Step-by-step guide
In order to cancel a reservation by invalid credit card:
- Access the reservation page
- Make sure card has been marked as invalid and Booking.com's conditions are met (see above)
- Booking section > ellipsis > Cancel booking
- Select Cancellation reason = Invalid credit card
- Define Statement adjustment (if needed)
- Define Payments adjustment (if needed)
- Click on "Cancel booking"
- The system will show a message stating that the booking has been cancelled and set the status as cancelled
- The cancellation is automatically synced with Booking.com