It is 10 in the morning. Room 4 has been waiting since yesterday afternoon for a couple from Booking.com. They did not come. They did not answer the message or the phone. The room stayed empty for a night in high season, and the guarantee card is right there on the reservation.
The first instinct is to charge it at once. Charging a no-show has rules, though: which amount, when, on which card, and what you report to Booking.com. Do things in the wrong order and you may pay commission on money you never collected, or face a chargeback from the guest's bank.
First: what the reservation's policy says
The amount you may charge for a no-show is set by the cancellation policy the guest saw when they booked. Not the policy you have today, but the one that applied to this reservation.
- Non-refundable rate: usually allows charging the full amount, whether the guest comes or not.
- Free cancellation until a date: after that date the no-show is charged as the policy says, for example the first night or the whole stay.
- No no-show charge: then you charge nothing, however much the empty room cost you.
In Bookmatrix.com every cancellation policy also has a no-show rule: the full reservation amount, the policy default, or no charge. The policy is linked to the rate plan, so the reservation tells you which rule applies. For bookings from your own website the question often does not arise: the guest has already paid the deposit by card through the booking engine's card payments.
Which card you are holding
Booking.com sends two kinds of card, and they are charged differently.
The guest's own card
The guest gave their own card as a guarantee. Its details arrive with the reservation through the channel manager and you see them on the reservation in Bookmatrix.com. You charge it yourself, through your card provider, for the amount the policy allows.
Booking.com's virtual card
When the guest pays through Booking.com (Payments by Booking.com), you receive a virtual card for that reservation. It is loaded with the reservation amount and becomes active from a set date, usually the check-in day. A charge before that date is declined. Check on the reservation from when the card is valid and how much it holds.
Step by step: charging a no-show
- Make sure it really is a no-show. Send a message and call. A delayed flight or a cancelled ferry is not a no-show. If the guest replies that they arrive tomorrow, you adjust the dates.
- Check the policy and the amount. Open the reservation, look at the rate plan and the cancellation policy. Work out the amount allowed, and no more.
- Charge the card. In the way your card provider allows. If it is a virtual card, make sure it is active. Keep the transaction receipt.
- Mark the reservation as no-show in Bookmatrix.com. The reservation stays on the calendar with a different look. Its scheduled automations, such as pre-arrival emails, stop. The remaining nights become available again on every channel, so the room can be sold again for tonight. The reservation's charges stay in place so you can issue the document, and the guest card counts the no-show.
- Report the no-show on Booking.com too. In the extranet (Reservations, the reservation, "Mark as no-show") or in the Pulse app. According to Booking.com's partner help, the option is available from midnight on the check-in date and for a limited time after. There you choose whether you charge or waive the fee.
- Issue the document. From the same reservation, for the amount you collected. Ask your accountant which document type fits a no-show.
Commission: what you pay Booking.com
If you charge the guest for the no-show, Booking.com counts commission on that amount as usual. If you decide not to charge and mark the reservation as a no-show correctly, no commission is due. The same applies when you report the card as invalid because the charge did not go through. That is why step 5 is not a detail: forget it and the monthly invoice will carry commission for a reservation that earned you nothing.
If the card is declined
- Do not retry again and again. Many failed attempts in a row can get the card blocked. Read the decline reason: "insufficient funds" is not the same as "card does not exist".
- Report the card as invalid on Booking.com. That records that you could not charge, and you pay no commission.
- Send a payment link. From the reservation in Bookmatrix.com you create a link for the amount and send it to the guest. They pay by card on their phone, through Stripe, JCC, epay or another provider, and the payment is recorded on the reservation by itself. There is no guarantee they will pay, but you give them an easy way to do it.
How to have fewer no-shows from the start
No-shows will not disappear, but they can cost less. Ask for a deposit on your website bookings. Offer a non-refundable plan at a lower price for guests who are sure. Send an email a few days before arrival, so anyone who is not coming cancels in time and the room can be sold again. See how to do this without commission in the article on commission-free bookings, and why availability must update on every channel at once in why every hotel needs a channel manager.
Frequently asked questions
When can I charge a Booking.com no-show?
After the arrival time has passed and you are sure the guest is not coming, for the amount the reservation's cancellation policy allows. A virtual card can only be charged from its activation date.
Do I pay commission on a no-show?
If you charge the guest, yes. If you waive the fee and mark the reservation as a no-show on Booking.com, no.
Is the room released on the other channels?
Yes. When you mark the reservation as a no-show in Bookmatrix.com, its dates become available again on every connected channel.
What if the card is declined?
Report it as invalid on Booking.com and send the guest a payment link from the reservation.
Sources
- Booking.com Partner Help: Reporting guests no-shows at your property
- Booking.com Partner Help: Reporting no-shows and cancellations
Updated: 14/10/2026. Booking.com's rules change. Check the current version in your extranet.
Want to see how a no-show looks on your own calendar? Try Bookmatrix.com free for 14 days with your own rooms at bookmatrix.com/demo, or leave your details at bookmatrix.com/form and we will call you on the next working day. You can also call us at +30 2351 151525.