Deck 6: Individual Reservations and Group Reservations

Question 1

Because reservation agents are monitored for the amount of time they take on each call, optional reservation data (such as date of arrival and number of rooms required) is often omitted when taking a telephone reservation.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Under pressure from anti-terrorist groups, the federal government's Office of Homeland Security has required the hotel industry to standardize all reservation-codes across the industry. This allows for easy identification of travelers.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Travel-agency reservations need to be distinguished from other reservations because travel agents typically get a 25% commission for business booked.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Many hotels choose to stay away from convention business because convention delegates generally spend less per day than other guest types.

Question 5

Pressure to balance municipal budgets has forced Convention and Visitor Bureaus (CVBs) to limit their cooperation with lodging industry partners and reduce overall services to citywide convention groups.

Question 6

It is standard procedure to offer rate discounts to

A) AARP members
B) Uniformed personnel, military and even firefighters and police
C) AAA members
D) Senior citizens
E) All of the above

Question 7

Executives of various trade and professional associations have, in turn, their own affiliation, ASAE, which is The:

A) American Society of Association Executives
B) Associated Society for American Standards
C) Associated Society of American Executives
D) American Standard for Associated Enterprises
E) None of these are involved in convention business

Question 8

Tour groups are:

A) Quoted rates as per person double occupancy (shares-with)
B) Part of a hotel's IT package
C) Assigned rooms throughout the hotel to minimize noise and baggage handling on floors
D) Not a component of yield-management considerations
E) All of the above

Question 9

If members of a convention group are offered a range of rates, the rate quote is said to be:

A) Spread or sliding rate
B) Rack rate
C) Flat rate
D) Run-of-house rate
E) All of the above except D

Question 10

Reservations requiring cash deposits have:

A) Been required from travel agencies since airlines have stopped paying them commissions
B) Generally replaced credit-card deposits as a means of saving commissions
C) Wider use among commercial/business properties than roadside motor inns
D) Never been popular with hotels
E) None of the above

Question 11

You have been asked to construct a computer program for taking telephone reservations; but capacity is limited. You must hold to the 6 most important components of a reservation. List them.

Question 12

Because organizations which qualify for discounts at most hotels, like AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) and AAA (American Automobile Association), are interfaced directly to national central reservations systems, they do not require members to ask for discounts when making reservations. Through the interfaced technology, discounts are automatically granted to registered members.

Question 13

Within a given city, there is usually a convention and visitor's authority or bureau (CVA or CVB) which handles group room negotiations between more than one hotel. In other words, a large convention coming to Fresno (assume it is too large a convention to be housed in just one of Fresno's hotels) would initially be handled by the CVB acting on behalf of several hotels at once.

Question 14

Guaranteed reservations made by telephone are confirmed on the spot, with the reservationist furnishing the caller a confirmation number. This is true even for those reservations systems which send written acknowledgment to the guest several days later.

Question 15

Reservations without deposit or guarantee (non-guaranteed reservations) are sometimes referred to as 6pm-hold reservations.

Question 16

Guaranteed reservation guests arriving very late (say 2am or later) will still be provided a room, because their guarantee paid for it and it belongs to them all night long, no matter what the arrival time.

Question 17

An IT (Inclusive Tour) package is put together by a tour operator and sold to guests through travel agents.

Question 18

Reservations should not be quoted an exact rate. Rather, they should be quoted a rate range (usually about a $6 to $10 spread) with the low-end of the range being the rate requested by the guest. In this way, if the exact room requested is not available when the guest arrives, the hotel can upgrade the guest to a more expensive accommodation and charge the higher end of the rate range quoted.

Question 19

One complimentary room per 50 room nights sold is a widely quoted industry measure used when negotiating convention and group business.

Question 20

A hotel's IT package is generally identical in terms of services and amenities as a package offered by a wholesaler through a travel agent in a distant city.

Question 21

Public convention and visitor bureaus (CVB's) usually operate housing agencies (often without fee) to facilitate reservations for groups too large to be housed in one hotel.

Question 22

Trade associations reserve a block of rooms roughly equal in size to the number of delegates anticipated to attend the meeting, annual conference, etc. Thereby, the association becomes financially responsible for unsold rooms through attrition clauses in the group rooms contract.

Question 23

Because hotels block a certain number of rooms for a given convention group reservation, it is possible to accept reservation requests from conventioneers, but refuse requests for the very same night from individuals with no affiliation to the group.

Question 24

Although it creates labor savings for the chain, many potential guests become frustrated with automated telephone systems which require callers to listen to options and press buttons to move through the process. Many callers just want to talk with a live person.

Question 25

Many of today's central reservations call centers are located overseas.

Question 26

Hotels which utilize guest history database systems both save time and appear more efficient; a reservationist using such a system could literally remind the caller what he had for room service breakfast and that it was delivered at 6am. And ask if he would like to arrange the same order for this visit as well.

Question 27

Generally, one would expect to see higher average per delegate spending with a medical convention than with a military or religious convention.

Question 28

SMERF business is usually regional in nature and is characterized by shorter lead time than full-blown convention business.

Question 29

A trade show is a type of advertising (movie or Internet video) traded for lodging business. Also known as a trade-out.

Question 30

For most conventioneers, the hotel room is the largest single expenditure category aside from air travel.

Question 31

All else equal, the reservationist should always offer the caller a list of possible discounts before quoting a rack rate for the reservation.

Question 32

Group and convention business comp rooms are usually quoted in a ratio of 1 free (comp) room for every 86 rooms paid (sometimes shown as 1:86).

Question 33

Association executives will often visit a community and look at several hotels before deciding where to book their group. These visits are often called "site inspections."

Question 34

All else equal, the reservationist should be trained to first offer the caller a:

A) Flat rate
B) Weekend rate
C) Rack rate
D) Package rate
E) Convention rate

Question 35

Regarding group business:

A) Convention guests are sold individually, but handled as a group by the front desk
B) Trade shows are developed by the sales department and presented (shown) to prospective hotel clients (also called the "trades") as a means of increasing group room sales
C) IT packages are sold individually, but handled as a group by the front desk
D) Tour guests are sold individually, but handled as a group by the front desk
E) All of the above

Question 36

The International Society of Horse Traders convention has been quoted a number of different rates; the $165 rack rate standard room is $125 for this convention, the $189 queen parlor is $144 and the $215 king deluxe is $169. This group has been quoted:

A) Spread rates
B) Rack rates
C) Run-of-house rates
D) Flat rates
E) None of the above

Question 37

If tour-group guests, given coupons with which to buy meals in hotel restaurants, do not use the coupons, the:

A) Tour operator must reimburse the hotel
B) Guests must reimburse the hotel
C) Hotel will not receive the meal revenues from the tour operator because there is no proof the meal was received since no coupons were redeemed
D) Guests get refunds from the tour operator
E) None of the above

Question 38

Fam trips are complimentary or discounted rates furnished:

A) To famous meeting planners
B) For travel agent familiarization trips
C) To families
D) For famous celebrities
E) None of the above

Question 39

A guest who arrives without a reservation is a:

A) Walk-in guest
B) Walking-by guest
C) Walking guest
D) Walked guest
E) None of the above

Question 40

Which of the following falls into the nonessential (nice-to-know) category of reservation data, as contrasted with essential (need-to-know) data?

A) Type of sleeping accommodations requested
B) Means of travel or transportation
C) Name and number in the party
D) Date of arrival
E) None of the above; that is, they are all essential

Question 41

Guests with an arriving convention group are assigned whichever room appears first on the computer screen at the time of their check-in, but everyone is charged the same $100 rate. This group was quoted:

A) Flat or run-of-the-house rates
B) Spread rates
C) Over-under rates
D) ROC (room of choice) rates
E) None of the above

Question 42

Which of the following are accurate types of business represented by the acronym SMERF:

A) Educational
B) Medical
C) Socratic
D) Flat rate
E) Rorschach

Question 43

Association executives and meeting planners will often visit a community and look at several hotels before deciding where to book their group. These visits are usually referred to as:

A) Room sizing-up
B) Lodging Audits
C) Family trips
D) Site inspections
E) None of the above

Question 44

At any given property, which of the following is a valid argument in favor of marketing for group business?

A) Group business represents a high percentage of the industry's occupancy
B) The individual guests within the group may spend more (have a higher worth) than regular guests
C) There are economies of scale or savings generated by selling and delivering a bulk of rooms to group business
D) All of the above are valid arguments
E) None of the above are valid arguments

Question 45

The PriceWaterhouseCoopers convention has been quoted a single rate. No matter which room they may receive at check-in (standard room, city-view parlor or king deluxe), they are all charged $149 per night. This group has been quoted:

A) Rack rates
B) Run-of-house/flat rates
C) Spread rates
D) Set day rates
E) None of the above