Anytime Gift Cards: let guests add a gift card after booking

In this article, you will find what Anytime Gift Cards is, how it works for your guests, and what to do if something goes wrong.

Summary

1. What is Anytime Gift Cards and why use it?
2. How it works for your guests
3. Troubleshooting & FAQ

What you need to know

Guests no longer need to call you to add a gift card once their reservation is confirmed or once they are selected from the waitlist. Nothing changes in how you sell or redeem gift cards.

1. What is Anytime Gift Cards and why use it?

Guests add their gift card themselves, after the reservation is confirmed or after being selected from the waitlist.

Before, a guest who forgot their gift card at booking, who received a gift card after booking, or who joined the waitlist had to call the restaurant. Now they can add the gift card on their own, so more gift cards get used and your team spends less time on the phone.

• Waitlist guests see a message that they can add a gift card once they are selected from the waitlist
• Confirmed reservations get a message in the confirmation email that points to the reservation management page
• Payment page: when a prepayment is requested at confirmation, the guest can add a gift card there

After gift cards are added, the confirmation email is updated with the gift card number, amount and name.

2. How it works for your guests

There is nothing to set up. The feature is available automatically.

The guest opens the reservation management page from the link in the confirmation email, enters the gift card code, and submits it. For reservations with a credit card hold, gift cards are added from this page only. A guest can add up to 10 gift cards, or the maximum allowed by your service restriction if you enabled one.

3. Troubleshooting & FAQ

Common Issues

• The code is rejected — the gift card is invalid, expired or already used up, and the guest sees the usual error message
• The gift card option is not shown — it is not offered once a prepayment is paid, or when gift cards are already on the reservation
• The reservation has a prepayment or a deposit — the gift card amount is not deducted from the prepayment or deposit amount yet. This will come in a later update.

FAQ

• How many gift cards can a guest add? Up to 10, or the maximum allowed by your service restriction if you enabled one. Once the reservation already has gift cards, no more can be added.
• Can a gift card be changed or removed after it is added? No, this is not supported.
• Can a guest add a gift card when the prepayment is already paid? No, the gift card option is not offered once a prepayment is paid.
• Can I still attach a gift card myself? Yes, attaching a gift card manually from the back office is unchanged.