Booking Engine Linking Instructions

10/2/2008

Glossary..................................................................................................................................................... - 2 -
General instructions ................................................................................................................................. - 2 -
Valid QueryString Parameters ................................................................................................................. - 3 -
Common Tasks ......................................................................................................................................... - 5 -
Pre-selecting the Check Availability Page ......................................................................................... - 7 -
Bypassing the Check Availability Page.............................................................................................. - 7 -
Linking to the Reservation Search Page............................................................................................ - 7 -
Calling the Booking Engine ..................................................................................................................... - 9 -

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 Booking Engine Linking Instructions
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Glossary
SBE –Refers to the Reservations.synxis.com Standard (HTML/Linear) Booking Engine. Parameter
accepted by Standard Booking Engine.

ABE – Refers to the Reservations.synxis.com One Page (Flash/Advanced) Booking Engine.

Parameter accepted by Advanced Booking Engine.

* - The addition of an asterisk next to either of the above booking engine codes indicates that
the parameter is either required by that booking engine version or may only be passed to a
certain page. Note any instructions listed in parenthesis under parameter listing.

Please note the above keys when assigning QueryString parameters.

General instructions
• Parameters passed to Reservations.synxis.com pages must be in the following format:
Parameter name, “=” sign and parameter value:
ParameterName=Value, (ex. Hotel=10081)

• The following root pages are to be used to call the Reservations.synxis.com booking engines
(does not include required or optional parameters):

SBE – https://reservations.synxis.com/lbe/rez.aspx
ABE – https://reservations.synxis.com/opbe/rez.aspx

• When a parameter is the first to be added to the root page URL, separate it from the root
URL with a “?” otherwise separate all parameter and value pairs with an “&”.

• Example SBE call with parameters-

https://reservations.synxis.com/lbe/rez.aspx?Hotel=10081&Chain=5130&arrive=9/12/2005
&depart=9/14/2005&Adult=1

• Example ABE call with parameters-

https://reservations.synxis.com/opbe/rez.aspx?Hotel=10081&Chain=5130&arrive=9/12/200
5&depart=9/14/2005&Adult=1

• All parameter values listed are for example purposes only. Please verify parameter values
specific to your Property/Chain/Destination before linking.)

• Do not include empty parameters. In the following example, the child parameter should be
omitted: &hotel=10001&Child=&Adult=1

• Do not include invalid parameters in the URL. For example, when opening a booking engine
for the entire chain, do not pass invalid values in the hotel parameter:
&hotel=N/A&Chain=12345

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Valid Query String Parameters

hotel - SBE* / ABE*

Description: Distinct RedX Hotel Id which identifies the individual property to the particular
booking engine.
RedX Location: Administration > Hotel > Hotel Administration: Hotel Id
(* Required if “Chain” not passed )

chain - SBE / ABE*

Description: Identifier for specific chain property is assigned to.
RedX Location: Administration > Chain > Chain Maintenance: Chain Id
(* Required if “Hotel” not passed )

arrive - SBE / ABE*

Description: Check In Date. Arrival date selected by guest.
(* Must be paired with “depart” to perform availability check)

depart - SBE / ABE*

Description: Check Out Date. Departure date selected by guest.
(* Must be paired with “arrive”)

nights - SBE
Description: Number of Nights. In lieu of Depart, the number of nights may be passed. If
Depart is passed, the Nights parameter will be ignored.

adult - SBE / ABE

Description: Number of adults for selected stay dates.

child - SBE / ABE

Description: Number of children for selected stay dates.

lang - SBE /ABE

Description: Distinct Language Id identifying the language to be displayed in the booking
engine.
Default=1 : English.
Supported values:
1 : English
2 : Japanese
3 : French
4 : German
5 : Italian
6 : Russian
7 : Spanish
8 : Chinese (Traditional)
9 : Dutch
10 : Portuguese

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11 : Chinese (Simplified)
12 : Korean

locale - SBE /ABE

Description: Distinct Locale code identifying the locale to be used in the booking engine. A
locale code will override any “Lang” Id passed to the booking engines. Locale will set the
displayed language as well as the date/time and currency formats in the booking engine.
Default=en : English.
Supported values:
en : English
ja : Japanese
fr : French
de : German
it : Italian
ru : Russian
es : Spanish
zh-TW : Chinese (Traditional)
nl : Dutch
pt : Portuguese
zh-CN : Chinese (Simplified)
ko : Korean

NOTE: If a locale or lang parameter is passed, then the arrive & depart parameters must be in
the date format that matches the locale. For example, German URL’s must pass their dates as
DD.MM.YYYY and English-US URL’s must pass their dates as MM/DD/YYYY.

promo - SBE / ABE

Description: Promotional/Special Rate code pre-fills “Promotional Code” field in booking engine.
RedX Location: Promotional Rate code created in Setup > Rates > Promotions.

group - SBE / ABE

Description: Group block code.
RedX Location: Setup > Groups > Setup

src - SBE / ABE

Description: Tracks the secondary source code for a reservation.

rate – SBE / ABE

Description: Unique RedX Rate Type Id. When a valid rate Id is passed, the booking engine
will display only the specific associated rate type.
RedX Location: Setup > Rates > Rate Configuration

room – SBE
Description: Unique RedX Room Type Id. When a valid room Id is passed, the booking engine
will display only the specific associated room type.
RedX Location: Setup > Rooms > Room Configuration

iata – SBE / ABE

Description: Pre-fills the IATA Number field in the booking engine. This field is used to validate
IATA numbers and allows access to IATA guarantees.

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dest – SBE / ABE

Description: The destination Id determines the list of hotels that will be searched in an
availability check. Different destinations may have different styles, so the Dest parameter may
also change the look/feel of the booking engine.

step – SBE
Description: This is only used by the Standard Booking Engine. It indicates to the booking
engine the starting step in the booking process. The default is step=1 and is not a required
parameter. Step=2 indicates that the availability page should load. If step 2 is used, the arrive
and depart parameters must be present.

path – SBE
Description: This is only used by the Standard Booking Engine. It indicates to the booking
engine the type of process being initiated. The default is step=1 and is not a required
parameter.
Supported values:
1 : Book
2 : Search
3 : Cancel
4 : Modify

bwchk – ABE
Description: If present, this parameter will cause the ABE to perform a bandwidth check on the
guest’s internet connection. If the ABE has not loaded within 15 seconds, the booking engine will
automatically redirect the guest to the SBE, which has lesser bandwidth requirements.
(e.g. ‘bwchk=1’ turns on. If parameter is absent or has a blank value, no bandwidth check is
performed)

member – SBE / ABE

Description: Passing a value for this parameter will pre-fill the “Member Number” field during
the booking process.

firstName – SBE
Description: Passing a value for this parameter will pre-fill the “First Name” field during on the
guest information page.

lastName – SBE
Description: Passing a value for this parameter will pre-fill the “Last Name” field during on the
guest information page.

address – SBE
Description: Passing a value for this parameter will pre-fill the “Address 1” field during on the
guest information page.

Address2 – SBE
Description: Passing a value for this parameter will pre-fill the “Address 2” field during on the
guest information page.

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city – SBE
Description: Passing a value for this parameter will pre-fill the “City” field during on the guest
information page.

postalCode – SBE
Description: Passing a value for this parameter will pre-fill the “Postal Code” field during on the
guest information page.

phone – SBE
Description: Passing a value for this parameter will pre-fill the “Phone” field during on the guest
information page.

contact – SBE
Description: Passing a value for this parameter will pre-fill the “Contact Name” field during on
the guest information page.

email – SBE
Description: Passing a value for this parameter will pre-fill the “Email Address” field during on
the guest information page.

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Common Tasks

Pre-filling values/availability page parameters

This option is chosen by hotels that wish to override the default values prior to checking
availability. For example, if a hotel would prefer that the default number of adults was 2, they
would pass the &Adult=2 parameter when linking into the booking engine.

If you wish to pre-select the values on the check availability page, you may pass any combination
of the following parameters: Arrive, Depart, Nights (SBE only), Adult, Child, Iata and Promo.

Example call to the Check availability page:

https://reservations.synxis.com/lbe/rez.aspx?hotel=10081&arrive=10/01/2004&depart=10/02/20
04&adult=2

Bypassing the Check Availability Page

If you wish to by-pass the “Check Availability” page in the Standard Booking Engine, you may
directly call the “Room Availability” page. This option is often chosen when the hotel opts to
include the availability criteria (arrival date, departure date, adults, children, etc) on their own
site. When a customer on their website opts to check availability, they will be directed to the
Room Availability results.

There are 4 required parameters to access the Room Availability page: Hotel, Arrive, Depart and
Step. The Adult and Child parameters are optional and will default to 1 adult and no children.
The Step parameter must be set to 2 for the availability page to display.

Example call to Room Availability:

https://reservations.synxis.com/lbe/rez.aspx?hotel=10081&arrive=10/01/2004&depart=10/02/20
04&adult=2&step=2

Linking to the Amend Reservation Page

If you wish to by-pass the booking process and directly access the Amend Reservations page in
the Standard Booking Engine, you may do so using parameters. This option is chosen when
the hotel wishes to offer the ability for customers to enter their identifying reservation criteria
(email, confirmation number) on their own site. When a customer on their website opts to
search for a reservation, they will be directed to the Amend Reservation search results.

There are 4 required parameters to access the Room Availability page: Email, Confirm, Path and
Step. The Step and Path parameters must both be set to 2 for the Amend Reservation page to
display.

Example call to Amend Reservation page:

https://reservations.synxis.com/lbe/rez.aspx?hotel=558&step=2&path=2&email=guest.booker@s
ynxis.com&confirm=558SY001450

Linking to the Reservation Search Page

If you wish to by-pass the “Check Availability” page in the Standard Booking Engine, you may
directly call the “Reservation Search Page”. There are three required parameters Hotel, Step and

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Path. The Step parameter must be set to 2 and the Path parameter must be set to 2 for the
search page to display.

This option allows the hotels to include a “Find Reservation” or a “Modify Reservation” link on
their website.

Example call to the Reservation Search Page:

https://reservations.synxis.com/lbe/rez.aspx?hotel=10081&step=2&path=2

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Calling the Booking Engine

Depending upon which booking engine you are using and the layout of your own website (if
applicable), you have options for how you choose to call the Synxis booking engine page. Some
of these options require technical expertise and others require special consideration due to issues
of customer experience. Below are listed the current methods supported by
Reservations.synxis.com for the calling of our booking engine pages.

1. Link to Reservations.synxis.com within the same browser window:

This is the simplest option and best suited to Synxis clients’ subscribing only to the
Standard Booking Engine. When users click on your “Reservations” link, the current
browser window loads the Synxis booking engine using the Synxis secure domain.

This method is best for the Standard Booking Engine, but can be used with the One Page
Booking Engine. Synxis discourages this option for calling the ABE due to the heavy use
of Flash in the ABE which does not allow users to control the state of the booking engine
via the browsers “Back” and “Forward” buttons. Please see “Link to Synxis using a
POPUP window” for more information on this topic.

2. Link to Synxis ABE using a menuless POPUP window:

This option is recommended for clients using the ABE as their primary booking engine. It
is not recommended for clients using the Standard booking engine as their primary
booking engine.

When users click on your “Reservations” link, the current browser window remains and a
“JavaScript” loads the Synxis booking engine into a new window without any of the
excess browser functionality like menus and Back and Forward buttons. Synxis can
provide technical assistance with this, although the JavaScript knowledge required for
implementation is very minimal.

Synxis recommends this method for the ABE primarily to prevent the user from being
inclined to navigate with these buttons rather than using the Flash interface. The Flash
booking engine is a self contained application which only uses the browser as a holder to
launch within. Secondarily, Synxis recommends this method for optimal viewing area.
Since the flash movie dimensions are fixed and cannot be changed, the size of the
window should be fixed to accommodate the average internet user. Currently, most
internet users are still using screen resolutions of 800 pixels by 600 pixels. By opening a
window without menus and button bars, the most space is available for the user to see
the entire booking engine without having to scroll.

With either of these methods, Synxis has the expertise to answer any and all of your questions
and provide technical assistance as needed. Please contact you service representative with any
questions.

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