Gift Certificates

Gift Certificates User Guide

1. Introduction to Gift Certificates

The Gift Certificate section allows guests to purchase certificates in various amounts that can be redeemed for reservations.

2. Getting Started with Gift Certificates

The “Get Certificates” section contains all the settings required to set up this feature.

2.1. Primary Settings

  • Page Title: Enter the text that will appear as the title of the gift certificate purchase page.
  • Online Payments: Select the payment methods you want to enable for gift certificate purchases from the dropdown menu. Supported payment types include: PayPal, Authorize.net, Offline Credit Card, VacationRent Payment / InnPayment / Yapstone, PaygistiX, First Payment Gateway, and Square.
  • Valid Amounts (Optional): Enter the denominations in which gift certificates can be purchased, separated by a hash symbol (#) (e.g., 100#200#300). Do not include currency symbols or formatting; use numerical values only. The amounts entered here will appear in a dropdown menu for the purchaser to select from. If left blank, the purchaser may be able to enter a custom amount depending on your payment gateway setup.

2.2. Page Settings

  • Page Theme: Choose a system theme or one of your custom themes to set the visual appearance of the gift certificate purchase page.
  • Purchase Page Greeting: Enter the message you want to display on the purchase page, below the page title.
  • Photo: Upload a photo to appear in the header section of both the purchase and confirmation pages. The photo will be automatically resized to a maximum width of 250 pixels and a maximum height of 200 pixels.
  • Payment Confirmation Message: Enter the message that buyers will see after their gift certificate purchase is successfully completed.
  • Purchase & Confirmation Page Footer: Enter any text you want to display in the footer section of both the purchase and confirmation pages.
  • Buyer Confirmation Email: Enter the text for an email that will be sent to the buyer upon successful purchase of a gift certificate. Leave this field blank if you do not want to send a confirmation email to the buyer.
  • BCC Confirmation Email To: If you wish to receive email notifications when a gift certificate is purchased, enter your email address in this BCC field. Separate multiple email addresses with semicolons (;).
  • Use Captcha: Set this option to “Yes” if you are experiencing spam submissions through your gift certificate page. A CAPTCHA code will be required before the buyer can submit the form.
  • Enabled Reservation Pages: Check the box next to each reservation page where the gift certificate code field should be visible. This allows guests to redeem their gift certificate codes on the selected reservation pages. You can edit the label text for this field in the reservation page settings under the reservation form customization options. Note: Even if the gift code box is not explicitly enabled here, it may still appear on a page if discount codes are enabled for that page, as the same text field is used for both.

2.3. Certificate Settings

  • Certificate Header: Enter the text you want to appear in the top-left section of the printable gift certificate, above the main certificate content.
  • Certificate Message: Enter the message that will be printed below the gift certificate details. This is a good place to include any restrictions on usage or instructions on how to redeem the certificate.
  • Certificate Theme: Select a color theme (green, blue, pink, red) to set the visual style of the certificate. Choose “custom” to enter your own custom CSS for styling the gift certificate.
  • Certificate Expiration Date: Specify the number of months (from 1 to 60) from the date of purchase that the gift certificate will remain valid.
  • Link for QR Code: Enter the URL of one of your reservation pages. This URL will be encoded into a QR code that is printed on the gift certificate. Scanning this QR code will take the guest directly to the selected reservation page, and the gift certificate code will be automatically filled in once they select a room to reserve, making the redemption process easier. Your available reservation pages are listed; simply click the page name to set its URL or click “Calendar View” to use the calendar view URL.

2.4. Linking to This Page

  • Direct Link: The URL provided in the following box is the direct link to your gift certificate purchase page. You can copy and paste this link to include it on your website or in emails.
  • Simply include the provided URL on your site to direct users to your gift certificate page.

2.5. Merge Codes for Gift Certificates

You can use the following merge codes in any of the customizable text fields within the gift certificate settings. When the page or certificate is viewed, these codes will be automatically replaced with the corresponding information from the ReservationKey database.

  • {{dateshort}}
  • {{datelong}}
  • {{datedayofweek}}
  • {{companyname}}
  • {{companyaddress}}
  • {{companycity}}
  • {{companystate}}
  • {{companyzip}}
  • {{companycountry}}
  • {{companyphone}}
  • {{companyemail}}
  • {{companywebsite}}
  • {{buyername}}
  • {{buyeremail}}
  • {{recipientname}}
  • {{certificatecode}}
  • {{amount}}
  • {{expirationdate}}
  • {{viewcertificatelink}}
  • {{viewsamplecertificatelink}}

How do I get start with selling gift certificates?

Go to the Website Tab, and click the side tab, Gift Certificates. If you don’t see this tab, make sure it is enabled, under your user settings in Settings Tab. Customize the fields as necessary and then start linking to your Gift Certificates page from your website. You will find your unique link at the bottom of the setup page.

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What types of online payments can be use with gift certificates?

To completely automate the selling process, you may use one of our integrated payment solutions such as PayPal or authorize.net. Or, if you want to manually charge the buyer’s card you may collect their credit card number, charge the card, and then mark the certificate as valid. You will receive the first 12 digits in an email notification, and the last 4 digits can be retrieve by clicking a link in the email, or from within ReservationKey.

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How can I customize the look and feel of my gift certificates sale page?

You may change the theme by selecting from one of our pre-defined themes. Or you may edit the theme under the Themes tab. The themes are created with a CSS stylesheet so you only need to edit the CSS to adjust the look and feel of the theme.

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Do I have to send an email confirmation after someone buys a gift certificate?

No, an email confirmation will only go out if the email confirmation field is not empty. Fill in your email address in the BCC field if you want to receive a copy of confirmations when they are sent out. Additionally, confirmations will only be sent out if your buyer includes an email address.

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Do gift certificates expire?

Gift certificates only expire if you set them to expire. You can set no expiration date, or you can select an expiration date between 1 and 60 months from date of purchase.

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What happens if someone tries to use an expired gift certificate?

The user will receive a message saying the gift certificate is invalid.

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How does a guest use a gift certificate?

Your guest enters the certificate code into the Gift / Discount Code box on your reservation form. If a valid code is entered, up to the value of the certificate will be automatically deducted from the reservation price. It is also possible to use a gift certificate for reservations you enter manually. Under the Payments section, select payment category of Gift Certificate and enter the code. If valid, the amount entered to be paid by gift certificate will be entered as a payment.

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What is the Create Certificate section used for (under Gift Certificate Settings)?

Use this section to create gift certificates manually, without having to pay for them electronically. This is useful if you want to give gift certificates away as a promption (such as a thank you present), or you have a guest wanting to purchase a gift certificate in person, paying with cash. You just need to generate the certificate manually, and enter the purchaser’s email address in the buyer email address field and that person will receive an email confirmation containing the gift certificate code.

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Do you have a tour of the Gift Certificate options?

To view screenshots and further explanations of this section, please see our Gift Certificates Tour.

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Can I enter my own amounts for the face value in which I sell certificates?

Yes, we have a field where you can enter your own amounts, but separating values with a hash sign, such as 100#200#300#300. Or leave that field blank to use our default amounts with incrementally range from $25 to $4,000.

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