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Making a booking
Travel Plan booking request process and how it works
What to consider when making a booking?
Monastery Stays maintains, to the best of its ability, the most current data on all properties listed for booking, to provide you with the necessary information to make an informed decision. You need to be aware of the following:
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Europe is busy with tourists year round as festivals and culture make for many attractive destinations. Visitor numbers peak in September.
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From January to March and October-November are often the best times to travel - unique destinations without the crowds!
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The number of rooms available. e.g. it is often easier to make a booking in a place offering 80 beds than one offering only 15 beds per night. Be prepared with Preferences for your Travel Plan.
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Look to longer stays in less destinations to maximise your experience and explore a location from a peaceful base.
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The location selected by you is important but it may pay to select a number of Preferences across a city. Public transport in most cities is very good, so use the Map on each guest house page to see the location and transport options nearby.
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Do not leave your booking request until 1-2 weeks before you intend to stay - availability will be scarce and you will need to provide Preferences for each Stay to ensure we can work efficiently for you. Plan ahead!
That said, Monastery Stays guarantees to try it's best to find you accommodation when and where you want it.
The Travel Plan Booking system has an inbuilt minimum lead time to the Arrival Date selection, monastery and convent guest houses are not hotels with instant booking systems, we work for you, our booking process is thorough and understands each guest house. This lead time allows enough time for us to turn-around your Travel Plan result and for you to know the status of your Travel Plan before your intended arrival date.
Back to Top What is a Travel Plan?
A Travel Plan is your Monastery Stays accommodation requirement, configured by you, using the online booking service.
How do I start my Travel Plan?
You create a Travel Plan by using the Search system on Monastery Stays - selecting the monastery and convent guest houses that meet your requirements (Click to View). There is a 'Book Now' section on the right hand side of every guest house page, enter your Arrive/Depart dates and you can select your Rooms and then click '3. Add to Travel Plan'.
'Add to Travel Plan' puts that Preference into a Stay (defined by Arrive and Depart dates) on your Travel Plan.
Clear and simple help guides are presented throughout the process based on where you move your mouse and click/hover on the Search screen.
How do I organise my Travel Plan?
You can manage your Preferences within a Travel Plan following the clear and simple on-screen guide.
What else can I do with my Travel Plan?
Save your Travel Plan
On the Travel Plan screen to store your work in progress until you are ready to book.
Submit your Travel Plan for Booking
When you are ready, complete the Travel Plan Authorisation which submits your Plan to Monastery Stays booking service.
Each Preference, by Stay on your the Travel Plan shows you the Pricing:
| Total Cost |
= |
Price x Number of Nights |
| Pay Now |
= |
Amount paid upon booking of the confirmed Preference |
| Pay Later |
= |
Balance (Total - Pay Now) paid at the Preference at check-in |
| Total Cost |
= |
Pay Now + Pay Later |
Terms Explained
- Number of Nights is defined by your Arrive and Depart dates per Stay on the Plan.
- Price for a Preference is quoted per room per night, including Monastery Room Rate and Monastery Stays Booking Fee.
- Pay Now is Monastery Stays Booking Fee & Deposit if required by the Preference.
- Pay Later is the balance (Total Cost - Pay Now) paid at the confirmed Preference at checkin.
Back to Top What is the Travel Plan Pay Now Authorisation?
The Pay Now Authorisation completed in the Travel Plan Submit stage is:
- Required to submit the Travel Plan for booking.
- The sum of the maximum Pay Now amount(s) for the Stay(s) on the Travel Plan, it is not additional/incremental - it allows Monastery Stays to work efficiently for you to confirm the first available Preference per Stay from your Travel Plan.
- Your Authorisation for Monastery Stays to process, then charge the Pay Now amount for each booked Stay.
- If a Preference can not be confirmed for a Stay, there is no charge and we will come back to you via the in Travel Plan Message system to assist you and request further Preferences. The Pay Now Authorisation is held securely and not charged until a Preference is confirmed. If you did not wish to proceed with the specific Stay you can advise as such at that time and the Travel Plan Authorisation per unconfirmed Stay is returned to you.
- Authorisation is held by the secure payment gateway until completion when uncharged funds are released to you
No completed Travel Plan Pay Now Authorisation = no booking request. We do not process bookings via email request, you must submit a correctly authorised Travel Plan, please understand that this ensures the correct data for your booking, both for the accommodation and your confirmed Booking Information Package.
The Travel Plan Authorisation is determined by the grouping of Preferences (Stay) on your Travel Plan, where each Preference has a:
| Total Cost |
= |
Price x Number of Nights |
| Pay Now |
= |
Amount paid upon booking of the confirmed Preference |
| Pay Later |
= |
Balance (Total - Pay Now) paid at the Preference at check-in |
| Total Cost |
= |
Pay Now + Pay Later |
Terms Explained
- Number of Nights is defined by your Arrive and Depart dates per Stay on the Plan.
- Price for a Preference is quoted per room per night, including Monastery Room Rate and Monastery Stays Booking Fee.
- Pay Now is Monastery Stays Booking Fee & Deposit if required by the Preference.
- Pay Later is the balance (Total Cost - Pay Now) paid at the confirmed Preference at checkin.
See the Customer Terms and Conditions of booking.
Back to Top Booking Fees - part of the Room Price, not extra
Monastery Stays is an online booking service for monastery, convent and Diocesan guest houses.
We do not receive commissions from any monastery or convent guest house listed on the website. See - Do you earn commissions from the monasteries?
All Prices shown on the website are per room per night including the Monastery Room Rate and Monastery Stays Booking Fee. So what you see is the total with no extras to be added. Please take a moment to read - Prices
The monastery or convent guest house sets their room rate with us - this will likely be different [less] than what you would pay if you tried to speak with them and book yourself as they recognise that our bookings come with Monastery Stays assured processes, language support and bilingual Booking Information Package. We work closely with the guest houses listed on the website, we have visited and stayed at them and have trusted relationships built over many years of professional service.
Monastery Stays is a family business and we like you need to eat and pay our bills. Our margins are low compared with other organisations sourcing accommodation for their clients.
Please be aware that accommodation prices quoted on hotel booking service websites, do include multi-layered commissions and booking fees between your point of purchase and the accommodation provider, typically in the range of 20-22%+, however they are not disclosed to you. Monastery Stays' booking fee within each Room price is less than that by comparison and we work exclusively for you as the client, no other layers.
Monastery and convent guest houses have the purpose of supporting the nuns / priests or Diocese - they each have their own unique 'house policies' and systems which we understand and manage. Monastery Stays follow an assured and thorough process in working for you and it takes time and the use of trained linguists.
Please read What do Monastery Stays do with my Travel Plan?
The Prices shown on each guest house Overview page is for booking through the secure and assured services of Monastery Stays, including the complete bilingual Booking Information Package your receive with a confirmed booking and the ongoing support of our professional customer service team.
As we don't accept commissions, we have no "favourite" locations. We work solely in your interests and charge an amount to pay our way and continue to improve our services.
Back to Top How do I Submit my Travel Plan for Booking?
To Submit your Travel Plan for Booking:
At the end of the PayPal authorisation process you will be returned to Monastery Stays Important Information screen which will explain how to access your submitted Travel Plan and track progress at My Plans.
You simply use your unique 10-digit Travel Plan ID and the email address supplied during the Pay Pal process to login here: monasterystays.com/myplans
Your completed authorisation will also be accompanied by a transaction email directly from PayPal. This will contain the same login instructions.
Please ensure monasterystays.com and paypal.com are added to you 'white-list' or 'safe-senders' list so that important communications are can not be blocked by your internet service provider email filters.
Back to Top What do Monastery Stays do with my Travel Plan?
Once we receive an authorised Travel Plan from you, we work for you with the monasteries, using a booking confirmation process that is thorough and quality assured.
Monastery and convent guest houses are not operating 'straight through processing', hotel style on-line booking systems - they each have their own unique 'house policies' and processes which we understand and manage. Monastery Stays follow an assured and thorough process in working for you and it takes time and the use of trained linguists.
We aim for processing for you, within the business day of submission, but please note that with Sunday as a non-commercial day for many convents and monasteries, completing your Travel Plan may take up to 72hrs. We will keep you informed after this time if we are still awaiting detail. If you have any questions during this time you should use the Contact Us facility on the website.
- You provide a Travel Plan Authorisation to allow Monastery Stays to work efficiently with your Preference order Travel Plan.
- If your first Preference is not available, we move to the next and so on until we either source a booking or exhaust all Preferences provided for a Stay.
- We process all Stays on your Travel Plan before completing it to you, so you can build a Travel Plan with one Stay or several.
- You either get a booking at a guest house from the Preferences authorised on your Travel Plan or you get that authorisation released and can try again.
No Booking = No Charge : when you are ready to book, this is a simple to use system, with no risk to you.
- If there is any change in Price, or room configuration, we will contact you for your instruction and re-authorisation if required. You will be provided with clear instruction about this at the time. This is detailed in the Customer Terms and Conditions of booking - Click here to read
- Upon confirmation you are charged the Pay Now amount specific to the confirmed Preference. The Travel Plan Authorisation is released.
| Total Cost |
= |
Price x Number of Nights |
| Pay Now |
= |
Amount paid upon booking of the confirmed Preference |
| Pay Later |
= |
Balance (Total - Pay Now) paid at the Preference at check-in |
| Total Cost |
= |
Pay Now + Pay Later |
Terms Explained
- Number of Nights is defined by your Arrive and Depart dates per Stay on the Plan.
- Price for a Preference is quoted per room per night, including Monastery Room Rate and Monastery Stays Booking Fee.
- Pay Now is Monastery Stays Booking Fee & Deposit if required by the Preference.
- Pay Later is the balance (Total Cost - Pay Now) paid at the confirmed Preference at checkin.
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