A client pays by card in one of two ways: they pay it themselves in the client portal, or you take the payment for them in the Advisor Portal. They can pay either the trip's full balance or a deposit you have asked for. Both ways charge the card through Authorize.net and record the payment for you.
Asking for a deposit
A trip has no deposit until you ask for one. Until then, every payment on it is for the full balance.
- Open the trip from Trips, All Trips.
- Find the Deposit panel, just above the Accept Client Payment button.
- Click Request Deposit, type the amount in US dollars, such as 2,500, and click Save Deposit.
The client can pay it straight away. The panel shows the amount with an amber Due label until it is paid, then a green Paid label with the date.
| To | Do this |
|---|---|
| Change the amount | Click Change, type the new amount and save. Only possible while the deposit is due. |
| Withdraw the request | Click Remove. The client no longer sees a deposit due. |
| Ask for a second deposit | Once the first is paid, click Request Another and enter the new amount. It shows as due again. |
The trip has to be linked to TRES first. Otherwise the panel says “Link this trip to TRES before asking for a deposit.”
How the client pays
The client pays in the client portal or the OTA phone app. Tell them to:
- Sign in and open Trips.
- Find the trip. Under its dates it shows the total, a Deposit due link when you have asked for a deposit, and a Balance due link with the amount owed.
- Click Deposit due or Balance due. The Make a Payment page opens with the trip name and the amount.
- If the trip has both, choose under What to pay: Deposit or Full balance. Deposit is selected first.
- Enter the cardholder name, card number, expiry and security code. A client with a saved card can pick it under Pay with instead.
- Click Pay and the amount. A Payment Successful message confirms it.
The client can tick Save this card for future payments before paying. That keeps the card on their account and authorizes OTA to charge it for later trip payments and fees. They can remove it at any time under Profile, Payment Methods.
A trip only shows Balance due when it has a balance owing in TRES, and a trip with nothing owing shows Paid in full. A deposit is the exception: Deposit due shows even before the trip has been invoiced in TRES.
Paying on a client's behalf
When a client would rather give you their card, for example over the phone, take the payment in the Advisor Portal.
- Open the payment page for the trip, any of these ways:
- On Home, find the trip in your trips table and click the amber amount in the Payment Due column.
- Open the trip from Trips, All Trips and click Accept Client Payment.
- To take the deposit, click Accept Deposit in the trip’s Deposit panel. The page opens with the deposit already chosen.
- Check the trip name and the Deposit due or Balance due at the top of the card. If the trip has both, choose under What to pay.
- Choose the card:
- If the client has a saved card, it is listed under Pay with and already selected. Leave it selected to charge it.
- Otherwise choose Enter a card and type the cardholder name, card number, expiry and security code as the client reads them to you.
- Click Pay and the amount. Payment Successful shows the amount, the trip and the Authorize.net transaction ID.
A card you type in here is charged once and is not kept. To keep a client's card for later, add it under Payment Methods on the client's profile, which asks you to confirm the client authorized it.
The two ways compared
| Client pays | You pay on their behalf | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Client portal or phone app, Trips, Deposit due or Balance due | Advisor Portal, Home (Payment Due), the trip (Accept Client Payment), or the Deposit panel (Accept Deposit) |
| Who enters the card | The client | You, or nobody if a saved card is charged |
| Amount | The deposit you asked for, or the full balance due | The deposit you asked for, or the full balance due |
| Can the card be saved | Yes, by ticking the save box | No. Save a card from the client's profile instead |
| Who is told | You and the administrators, by notification | Nobody. You see the confirmation on screen |
What happens after a payment
You do not need to key the payment anywhere else. Once the card is charged:
- The payment is recorded against the trip in TRES and in the OTA ledger, so the trip's balance comes down. A deposit is labelled as a deposit in TRES and brings the balance down like any other payment.
- A deposit is marked Paid with the date in the trip’s Deposit panel, and the client no longer sees Deposit due.
- If TRES cannot be reached at that moment, the charge still stands and the portal retries the TRES entry by itself.
- When the client paid, you and the administrators are notified, and the payment is listed under Payments received on Home for 24 hours.
- Once nothing is owing, the client sees Paid in full on the trip in place of the Balance due link.
Good to know
- Two amounts only. A payment is either the deposit you asked for or the full balance due. Neither page has a field for any other part payment. For that, use the Authorize.net invoicing tool described in Addendum III of the Operations Manual.
- The client pays exactly your figure. The deposit charged is always the amount saved on the trip, whatever page it is paid from.
- Cards accepted. Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.
- “No balance is currently due for this trip.” The trip has nothing owing in TRES and no deposit due. Check that the trip has been invoiced there, or ask for a deposit.
- A declined card. The reason shows in red above the Pay button and nothing is charged. Check the details with the client, or try another card.
- Card details stay out of email. The number goes straight from the browser to Authorize.net and is never stored by OTA. Take a card by phone, not in an email or a message.
- Saved cards. A saved card can be charged without the client present because they authorized it when they saved it. An expired saved card is greyed out and cannot be chosen.
- Checks. A payment by check still goes to the Client Trust Account at Chase and is held for at least 7 days.