Why Travel Companies Want Hotels to Ditch the Fax Machine

We hear it from travel companies regularly: they’ve finalized a business travel plan and are ready to send credit or virtual card details to the hotel, whose preferred communication method is fax.

While faxing isn’t necessarily wrong, it does have several disadvantages compared to more modern, efficient methods hotels could take advantage of – ultimately improving your partnership with travel companies.

❎ Lack of Notification and Misplaced Information

When you’re receiving faxes from travel companies, it’s much easier to get information later than necessary or even miss it altogether. You may forget to make a trip to the fax machine, which is oftentimes in a distant sales office, and piece of paper can easily be misplaced or not get in your hands if it accidentally gets lost in someone else’s files. Keeping up with the influx of faxes may be harder than ever if your property’s still facing staffing shortages.

❎ Lack of Security

Information that’s faxed is not encrypted so therefore is exposed to any eyes, putting your guests’ information at risk. You may also be wasting time needing to shred files.

❎ Manual Data Entry

Receiving travel information on a paper means having to manually enter it into your PMS. Aside from time wasted, you’re adding unnecessary risk that information will get entered incorrectly, causing possible check-in disruption for your upcoming guests. Quality also degrades during fax transmission, so there’s a chance you won’t be able to read the information you need, requiring you to contact the travel company for clarification.

❎ Cumbersome, Insecure Storage

Storing faxed documents can be unnecessarily cumbersome considering all the file cabinets and folders involved. Plus, it’s another security risk. Even the best-intentioned properties who lock files up could lose them to the wrong person. Wouldn’t it be nice to say goodbye to all those binders of faxed credit cards?

❎ Incompatibility with Travel Systems

As your business partners modernize and secure their processes, it’s best to follow suit. Otherwise, you may risk losing their business.

❎ Paper Waste

Sustainable practices are becoming increasingly important for hotels and their guests. Faxing requires extraneous physical paper usage at your property.

In today’s digital age, there are far more efficient and secure methods to receive credit card information from travel companies than a fax machine. Digitize your workflow for speed, convenience, security, and environmental benefits. Your travel partners will thank you.