# No show charges at a hotel: policy, OTA rules and what to say to the guest

> A guest who neither arrives nor cancels leaves you with an empty room you could have sold. Here is how to set a fair no-show policy, how the main booking sites handle no-shows, and how to charge, or waive, without a fight.

- URL: https://guesthawk.com/guides/no-show-charges-in-hotels
- Category: Revenue
- Tags: Front desk, OTAs, Pricing
- Published: 11 November 2026
- Updated: 11 November 2026
- Publisher: GuestHawk (https://guesthawk.com)

No show charges at a hotel are the money you keep when a confirmed guest neither arrives nor cancels. Handled well, they cover part of the loss of a room you held all night. Handled badly, they turn into an angry phone call, a one-star review or a bank chargeback months later. The difference is almost always in the policy, the paperwork and the first sentence the desk says.

This guide covers what counts as a no-show, a fair policy you can publish, how the main booking sites handle no-shows, chargebacks, when to waive, and scripts for talking to the guest. For cancellations made in advance, see our guide to [hotel cancellation policy](https://guesthawk.com/guides/hotel-cancellation-policy).

## What a no-show is, and when to call it

A no-show is a guest with a confirmed booking who does not arrive on the arrival date and has not cancelled. Three things make it clear-cut:

- **A cut-off time.** Decide when an unarrived booking becomes a no-show. Many properties use the end-of-day close, often run between midnight and 3 am. Our guide to the [night audit process](https://guesthawk.com/guides/night-audit-process) covers where this fits in the nightly routine.
- **An attempt to reach the guest.** Before you call it, phone or message the guest once in the evening and record that you did. Late flights and long drives are common, and a guest arriving at 1 am is not a no-show.
- **What happens to the rest of the stay.** Say in your policy whether the rest of a multi-night booking is cancelled. Most properties cancel the remaining nights and release the room, so they can sell it again.

A guest who arrives a day late without telling you is a harder case. Decide in advance: either the first night is a no-show and the rest stands, or the whole booking is released. Write it down and apply it the same way every time.

## A no-show charge policy you can publish

Keep it short and put it with your cancellation terms, on the rate, the confirmation and the registration card.

> **Sample policy**
>
> If you do not arrive on your arrival date and have not cancelled, we will treat the booking as a no-show. We will charge the first night's room rate, including GST, from your advance or the payment method you gave us, and release the remaining nights. If you expect to arrive after 11 pm, please tell us so we hold your room. Non-refundable bookings are charged in full.

Why the first night, and not the whole stay? Because you can usually resell the later nights, and a charge in proportion to your loss is easier to defend with a guest, a bank or a consumer forum. If you want certainty for the whole stay, sell a non-refundable rate with a real discount.

The charge is only as good as your means of collecting it. A policy without an advance or a guaranteed payment is a hope.

## Collect before arrival, not after

The surest way to charge a no-show is to hold the money already.

- **Direct bookings:** take an advance by UPI or card through a payment link, at least equal to the first night. Send the link with the booking confirmation.
- **Card guarantees:** use your payment gateway's pre-authorisation or tokenised card option. **Never write down or store a guest's card number.** RBI's card-on-file tokenisation rules restrict storing actual card data to card issuers and card networks, so let the gateway handle it.
- **Phone and WhatsApp holds:** a room held without any payment should have a release time, for example "held until 6 pm today; confirm with an advance to keep it".
- **Corporate and agent bookings:** put no-show terms in the agreement with the company or agent, and bill them, not the traveller.

### What a missing advance costs (illustrative)

A 20-room hotel has, on average, three no-shows a month on direct bookings at ₹3,000 a night. Without an advance, it collects almost nothing: ₹9,000 a month, about ₹1,08,000 a year, simply lost. With a one-night advance on every direct booking, that amount is already in the bank, and a guest who has paid has a good reason to either turn up or cancel properly.

## How the booking sites handle no-shows

For OTA bookings, the booking site's own rules and your contract decide what you can charge and how. Report the no-show on the booking site, within its window, not just in your own system. Rules change, so check the current partner help before you rely on any of this.

| Booking site | What its partner help says (checked November 2026) |
| --- | --- |
| Booking.com | You can mark a reservation as a no-show from midnight, property time, on the check-in date, in the extranet or through your channel manager. You choose whether to waive the fee. If you waive it, Booking.com does not charge commission for that reservation. |
| Agoda | For bookings the property collects, "Mark as no-show" is available in the partner portal for 72 hours from midnight of the arrival date. Fees follow the booking's cancellation policy. Bookings Agoda collects are reported through its Need Help option. |
| Airbnb | Message the guest through Airbnb or call them before arrival. If the guest does not respond, contact Airbnb to report the no-show, and ask how your listing's cancellation policy applies to the payout. |
| MakeMyTrip and Goibibo | Check the support articles in the InGo-MMT extranet or ask your market manager for the current no-show process, and act within the time it allows. |

Two practical points:

- **Report it, even if you waive the charge.** An unreported no-show leaves the booking site's records looking like a completed stay, and your commission statement will not match your own records.
- **Keep your system in step.** If you mark a no-show on the booking site, close the booking in your own system on the same night, so the room shows as free and your reports agree.

## Reducing no-shows before they happen

The best no-show is the one that becomes a cancellation in time, because you can resell the room. A few habits help:

- **Confirm on WhatsApp, not just by email.** Many Indian guests never open the booking site's email. A short message with the dates, the address, a map pin and your number gets read.
- **Send a reminder two or three days before arrival**, with a one-tap way to cancel or change dates. A guest whose plans have changed is far more likely to tell you if it is easy.
- **Ask for the expected arrival time** in the reminder. It tells you who to hold for late, and who to chase.
- **Watch for patterns.** Some sources produce more no-shows than others: unpaid phone holds, certain travel agents, or bookings made very late at night for the same night. Tighten the terms for that source, for example by asking for an advance.
- **Treat repeat no-shows differently.** If the same guest or agent has failed to turn up before, take the advance first next time.

Track the no-show rate by source once a month. If one booking site or agent stands out, raise it with them, or change what you offer through that channel. Fewer no-shows also means you never need to overbook to make up for them.

## Disputes and chargebacks

A chargeback is when a guest asks their bank to reverse a card payment. No-show charges are a common reason, because the guest never stayed and may not remember the policy. Banks and card networks set the timelines, and they can be weeks or months after the stay, so ask your payment gateway how its dispute process works.

Your defence is a file you can produce quickly:

1. The booking confirmation showing the dates, rate and no-show policy.
2. Proof the guest accepted the policy (the checkbox, the WhatsApp message or the signed terms).
3. Your record of trying to contact the guest on the arrival evening.
4. The GST invoice for the no-show charge.
5. Proof the room was held and not resold for that night.

Most chargebacks against small properties are lost because one of these is missing, not because the charge was unfair. UPI disputes run through the guest's bank and app instead of a card network, and the same evidence helps.

## Waive or charge? A simple test

Charging every no-show strictly is your right under your policy, but it is not always good business. Ask three questions:

- **Did you lose money?** If you resold the room that night, you have lost little. Many owners waive the charge or turn it into a credit.
- **Was it beyond the guest's control?** A cancelled flight, a medical emergency, a bereavement or a road closure. Ask for simple proof and offer to move the dates.
- **Is this guest worth keeping?** A corporate client, a repeat guest or a travel agent who sends you twenty bookings a year is worth more than one night's charge.

A good middle path is the **date change instead of a charge**: keep the advance as a credit for a stay within the next 90 days. The money stays with you, and the guest leaves with a reason to come back. Write down who at the property may waive or convert a charge, and the reason, on the booking.

On GST: CBIC Circular 178/10/2022-GST, paragraph 7.1.6, gives the example of a ticket forfeited when a passenger does not show up as an amount that is consideration taxed like the main supply. Check with your CA how your no-show charges should be invoiced, then apply it the same way every night.

## Scripts for the desk

Keep the tone calm and factual. The aim is to keep the guest, not win the argument.

**Evening call to an unarrived guest:**

> "Good evening, this is Priya from Hotel Green Valley. We have your room ready for tonight and wanted to check your arrival time, so we can keep it for you. Please call or message us on this number."

**The guest calls the next morning, upset about the charge:**

> "I understand, and I am sorry your plans changed. Our booking terms, which were in your confirmation, charge the first night if we do not hear from you by arrival day. We held the room for you all night. What I can do is keep the amount as a credit, so you can stay with us on another date in the next three months. Would that help?"

**When you decide to waive:**

> "Thank you for letting us know what happened. We have waived the no-show charge this time and cancelled the rest of the booking. We hope to welcome you soon."

**When a guest asks why they were charged at all:**

> "When you booked, the confirmation said the first night is charged if you do not arrive and have not cancelled. We tried to reach you at 9 pm that evening. I can send you a copy of the confirmation and the invoice now."

## No-show checklist

1. Publish a no-show policy with your cancellation terms.
2. Take an advance or a gateway guarantee on every direct booking.
3. Call or message unarrived guests in the evening, and record it.
4. Call no-shows at the same time each night, at the end-of-day close.
5. Report each OTA no-show on the booking site, within its window.
6. Raise a GST invoice for any charge you keep, as your CA advises.
7. Keep the evidence file for chargebacks.
8. Record every waiver and who approved it.

GuestHawk sends payment links before arrival and keeps deposits, charges and GST invoices on the guest bill, so the no-show is billed the same way every night. See [front desk on GuestHawk](https://guesthawk.com/platform#front-desk) and [billing](https://guesthawk.com/platform#billing). If you have the opposite problem and more guests than rooms, read [walking a guest when overbooked](https://guesthawk.com/guides/walking-a-guest-when-overbooked).

## Frequently asked questions

### What is a no-show in a hotel?

A no-show is a confirmed guest who neither arrives on the arrival date nor cancels. Most properties decide it at a fixed time, such as the end-of-day close, after trying to reach the guest.

### How much can a hotel charge for a no-show?

Whatever your published policy says, as long as the guest saw it before booking and it is in proportion to your loss. Many Indian properties charge the first night. A non-refundable rate keeps the full amount. There is no fixed legal rate.

### How do I report a no-show on Booking.com?

Mark the reservation as a no-show in the extranet or through your channel manager. Booking.com's connectivity documentation says this is possible from midnight, property time, on the check-in date. If you waive the fee, Booking.com does not charge commission for that reservation.

### Is GST charged on a no-show charge?

CBIC Circular 178/10/2022-GST treats amounts forfeited under agreed cancellation terms, including when a customer does not show up, as consideration taxed like the main supply. How that applies to your bookings is a question for your CA. See [GST on hotel rooms and restaurants](https://guesthawk.com/guides/gst-on-hotel-rooms-and-restaurants).

### Should I keep the guest's card number to charge a no-show?

No. Do not write down or store card numbers. Take an advance or a pre-authorisation through your payment gateway, or a payment link, and let the gateway hold the card details.

## Sources

- [CBIC: Circular 178/10/2022-GST on liquidated damages and forfeited amounts](https://gstcouncil.gov.in/sites/default/files/2024-06/cir-178-08-2022-cgst.pdf)
- [RBI: Tokenisation – Card-on-File Tokenisation (CoFT) services, 7 Sep 2021](https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=12159)
- [Booking.com Connectivity: Report reservation changes, including no-shows](https://developers.booking.com/connectivity/docs/reporting-api/b_xml-reporting/)
- [Agoda Partner Hub: What can I do if the guest did not show up (no-show)?](https://partnerhub.agoda.com/what-can-i-do-if-the-guest-did-not-show-up-no-show/)
- [Airbnb Help Centre: When a guest doesn't show up for a reservation](https://www.airbnb.co.in/help/article/309)