Front Office Terminology/Glossary

American Plan (AP):

A billing arrangement under which room charges include the guestroom and three meals i.e.
Breakfast+Lunch+Dinner, Also called as full board / full pension.

European Plan (EP):

A billing arrangement under which meals are priced separately or room only plan.

Modified American Plan (MAP):

A billing arrangement under which the daily rate is including room and two meals, generally
Breakfast and Dinner.

Continental Plan (CP):

One of the most common / preferred billing arrangement which includes room and Continental
Breakfast.

All Inclusive (AI):

AI normally stands for all inclusive rates ie rates which are inclusive of all applicable taxes and service
charge.
Eg: CPAI, MAPAI, APAI etc.

House count:
The number of persons registered in a hotel on a specific night.

Rack Rate:
The published tariff for each room type / category in a hotel.

Occupied:
A guest is currently registered to the room.

Complimentary:
The room is occupied, but the guest is assessed no charge for its use.

Stay Over:
The guest is not expected to check out today and will remain at least one more night.

On Change:
The guest has departed, but the room has not yet been cleaned and readied for re-sale.

Sleep-Out:
A guest is registered to the room, but the bed has not been used.

Log Book:
Located at reception containing instructions/information/ happenings/handover of the day to the
next shift staff.

Hot Log Book:

It contains Guest Request/complaint s regarding any issue in the room. Action taken by particular
departments.
Eg. Ac is not working, should be informed to Maintenance.

Do Not Disturb:
The guest has requested not to be disturbed.

Guest Registration Card (GRC):

A printed form for a registration record, In most countries the guest’s signature on a registration card
is required by law.

Reservation Status:
An indicator of a room’s long term availability for assignment.

Room Rate:
The price a hotel charges for overnight accommodations.

Skipper:
A guest who leaves with no intention of paying for the room.

Scanty Baggage:
A guest who checks in to the hotel with very less or no luggage.

Walk In:
A guest who arrives at a hotel without a reservation.

Walking:
Turning away a guest who has a reservation because of a lack of room availability.

Due Outs:
Guests expected to check out on a given day who have not yet done so.

Credit Limit / House Limit:

A limit assigned by the hotel to guest or company accounts.

Vacant & Ready:

The room has been cleaned and inspected and is ready for an arriving guest.

Out-Of-Order/Out of Service:
The room cannot be assigned to a guest. A room may be out-of-order for a variety of reasons
including the need for maintenance, refurbishing, and extensive cleaning.
Double Lock:
The guest room door is locked from inside and outside two times so that no one can enter.

Lockout:
The room has been locked so that the guest cannot re-enter until a hotel official clears him or her.

DNCO (Did Not Check Out):

The guest made arrangements to settle his or her account (and thus is not a skipper), but has left
without informing the front office.

Due out:
The room is expected to become vacant after the following day’s checkout time.

Master Key:
A key that can open all guest room doors that are not double-locked

Upselling:
A sales technique whereby a guest is offered a more expensive room than what he or she reserved or
originally requested, and then persuaded to rent the room based on the room’s features, benefits,
and his or her needs.

Block:
An agreed-upon number of rooms set aside for members of a group planning to stay in a hotel.

Book:
To sell or reserve rooms ahead of time.

Confirmation Number:
A code that provides a unique reference to a reservation record and assures the guest that the
reservation record exists.

Confirmed Booking:
When Reservation is guaranteed with Credit card, Deposit, Company / TA voucher etc.

NIGHT AUDIT:
The control process whereby the financial activity of guests’ accounts is maintained and balanced on
a daily basis

Tentative Booking:
When reservation is waiting bookers confirmation.

ROOM STATUS:
Information about current and future availability of guestrooms in a lodging property. Current
availability is determined through housekeeping data. Future availability is determined through
reservations data.
Waitlisted Booking:
Reservation kept on hold due to hotel over

Cut-Off Date:
The date agreed upon between a group and a hotel after which all unreserved rooms in the group’s
block will be released back to the general availability.

Room Status Discrepancy:

A situation in which the housekeeping department’s description of a room’s status differs from the
room status information that guides the front desk employee in assigning rooms to guests.
Discrepancies can seriously affect a property’s ability to satisfy guests and maximize room’s revenue.

Cancelation Date:
Indicates the date when the reservation was manually canceled.

No-Show:
A guest who made a room reservation but did not register or Check in.

Long Stay:
A Guest who stays more than certain number of days, Eg: More than 7 days etc.

Overbooking:
Accepting more reservations than there are available rooms.

STAY OVER:
A room status term indicating that the guest is not checking out and will remain at least one more
night

Wash Down:
Blocking fewer rooms than the number requested by a group, based on previous group history.

Under Stay:
A guest who checks out before his or her stated departure date.

Guest Cycle:
A division of the flow of business through a hotel that identifies the physical contacts and financial
exchanges between the guests and the hotel.

Guest Folio:
A form (Paper or Electronic) used to chart transactions on a account assigned to an individual person
or guest room.

Late Charge:
A transaction requiring posting to a guest account that does not reach the front office for posting
before the guest had checked out or done the final settlement.
No Post:
Special functionality on Property management systems (PMS) to activate a ‘NO post’ on reservations
this will stop any extra charges from other outlets or connected systems to be charged to the guest
room. Example a No Post flag can be activated for interfaces like Telephone, Wifi or Internet, Point of
Sale (POS), SPA systems etc.

Global Distribution System (GDS):

A distribution channel for reservations that provides worldwide distribution of hotel reservation
information and allows selling of hotel reservations around the world, usually accomplished by
connecting the hotel reservation system with an airline reservation system ( Eg – Amadeus, Saber,
Galileo/Apollo or Worldspan )

PMS:
Property Management System

POS:
Point of Sale Systems (Used in Restaurants / Outlets)

TA:
Travel Agent who receives commission for the bookings.

OTA:
Online Travel Agents

IDS:
Internet Distribution System

Void:
Reversal of Charges which was posted on the same day

Allowance:
Reversal of charges which was posted before current System / PMS date.

ROB:
Room On Books

DBR:
Daily Business Report

FOM:
Front Office Manager

RPD:
Room Per Day

EOD:
End Of Day

Closing:
Number of sold out rooms including confirm arrivals.

M.O.P:
Mode Of Payment

A.R.R:
Averages Room Rate/Revenue

I.P.R:
Income Per Room Sold

DOM:
Deputy Operation Manager

FTD:
For The Day

MTD:
Month Till Date

GM:
General Manager

CEO:
Chief Executive Officer

MD:
Managing Director

GSA:
Guest Service Associate

GSS:
Guest Service Supervisor

GSE:
Guest Service Executive

VP:
Vice President

FIT:
For Individual Travellers
CRO:
Central Reservation Office