The year 2020 saw an increase in exploration and adoption of contactless technologies in the hospitality industry and this trend will only continue as guests increasingly look for hotels that can deliver a contactless and frictionless journey from their home to their hotel room. Hospitality tech solutions, like contactless check-in, are becoming a way for hotels to secure their competitiveness in the post-Covid market.
There’s a lot of content online about the benefits of contactless check-in for hotels, but how does this technology actually improve the guest experience in the pre-stay/during stay stage? How does the complete contactless check-in journey look like from the guests’ point of view?
At the moment, the typical remote check-in journey is complicated by multiple systems, so we’re going to use an example journey with avery, a system that makes the experience seamless for hotel guests. Let’s take a look at each step of the contactless check-in journey.
Pre-arrival Onboarding
- Guest receives a check-in link via email or SMS
When a guest books a hotel room, they automatically get an email and/or SMS with their booking code and a check-in link that takes them to the Web page where they can quickly and easily complete the pre-check in for their upcoming stay. At this stage, there’s no app to download so there is a frictionless flow from booking to completing the pre-check in remotely.
- Guest captures their Photo ID
When they land on the check-in page, the guest is asked to take a photo of their ID for the purpose of confirming their identity. The information from the ID is then captured for the guest’s digital RegCard, enabling a smooth check-in at arrival without having to exchange forms or IDs at the front desk.
- Guest authorizes their credit card
Next, the guest pre-authorizes their credit card. This enables smooth, contactless payment at the end of their stay but it also protects the hotel from potential fraud and gives them an assurance that all incidentals will be covered. Guests can check out without waiting at the front desk and exchanging cash or credit and debit cards.
- Guest confirms their information
Now the guest digitally signs necessary health forms and the hotel’s RegForm to confirm their stay information, authorize full charge, and agree to the hotel's policy.
- Guest receives confirmation
After signing the RegForm, the guest receives confirmation information (i.e. dates of their stay, credit card that has been pre-authorized, etc.) via email or SMS so they can have their copy. The hotel notifies them that they’ll get a text or email day of arrival that includes their room number and a link to download their mobile key.
Day of arrival: check-in & mobile key delivery
- Notification about check-in
The guest receives an email or a text message that informs them that they are checked in, lets them know of check in times and provides their room number.
7. Guest receives their mobile key
The entire check in process is seamless as guests are navigated through every step. At the end of the process they are guided to their mobile key. With the help of a deeplink, guests are taken to the store where they download the app. When they open the app, it initializes automatically with their session providing them the key and other options like guest services, housekeeping, room service, activities, etc. fully branded for the hotel.
In order to provide mobile key bluetooth enabled locks are needed. If the locks are installed in the last few years there is a high chance that they are already enabled, if not this needs to be upgraded. avery works with many lock providers like Assa Abloy and Dormakaba, as well as with companies that created their BLE upgrade modules to hook into existing old locks like OpenKey and StayMyWay.
Takeaways
Contactless check-in is perfectly suited to hospitality’s new needs, becoming an increasingly important part of a safe and convenient guest experience. With a solution like avery, the check-in journey becomes frictionless for guests, while hotels get a single solution for all digital check-in touch points.
