Synchronizing and using group blocks in the Amadeus iHotelier booking engine

In Mews you can sell spaces assigned to group blocks, such as a wedding party, through the Amadeus iHotelier (formerly TravelClick) booking engine. You can synchronize group blocks, also known as availability blocks, from Mews to the Amadeus iHotelier booking engine and automatically merge reservations that are part of the same group block. Mews also removes the blocked spaces from general availability. 

A synchronized group block contains the following details: 

• Start and end dates 
• Price 
• Space category and the number of blocked spaces 
• Group block code which corresponds to the External identifier code in Mews 
• Block name, for example, WEDDING
• Release date 
• Company/guest name and details 

 

Once Mews synchronizes a definite group block to the Amadeus iHotelier booking engine, you can complete all the other steps, such as creating a booking engine for this specific group and sharing the link directly in the Amadeus iHotelier extranet. 

In this article you can learn about: 

• How to enable group-block synchronization in Amadeus iHotelier 
• Group-block synchronization characteristics
• Group-block status
• How to check the group-block synchronization status

 

How to enable group-block synchronization in Amadeus iHotelier

To enable group-block synchronization from Mews to the Amadeus iHotelier booking engine:  

1. Open Mews Operations.  
2. Go to the main menu  > Marketplace > My subscriptions.  
3. Locate the Amadeus iHotelier integration and click Edit to go to the settings page.  
4. In the Enabled Operations field, select Synchronize availability blocks.  
5. Click Save. 

Note: Mews recommendation is that you opt for the Synchronize reservations function in Amadeus iHotelier, along with Synchronize availability blocks.

 

Group-block synchronization characteristics

Once you synchronize a group block to the Amadeus iHotelier booking engine: 

• The Amadeus iHotelier integration delivers all reservations made from the group block through the booking engine to Mews and groups them together.  
• Mews synchronizes any group block modification, such as the addition or removal of any spaces from a group block, to Amadeus iHotelier and adds or removes the corresponding number of spaces from general availability.  
• If you opt for the Synchronize reservations function in Amadeus iHotelier along with group blocks. Then, cancellation of a group block in Mews triggers synchronization of block cancellation to the Amadeus iHotelier booking engine.  
• You cannot modify the dates of a group block because the new dates may conflict with the reservation dates within the block. 
• Mews does not synchronize any modifications in the reservation price for spaces that are part of a group block. You can trigger a price synchronization only if/when you change the number of allocated spaces.  

 

Note: If you make any other changes later, Mews synchronizes the price changes as well. 
 

Group-block status

 

You can create a group block and update its status at any point. The State of the block can be:

• Confirmed: When both you and the guest confirm the block, the system removes availability for the selected space category.
• Optional: If the block is unconfirmed and you want the system to remove availability for the selected space category.
• Inquired: The block is not yet confirmed. Availability is not removed as no spaces are assigned.

You can learn more about creating availability blocks here.

Note: Mews sends only Confirmed group blocks to Amadeus iHotelier. Mews does not create a block sync for Optional or Inquired states.
 

How to check the group-block synchronization status

You can check whether the synchronization was successful or, in case it fails, then you can check the reason. To check the group block synchronization status in Mews: 

1. Go to the main menu  > Queues > Channel manager. 
2. Apply the following filters: 
   • Enterprise: Select your hotel name 
   • Client: Channel manager integration 
   • Type: Availability block synchronization 
3. Select the Start & End time in UTC 

In the open page, when you click on the first column, Type it displays: 

• The logs, which you can share with Amadeus iHotelier support, or you can also use them to check the exact details of what Mews sent. 
• Error details in case the synchronization fails. Note: To check the error details hover your cursor over the Failed status.   
• Status: Success, if synchronization is successful, along with the availability group block id 

You can learn about picking up reservations in availability blocks here.