The Banned List is a guest management feature in RMS that allows properties to flag guests who should not be permitted to make future reservations, providing staff with clear visual warnings and optional booking restrictions.

Overview

The Banned List in RMS enables properties to flag individual guests as banned, preventing or discouraging future bookings from those guests.

When a guest is added to the Banned List, their name appears highlighted in red across key areas of the system, including Smart Search results, the Booking Chart, and the In/Out Movements screen.

The Banned List is managed directly from the Guest Profile and can be reported on using the Banned List Guests Report.

Functionality

• Add guests to the Banned List directly from their Guest Profile, by setting the Banned List field to Yes.
• Banned guests are visually highlighted in red text across key RMS screens, including Smart Search results and the In/Out Movements screen, ensuring staff can immediately identify them.
• A reason for banning a guest can be recorded in the Notes field on the Guest Profile, providing context for staff.
• The Banned List Guests Report provides a complete list of all banned guests across the property for management review.

Benefits & Features

• Protects the property and other guests by clearly identifying individuals who have been flagged for unacceptable behaviour or policy violations.
• Provides immediate visual identification through red text highlighting, reducing the risk of inadvertently booking a banned guest.
• Centralised reporting enables property managers to review and audit the full Banned List at any time.
• The Banned List status is retained on the Guest Profile across all properties in a multi-property environment where guest profiles are shared.

Things to Be Aware Of

• The Banned List flag is a manual reservation safeguard only. Reservations made through Online Travel Agents (OTAs), Channel Connections, or the RMS Booking Engine will not automatically recognise or block a banned guest. Properties should have a separate process in place to review incoming online reservations against their Banned List.
• Adding a guest to the Banned List does not automatically cancel any existing reservations for that guest. Existing reservations must be reviewed and managed separately.
• The Banned List field is a Yes/No flag on the Guest Profile. It does not support levels or categories of banning — a guest is either on the Banned List or not.
• If guest profiles are merged using the Guest Merge Utility, care should be taken to ensure the Banned List status is correctly retained on the surviving profile.

Prerequisites

• The user must have appropriate Security Profile permissions to edit Guest Profiles in order to add or remove a guest from the Banned List.
• The Banned List field must be visible on the Guest Profile. If it is not visible, it can be enabled via Field Maintenance.

Setup & Configuration Guide

Ensuring the Banned List Field is Visible

If the Banned List field is not visible on the Guest Profile, it can be enabled through Field Maintenance.

Identifying Banned Guests

Once a guest has been added to the Banned List, RMS provides several visual indicators to help staff identify them:

Handling the Banned List Warning on a Reservation

When a user attempts to save a reservation for a guest on the Banned List, a warning message will display.

1. If the warning appears, review the guest's Banned List status and the reason for banning (if recorded in the Guest Profile Notes).
2. The user should contact a manager or supervisor for further action.

Managing Online and Channel Reservations for Banned Guests

As the Banned List is a manual reservation safeguard, properties that receive bookings through online channels should implement a review process to catch reservations made by banned guests.

Recommended steps:

1. Regularly review incoming online reservations against the Banned List by cross-referencing guest names and contact details.
2. Use the Banned List Guests Report to maintain an up-to-date reference list of all banned guests.
3. If a reservation from a banned guest is received through an OTA or the RMS Booking Engine, follow your property's standard procedure for contacting the guest and the channel to cancel the reservation if appropriate.

Limitations

• The Banned List red text highlighting only applies to manual reservations created within RMS. Reservations received from OTAs, Channel Managers, the RMS Booking Engine, the Guest Portal, or third-party booking partners will not trigger a warning or be blocked automatically.
• The Banned List does not support automatic cancellation of existing reservations when a guest is flagged. Any existing bookings for a newly banned guest must be reviewed and actioned manually.
• The Banned List is a simple Yes/No field. There is no ability to set levels, expiry dates, or categories of ban within the standard Banned List functionality.
• If a banned guest makes a booking through an external channel using different contact details (e.g., a different name or email address), the system will not be able to match them to the existing banned Guest Profile.
• The Guest Merge Utility should be used with care when merging profiles where one guest is on the Banned List. Verify that the Banned List status is preserved on the surviving master profile after the merge.

Related Articles

• Adding a Guest to Banned List
• Banned List Guests Report