Configure Confirmation Suffix Lookup

Quick Setup

Turn this on and choose 4–10 characters for faster, safer Self Check-In lookup. This takes about 2 minutes.

This guide helps you configure how many trailing confirmation characters guests must enter. The default is 4 characters, and guests must enter the exact configured count.

Go to: Settings → Security → General Settings

Quick Reference

Setting	What It Controls	When to Use It
ID Scan	Keeps last-4 lookup available in Self Check-In	Keep on if you want to use last-4 lookup
Quick Lookup with Confirmation Number Suffix	Allows suffix search in Self Check-In	Guests struggle with long confirmation numbers
Number of characters guests must enter	Sets the required suffix length from 4–10	Use more characters when suffixes often collide
OHIP fallback	Recovers some reservations from an existing AVA record when the bulk list misses them	Use when Opera reservations should still be searchable by last 4
Save General Settings	Saves your change	After you update the toggle

Turn On Last-4 Lookup

1. Go to Settings → Security → General Settings

2. Make sure ID Scan is On

3. Find Quick Lookup with Confirmation Number Suffix

4. Toggle it On

   ✓ Number of characters guests must enter appears.

5. Enter a whole number from 4 to 10 in Number of characters guests must enter

   ✓ Guests must enter exactly that many trailing characters.

6. Click Save General Settings

   ✓ A success message appears.

Turn Off Last-4 Lookup

1. Go to Settings → Security → General Settings

2. Find Quick Lookup with Confirmation Number Suffix

3. Toggle it Off

4. Click Save General Settings

   ✓ Guests must enter the full confirmation number.

How It Works

• This setting applies only to Self Check-In.
• ID Scan must be on to use this setting.
• The default suffix length is 4 characters.
• You can set the suffix length from 4 to 10 characters.
• Guests must enter exactly the configured number of trailing characters.
• The legacy API mode name remains last4; the setting controls 4–10 trailing alphanumeric characters.
• A longer suffix reduces matches with other reservations arriving in the same window.
• If more than one reservation matches, the guest must enter the full number.
• On Opera OHIP, AVA keeps paging while Opera says more results exist.
• Short pages no longer stop lookup early when Opera returns hasMore: true.
• On Mews, AVA uses the shared reservation lookup cache for suffix searches.
• AVA refreshes the cache with the complete Mews lookup list when needed.
• When Mews returns one safe match, AVA can show the booking preview while the live reservation read finishes.
• The live Mews reservation remains authoritative before check-in continues.
• A cached unique match remains trusted until AVA refreshes that cache.
• A newer Mews booking with the same suffix may appear after the next cache refresh.
• For an eligible unique match, guests can select a predefined guest, scan a document, and fill local details while confirmation continues.
• Uploads, saved changes, and check-in actions wait for live confirmation and an exact reservation-scoped guest identity.
• If the booking changes, the guest identity is ambiguous, or the preview falls back, AVA blocks unsafe drafts and upload targets.
• Mews can match hotel, booking-site, channel-manager, and legacy OTA confirmation references.
• Mews waitlist reservations with Requested status can also be found by suffix.
• If Mews cannot hydrate every guest during a refresh, AVA can still return a safe identifier summary.
• The booking preview may be unavailable in that case, while guest-detail reads still require complete data.
• For Mews multi-room reservations, AVA keeps the room that matches the entered suffix.
• This remains true when AVA uses a cached match or refreshes the cached reservation.
• If Mews finds two different reservations, AVA asks for the full confirmation number.
• If Mews cannot finish a safe search, AVA fails closed instead of trusting partial results.
• AVA can still recover a reservation from an existing AVA record when the bulk list misses it.
• This fallback happens automatically and does not change other PMS behavior.

Tell Guests Which Reference to Enter

Ask guests to enter the ending characters, not the beginning. They can use either the hotel confirmation number or the booking-site reference.

For example, if the reference is ABC12345, they enter 2345 when the length is 4. The lookup field may show a leading … to indicate that the ending is required.

Use the ending, not the start

Entering the first characters can return no reservation. Ask the guest to check their booking email and count from the right.

Dependency with ID Scan

If ID Scan is off, this toggle is disabled and guests must use the full confirmation number.

Default setting

This toggle is on by default for new properties.

Troubleshooting

Guests still have to enter the full number

What you see: Guests are prompted for the full confirmation number.

Fix:

1. Check if multiple reservations share the configured suffix
2. Ask the guest to enter the full confirmation number

Guests cannot find a reservation with the configured suffix

What you see: Search shows no results.

Fix:

1. Confirm Quick Lookup with Confirmation Number Suffix is on
2. Confirm ID Scan is on
3. Confirm the guest is using the Self Check-In link
4. Confirm the guest entered the ending characters, not the first characters
5. Ask the guest to try the hotel confirmation number or booking-site reference
6. If suffix lookup still fails, ask the guest to try the full confirmation number

OHIP reservations still miss the lookup

What you see: An Opera reservation still does not appear after a last-4 search.

Fix:

1. Ask the guest to try the full confirmation number.
2. Refresh the Self Check-In session and try again.
3. Confirm the reservation exists in Opera and is synced to AVA.
4. If it still does not appear, confirm Opera shows the same confirmation number.

Last-4 toggle is disabled

What you see: You cannot change Quick Lookup with Confirmation Number Suffix.

Fix:

1. Turn ID Scan on.
2. Click Save General Settings.
3. Reopen General Settings and try again.

Suffix length does not save

What you see: The suffix length returns to its previous value or shows an error.

Fix:

1. Enter a whole number between 4 and 10.

2. Confirm Quick Lookup with Confirmation Number Suffix is on.

3. Click Save General Settings.

4. Reopen General Settings and verify the saved value.

   ✓ Values below 4, above 10, or containing non-numeric characters are rejected.

Staff search behavior is unchanged

What you see: Staff search still requires the full confirmation number.

Fix:

This is expected. Last-4 lookup applies only to Self Check-In.

Mews suffix lookup shows an error

What you see: A valid suffix does not find a Mews reservation, or lookup shows an error.

Fix:

1. Ask the guest to enter the full confirmation number.
2. Confirm the reservation exists in Mews and has the expected arrival date.
3. Refresh the Self Check-In session and try again.
4. Contact support if the full number also fails.

Mews suffix lookup opens the wrong room

What you see: A multi-room Mews reservation opens a room that does not match the entered suffix.

Fix:

1. Refresh the Self Check-In session.
2. Ask the guest to enter the ending characters again.
3. Confirm the selected room matches the guest's booking details.
4. Ask the guest to use the full confirmation number if the room still differs.
5. Contact support if the full number also selects the wrong room.

Mews preview does not appear

What you see: A unique Mews suffix match does not show a booking preview while the reservation loads.

Fix:

1. Wait for the lookup stages to finish.
2. Confirm the guest entered the ending characters correctly.
3. If AVA identifies the reservation but shows no preview, continue with the live lookup.
4. Ask the guest to try the full confirmation number if guest details still do not load.
5. Contact support if the full number also fails.

Safe fallback

AVA may show only a reservation summary when Mews cannot return the complete guest roster. Guest details and check-in actions wait until the required live guest data is available.

Preview work disappears or cannot be saved

What you see: A suffix preview appears, but AVA does not save a document or guest detail.

Fix:

1. Wait for live reservation confirmation to finish.
2. Confirm the selected guest matches the confirmed reservation.
3. Re-enter the guest details after confirmation if AVA removed an unsafe draft.
4. Use the full confirmation number if the booking changed or the match became ambiguous.

Still Stuck?

Contact success@vouch-technologies.com if:

• ❌ Guests still cannot find reservations after using the full number
• ❌ The toggle does not save after multiple tries
• ❌ You see error messages after saving

Helpful to include:

• Screenshot of the General Settings section
• The confirmation number pattern (mask the full number)
• Time the issue started

Related Guides

• Check-In
• Security Overview
• Control Passport Scan Booking Lookup and ID Scan
• Document Checks