Check-In Blocked Fast Triage

Quick Triage

Most front desk blockers are fixed in under 2 minutes.

Use this guide when the guest is at the desk and check-in cannot continue.

60-Second Triage

1. Confirm you are on the correct reservation.
2. Identify the blocker in the table.
3. Apply the fix.
4. Resume check-in.

Blocker	What you see	Action
Reservation not found	Scan fails or no result	Search by confirmation number and verify arrival date (see How to Complete a Check-In)
Name mismatch with document	Name on reservation differs from legal ID/passport	Follow Check-In Blocked: Name Mismatch
Guest-safe reservation block	Guest sees a short localized block hint for balance, stay length, or reservation type issues	Open Command Center → View Details and read the structured reason, warning panel, and balance details
Mews billing review at lookup	Guest is sent to the front desk after reservation lookup	Review the complete Mews bill before collecting any room payment
Required steps incomplete	Proceed to Check-In is disabled	Complete all required steps for each guest (see How to Complete a Check-In)
Payment/deposit incomplete	Payment requirement still pending	Collect payment in Reservation Requirements (see How to Complete a Check-In)
Room status blocks check-in	"Room not ready" or no room available	Verify room assignment and status. For an Opera component suite, check every linked room. If you use eZee, clean one matching room in Housekeeping, then refresh and retry.
Room assignment failed	Friendly room-unavailable message in the Information modal, not raw backend text	Check the PMS room assignment, clear the conflict, then retry
PMS rate limit during room assignment or final check-in	AVA pauses briefly, then either continues or shows the friendly room-unavailable message	Wait for AVA to finish retrying. If it remains blocked, check the PMS and retry once
PMS reservation mutation is in progress	PMS_RESERVATION_MUTATION_IN_PROGRESS appears during room assignment or final check-in	Wait briefly, refresh AVA, then retry the affected step once
Cloudbeds room conflict	"cannot check this reservation in until ... assigned to this room is checked out"	Check out the active stay or reassign rooms in Cloudbeds, then refresh AVA and retry
Cloudbeds shared folio loop	"Unable to find the reservation. Please try again or contact support." or Proceed with Selected Reservation returns to the same error	Refresh the reservation, then retry. If it still loops, contact support.
Cloudbeds guest country required	GUEST_COUNTRY_REQUIRED or "Nationality required"	Fill Nationality or Country of Residence before companion check-in, then retry
Cloudbeds availability refusal	PMS_OCCUPANCY_UNAVAILABLE_FOR_DATES or a message asking you to change dates or choose fewer rooms	Check Cloudbeds availability, change to an available option, refresh AVA, then retry once
Cloudbeds room availability changed	A stale-availability or assignment-timeout message appears during automatic room assignment	Check the current room and housekeeping status in Cloudbeds, refresh AVA, then retry once
Guest-count sync retry limit	Guest sees staff-assistance guidance after repeated temporary sync failures	Stop guest retries, continue with the staff process, and verify the PMS guest count
One-device ACI journey error after repeat lookup	ACI does not continue after searching for the reservation again	Repeat the lookup once from Staff Access. If it remains blocked, refresh AVA and contact support
ACI staff operations unavailable	Staff search, reservation lists, or state-changing actions are unavailable	Verify the ACI staff device, wait for the fresh list load, then retry
Manual ACI grouping needs staff verification	A staff-device verification message appears while grouping same-name reservations	Verify the ACI staff device, then retry grouping. This is not a reservation lookup failure
Guest move reconciliation fails	Guest is not attached to the source reservation	Refresh the reservation, confirm the source and destination rooms, then move the guest again
SiteMinder multi-room guest list looks duplicated	Repeated accompanying guests or extra guest slots appear across linked Opera rooms	Refresh the reservation. Confirm the SiteMinder family and adult occupancy in Opera, then retry once
Room access not available after check-in	No keycard/PIN/code shown	Use room access troubleshooting in How to Complete a Check-In

Cloudbeds companion rejection

If Cloudbeds rejects companion creation, AVA shows the same GUEST_COUNTRY_REQUIRED error. Fill Nationality or Country of Residence, then retry the companion check-in.

Guest-safe room assignment errors

When PMS room assignment fails, guests now see a friendly message in the Information modal. If your PMS returns a 5xx, guests still see the friendly message instead of "Internal server error". AVA keeps raw backend text, guest names, and technical details out of the guest view.

PMS rate-limit retries

When the PMS temporarily returns a 429 during room assignment or final check-in, AVA retries automatically. The action may take several extra seconds while AVA waits for the PMS to accept the request. If all retries fail, AVA shows the normal friendly room-assignment message. Wait for the action to finish before selecting Retry or asking the guest to repeat the step.

Cloudbeds assignment checks

AVA reads fresh Cloudbeds reservation, unassigned-room, and housekeeping data before automatic room assignment. It stops when those results are stale, too far apart, or exceed the assignment time limit. Check Cloudbeds before retrying, because AVA does not automatically replay the final assignment write.

Opera out-of-service checks

Opera can return a valid empty out-of-service result during room readiness checks. AVA treats it as no blocked rooms and continues the assignment flow. If AVA shows "PMS service is unavailable", Opera returned a missing or malformed result. Check the Opera connection and room data before retrying.

Guest-safe kiosk blocks

When a kiosk eligibility check fails, the guest sees a short localized message. The exact block source and matched values stay in Command Center.

Guest-safe reservation block hints

Empty-balance, zero-night, and long-stay blocks now show guest-safe localized hints. AVA keeps backend policy text out of the guest modal and preserves the staff error code. Unknown future reservation block codes fall back to a generic hotel-policy message. Empty-balance blocks also record the reservation in Command Center. Open Show Details to see the balance diagnostics.

Empty-balance warning panel

When the booking is blocked with RESERVATION_BLOCKED_EMPTY_BALANCE, Show Details opens with a warning panel. Use it to compare the PMS balance with Outstanding balance, Payment waived, Billing routed elsewhere, and Reservation status. If Outstanding balance says Not reported by the PMS, the PMS did not return a usable balance.

Reservation Lookup Blocks Alert Staff

What you see: The guest sees a front-desk review message after reservation lookup. The reservation also appears in Command Center with a failed lookup event. Staff receives a Check-in issue push notification when alerts are enabled. The alert title identifies the failed step, such as Check-in issue at Entry. The message includes the reason in staff-friendly language. Google Chat cards show Status: FAILED, rather than the step's in_progress status.

AVA sends this alert for these reservation lookup blocks:

Block code	Staff alert reason	Front-desk action
RESERVATION_BLOCKED_BY_KIOSK	Hotel policy blocks kiosk check-in.	Check the guest in at the front desk.
RESERVATION_BLOCKED_EMPTY_BALANCE	The reservation has an outstanding folio balance.	Settle the balance before check-in.
RESERVATION_BLOCKED_UNVERIFIED_BILLING	Billing could not be verified for the reservation.	Review the folio before check-in.
RESERVATION_BLOCKED_ZERO_NIGHT	The stay is a same-day due-out.	Check the guest in at the front desk.
RESERVATION_BLOCKED_LONG_STAY	The stay exceeds the kiosk long-stay limit.	Check the guest in at the front desk.

Fix:

1. Open the staff alert, or go to Command Center.
2. Select the reservation and choose View Details.
3. Open Detailed Event Log.
4. Select Show Details on the failed lookup event.
5. Review the reason before completing check-in at the front desk.

For zero-night and long-stay blocks, Show Details includes the nights, threshold, and stay dates. These diagnostics are staff-only and never appear in the guest-facing message. If the alert shows raw internal text instead, save a screenshot and contact support.

Same-Name Reservation Grouping Needs Device Verification

What you see: Same-name reservation grouping cannot continue. AVA shows a staff-device verification message inline instead of opening the reservation-not-found modal.

Why this happens: Manual grouping requires a verified ACI staff credential.

Fix:

1. Confirm you opened the staff Assisted Check-In (ACI) page.
2. Confirm the browser is the intended staff device.
3. Open Settings → Kiosk and select the matching kiosk row.
4. Select Re-verify staff device.
5. Complete verification on that same physical device.
6. Refresh ACI and retry grouping.

The verification message can appear when the credential is missing, invalid, assigned to the wrong role, or linked to another merchant. The grouping request remains protected and does not retry with an unverified credential. You must verify the staff device before loading or refreshing the active ACI reservation list. State-changing ACI check-in actions also require the exact verified staff credential.

One-Device ACI Journey Error After a Repeated Lookup

What you see: One-device ACI stops after you search for the reservation again. You may see "Unable to bind the assisted check-in journey to this staff device."

Fix:

1. Repeat the reservation lookup once from Staff Access.
2. Wait for the room cards to reload.
3. Continue check-in on the verified staff device.
4. Refresh AVA if the journey remains blocked.

If the error continues, contact support with the reservation number and time.

Billing Review Required Before Check-In

What you see: The guest sees a front-desk review message after reservation lookup. The guest cannot continue to the rooms or payment steps.

Why this happens: A Mews accommodation policy matched, but Mews could not classify a charge. AVA does not use a stored balance or collect an unverified amount.

Fix:

1. Open the reservation through Staff Access.
2. Review the Mews rate, included products, and complete invoice.
3. Confirm the matching value in Settings → Payment → Accommodation Charge Policies.
4. Refresh the reservation after Mews finishes syncing.
5. Confirm the payable amount with the complete Mews invoice.
6. Ask front-desk staff to complete the check-in when review remains necessary.

When this block appears

This lookup block appears when your hotel collects room payment at check-in. Registration-only and key-issuance flows are not blocked by this check.

Mews Included Product Needs Review

What you see: Mews billing needs review after a matching room-package waiver.

Why this happens: AVA cannot prove the product's classification.

Room-relative service charges

A service charge linked to the room-night product should not trigger review only because Mews reports Once. If review remains, check for another unclassified product or an invoice mismatch.

Fix:

1. Open the reservation through Staff Access.
2. Review the rate, included products, and complete invoice in Mews.
3. Confirm the matching value in Settings → Payment → Accommodation Charge Policies.
4. Refresh the reservation after Mews finishes syncing.
5. Do not collect an unverified amount.
6. Ask front-desk staff to review the complete Mews invoice.

Opera Additional Guest Payment Rejected

What you see: Insert Guests fails, and AVA shows a guest-safe payment-method message. Staff can still see Opera's payment-method detail in the error information.

Why this happens: Opera rejected the additional guest because the payment method is not enabled for reservations.

Fix:

1. Open the reservation and payment-method configuration in Opera.
2. Enable the payment method for reservation use, or select an enabled method.
3. Return to AVA and retry the affected document assignment.
4. Confirm the guest appears on the reservation before continuing check-in.

Opera Accompanying Guest Is Not Attached

What you see: An accompanying guest does not appear after document assignment.

Why this happens: AVA checks a fresh Opera reservation before creating the profile. It requires exactly one explicit main guest with a usable profile ID. Opera may also create the profile before confirming the attachment. AVA records the created profile, so a normal retry does not create a duplicate.

Fix:

1. Refresh the reservation in AVA.

2. Confirm the main guest appears on the reservation.

3. Confirm Opera shows exactly one main guest with a profile ID.

4. Retry the document assignment once.

5. Check Opera before creating a profile manually.

   ✓ The guest should appear under the existing main reservation.

Contact your Opera administrator if the main guest is missing, duplicated, or mismatched. Contact support if the guest remains missing or appears more than once in Opera.

If AVA shows a conflict because Opera cannot confirm profile creation, do not retry repeatedly. Check Opera, then contact support for reconciliation.

SiteMinder Multi-Room Guest List Looks Duplicated

What you see: Linked Opera rooms show repeated accompanying guests or more guest slots than expected.

Why this happens: SiteMinder can repeat one accompanying profile across a multi-room booking. Opera may give each copy a different profile ID.

Fix:

1. Refresh the reservation in AVA.
2. Check that the rooms belong to the same explicit SiteMinder booking family.
3. Compare each room's declared adult occupancy in Opera.
4. Retry the guest document assignment once.
5. Do not create replacement profiles manually for repeated guests.

AVA reconciles only an exact, unambiguous SiteMinder pattern. Children, sharers, terminal rooms, partial repeats, or conflicting identity details keep the original guest list. Contact support if duplicate actionable slots remain after the refresh.

Name Mismatch: Do This First

1. Verify the guest identity using the travel document.
2. Update the reservation name to the legal name in the supported edit flow, or in your PMS.
3. Confirm the update syncs to AVA.
4. Continue check-in after names match.

Open the complete workflow: Check-In Blocked: Name Mismatch

Room Assignment Failed With a Friendly Message

What you see: The guest sees a friendly room-unavailable message in the Information modal.

Why this happens: AVA could not assign the requested room in the PMS. This also covers transient 5xx responses.

Fix:

1. Open the reservation in your PMS.
2. Check whether the room is already booked or blocked.
3. Reassign the room, or clear the conflict.
4. Return to AVA and retry check-in.

✓ The guest should see the friendly message again only if the PMS conflict still exists.

PMS Reservation Mutation Is In Progress

What you see: Room assignment or final check-in shows PMS_RESERVATION_MUTATION_IN_PROGRESS.

Why this happens: A PMS update is still changing the reservation. This can briefly overlap with guest verification, document upload, or another reservation update. AVA retries this exact temporary conflict during room assignment and final check-in.

Fix:

1. Wait briefly for the PMS update to finish.

2. Refresh the reservation in AVA.

3. Retry the affected step once.

   ✓ The affected step should continue after the PMS releases the reservation.

If the code remains, do not treat the room as unavailable. Contact support with the reservation number and error screenshot.

PMS Rate Limit During Check-In

What you see: Room assignment or final check-in takes longer, then continues or shows a friendly error.

Why this happens: The PMS temporarily limited request volume. AVA retries this temporary refusal automatically during the affected action.

Fix:

1. Wait for the current action to finish.

2. If check-in continues, complete the remaining steps.

3. If AVA shows a friendly error, check the reservation and room assignment in your PMS.

4. Refresh AVA, then retry the affected step once.

   ✓ A short PMS rate limit should clear without sending the guest to the front desk.

Contact support if the error keeps returning after the PMS accepts other requests.

Opera Component Suite Is Not Ready

What you see: Check-in stops because an Opera suite is not ready, or no room is available.

Why this happens: Opera represents the suite with linked component rooms. AVA checks every linked room before assigning the suite.

Fix:

1. Open the suite in Opera.
2. Check every component room for occupancy and readiness.
3. Resolve any occupied, dirty, or unavailable component room in Opera or Housekeeping.
4. Confirm the suite uses the exact component-room mapping in Opera.
5. Return to AVA, click Refresh, and retry check-in.

If AVA selected the suite automatically but cannot verify its exact configuration, ask your Opera administrator to correct the mapping.

Occupied status takes priority

When one component room is occupied, AVA keeps that status as the main reason. This helps staff resolve the active stay before other readiness issues.

eZee Assign-Room Shows No Rooms Available

What you see: The room picker is empty, or the guest cannot continue after assign-room.

Why this happens: AVA only offers clean rooms for eZee. If every matching room is dirty, nothing appears.

Fix:

1. Open Housekeeping.
2. Mark one matching room Clean.
3. Return to the reservation and click Refresh.
4. Try Assign Room again.

✓ The room picker should show at least one eligible room.

Kiosk Shows a Guest-Safe Rejection

What you see: The kiosk shows a short rejection message, but not the detailed rule name.

Why this happens: AVA hides exact eligibility details from the guest screen.

Fix:

1. Open the reservation in Command Center.

2. Select View Details.

3. Open Detailed Event Log.

4. Select Show Details on the failed booking event.

5. Use the structured reason there to decide the next step.

   ✓ The kiosk keeps showing guest-safe text while the exact reason stays in staff tools.

Cloudbeds Room Conflict

What you see: Check-in fails with "cannot check this reservation in until ... assigned to this room is checked out".

Fix:

1. Open the reservation in Cloudbeds.
2. Find the reservation still assigned to the same room.
3. Check out that stay, or move one booking to a free room.
4. Go back to AVA and click Refresh in Operations View.
5. Start check-in again.

✓ Check-in should continue after the room conflict is removed.

Cloudbeds Availability Refusal

What you see: Check-in stops with PMS_OCCUPANCY_UNAVAILABLE_FOR_DATES. The message asks you to change dates or choose fewer rooms.

Why this happens: Cloudbeds cannot accommodate the selected dates or room availability. This does not mean the guest's adult or child split is wrong.

Fix:

1. Stop retrying the same check-in request.

2. Check the reservation dates, room type, and availability in Cloudbeds.

3. Change to an available option in Cloudbeds, if appropriate.

4. Refresh AVA and retry check-in once.

   ✓ Check-in should continue after Cloudbeds accepts the available option.

A specific PMS refusal

AVA reports this as a Cloudbeds availability refusal instead of a temporary service error. Use the Cloudbeds occupancy guide for the full recovery steps.

Guest-Count Sync Retry Limit

What you see: The guest sees staff-assistance guidance after repeated temporary guest-count failures. Staff may see PMS_GUEST_COUNT_RETRY_EXHAUSTED.

Why this happens: The PMS or network did not recover after four guest-facing attempts.

Fix:

1. Stop asking the guest to retry the same step.

2. Continue with your staff-assisted or manual check-in process.

3. Compare the registered guest count with the PMS reservation.

4. Correct the PMS reservation if the counts do not match.

5. Resume the pending guest-count change when the staff flow allows it.

   ✓ Check-in can continue through staff support without an endless retry loop.

Cloudbeds Shared Folio Loop

What you see: The reservation lookup shows "Unable to find the reservation. Please try again or contact support." Selecting Proceed with Selected Reservation returns to the same error.

Why this happens: Cloudbeds could not pick one room-specific folio for a shared stay. AVA now falls back to the booking-wide folio instead of stopping check-in.

Fix:

1. Refresh the reservation.
2. Try Proceed with Selected Reservation again.
3. If the loop returns, confirm the booking is still active in Cloudbeds.
4. Contact support if the reservation keeps failing.

✓ Check-in should continue once the reservation refreshes cleanly.

Guest Move Reconciliation Failed

What you see: Check-in stops after you move a guest between rooms, and AVA shows Guest is not attached to the source reservation.

Why this happens: The guest move in AVA no longer matches the PMS state for the source or destination reservation.

Fix:

1. Refresh the reservation.

2. Open the source reservation in your PMS.

3. Confirm the guest is still attached there.

4. Check that the destination room is still correct.

5. Move the guest again if needed.

6. Retry check-in.

   ✓ The guest should move cleanly once the PMS state matches again.

Prevention for Future Shifts

Ask guests to report nickname/alias bookings before arrival:

• Pre-Arrival Email
• WhatsApp Pre-Arrival Messages
• SMS Pre-Arrival Messages

Still Stuck?

Contact success@vouch-technologies.com if:

• ❌ The room assignment message still appears after you clear conflicts and retry
• ❌ You cannot identify the active stay in Cloudbeds
• ❌ Check-in stays blocked for more than 15 minutes

Helpful details to share:

• Screenshot of the full error message
• Reservation confirmation number
• Time the issue started
• Actions already tried

Related Guides

• How to Complete a Check-In
• Edit Reservations and Add Notes
• View Reservation Details