Brex travel hotel bookings

Booking options

Brex travel provides travelers with comprehensive lodging choices by sourcing inventory directly from a variety of sources. We also offer flexible payment options for hotel bookings, including the option to prepay at the time of checkout or provide payment to the hotel at the time of stay.

Prepaid

When booking a prepaid hotel, your payment details will be sent to the hotel and you’ll be charged before your stay. How soon this charge is applied can vary between different hotels. A prepaid hotel room is charged at the time of checkout in Brex travel and excludes resort or other fees. If there are no ancillaries or extra charges for the room rate disclosed in the terms — like a resort fee, local tax, etc. — there will be no additional charges. If there are extra charges from the property, such as local taxes and resort fees, those may be collected upon check-in or checkout at the hotel. A credit card is still required at check-in for incidentals.

Pay at hotel or Pay later

A pay at hotel room is charged at the hotel either upon check-in or checkout by the hotel and varies based on hotel policy. When this charge occurs is solely at the discretion of the hotel. A credit card tied to your spend limit is required to reserve the room through Brex but will not be charged prior to your stay at the hotel. You’ll need to give the hotel a physical credit card at the time of check-in for the cost of the room and incidentals.

Booking a trip

After enabling Brex travel on your account, all employees with access to travel spend limits will have the ability to book a trip. Depending on the settings put in place by your admin, you might be able to use a personal card for bookings and request reimbursement later. Otherwise, the card assigned to your travel spend limit will be used as a payment method. Note: Per our Platform Agreement, Brex travel can only be used for business-related travel. Step 1: In your Brex dashboard or mobile app, click Trips > Hotels to start a new trip. Step 2: If you want to book for a guest (an individual who isn’t a member of your Brex account), change Booking for myself to Book for a guest using the dropdown arrow. Step 3: Go to the Hotels tab and fill in the trip details, such as location and dates. Step 4: Select your spend limit under the Book with dropdown menu and click Search. Note: If there is no travel spend limit listed, click Request a spend limit. Once your request is approved, you can use that spend limit to book travel. Step 5: Search by hotels, airports, cities, and more. Click View rooms to view specific details, room options, amenities, and hotel policy. Use the filter options to view only the rooms that match your preferences. Click Select on the one you want. Step 6: Review your booking details, including the flight’s cancellation policy, airline loyalty program number, and your traveler profile information. If you choose to book on behalf of a guest traveler, fill out their information here. Step 7: Select Confirm and pay to complete your hotel booking. Depending on the settings put in place by your admin, you might be able to use a personal card and request reimbursement later. Otherwise, the card assigned to your travel spend limit will be used as a payment method. Admins can also use your reward points to pay (unless postpaid). Once your hotel is booked, you can add a flight and/or rental car to your trip by clicking Add another reservation to trip.

Comparing prices

To compare prices, you can filter by the desired Hotel Chain. Select the same nightly rate and compare at checkout, when prices are updated.

Viewing booked trip details

You can view upcoming and past trips you’ve booked in your Brex dashboard or app. Outside of your own personal trips, managers can also view trips they manage as a spend limit owner in the dashboard, while account, card, and travel admins can view all booked trips across your organization.

Travel policy rules and management

Policies are a set of rules that a manager, account admin, card admin, or travel admin can set for booking travel with Brex. Essentials Policy admins can set up spending rules that flag travel-related merchant and category expenses (such as lodging) for review if they’re over a certain amount. PremiumEnterpriseSmart card Admins can customize rules. For example, you can restrict employees from flying certain airlines, sitting in certain cabin classes, or staying in lodging above a certain star rating threshold. 

Booking lead time window

Set the minimum number of days a lodging booking must be made before the expense gets triggered for review. You can also exclude booking window rules. Example: Booking a hotel less than 15 days in advance will require the expense to be reviewed.

Lodging rating maximum star rating

Set the type of hotel booking that, when booked, will trigger the expense to be reviewed. Maximum star rating can be used to define a travel policy. You can also exclude maximum daily rate rules. Example: Booking a hotel rated more than three stars will require the expense to be reviewed.

Maximum average nightly rate

Set the type of hotel booking that, when booked, will trigger the expense to be reviewed. Maximum average nightly rate, location, and price can be used to define a travel policy. You can also exclude the maximum average nightly rate rule. Example: Hotel bookings greater than $300 per night on average will require the expense to be reviewed. Hotel bookings over $400 per night on average in Boston will require the expense to be reviewed, and hotel bookings over $500 per night on average in New York will require the expense to be reviewed.

Managing your policy

Step 1: Create an expense policy. Step 2: Under Add categories, click Lodging > Customize. Step 3: (Optional) Select the Booking policy enforcement

• None: There will be no users on the booking approval chain.
• Notification: Users in the approval chain will be notified of out-of-policy bookings. They will be able to cancel those bookings if needed.
• Approval: Users in the approval chain will be asked to review out-of-policy bookings. If not approved, the booking will be automatically canceled after a few hours.

Step 4: (Optional) Toggle average nightly limit and enter the dollar amount. Under search location, type in the location and enter the dollar amount for the location that you entered. Step 5: (Optional) Toggle lodging rating restrictions and enter in the star rating under the dropdown menu. The options are one through up to five stars. Step 6: (Optional) Toggle booking lead time and enter in the number of days that you require employees to book in advance of your trip. Step 7: (Optional) Toggle maximum spend limit outside of Brex travel and enter the dollar amount of expenses equal or above the amount you entered to require review. Step 8: (Optional) Toggle specify by merchant and enter the merchant name in the dropdown. Choose between Allow or Review under the smaller dropdown. Under What about all other merchants? select either Review to require review for all other spending, or Allow to allow spending with other merchants in this category. Step 9: (Optional) To add a note, enter in your note in under 250 characters or less. Step 10: Click Update & review > Next > Save.

Modifying trips

Changing hotels

To change your hotel in your Brex dashboard, go to Trips. Click on the trip card that shows your travel itinerary and then Manage reservation. Scroll to the hotel you want to modify and click the three dots on the top right of the flight, then Change > Edit (the pencil logo). To change your hotel in your Brex app, go to Trips. Tap the trip card that shows your travel itinerary, and then on the hotel you want to change under Reservations. Scroll down and tap Change flight > Edit (the pencil logo) > Continue. Some hotel modifications cannot be done via self-serve, and a chat prompt will open and prompt you to speak with Brex travel support.

Extending your stay

If you have a refundable booking, you may be able to modify it under Trips > Manage reservation. If you don’t see the option, please contact Brex travel support for help extending your stay. If you have a nonrefundable booking, it’s best to make an additional booking for the extra days you want to stay. Once you arrive at the hotel, inform the front desk that you have two reservations and request to remain in the same room for your entire stay.

Contact your hotel

In some cases, you may need to contact the hotel directly as changes cannot be made through Brex travel support. These cases include:

• Changing a nonrefundable hotel booking
• Changing a refundable hotel booking after the change/cancel until date specified by the hotel
• Changing a refundable or nonrefundable hotel booking on or after the check-in date
• Requesting a refund or cancellation penalty waiver for a nonrefundable booking or a refundable booking past the change/cancel until date specified by the hotel's policy
• Canceling your hotel booking after the check-in date

Canceling your booking

Note: You cannot transfer your booked arrangements to another person. To cancel your hotel in your Brex dashboard, go to Trips. Click the trip card that shows your travel itinerary and then Manage reservation. Scroll to the hotel you would like to cancel and click on the three dots on the top right of the hotel, then Cancel. To cancel your hotel on mobile, go to Trips. Tap the trip card that shows your travel itinerary. Choose the hotel you want to cancel under Reservations. Scroll down and tap Cancel reservation. Some hotel cancellations are not self-serve, in which case a chat prompt will open and connect you to Brex travel support.

Hotel folios

Brex travel reports hotel folios after travelers complete their stay at a hotel. Travelers should work with the hotel to collect hotel folios after their travel. The hotel folio is generally shared with travelers during checkout and emailed to the traveler. Brex travel does not collect hotel folios. We recommend that travel admins work with their travelers to ensure that hotel folios are shared post travel.

Third party hotels

Third-party or OTAs are providers who resell hotel suppliers’ inventory. Brex travel surfaces third-party content so that you have access to lower fare or comparable fares. Third party hotels are subject to the following limitations:

• Travelers booking through an OTA will not earn points and member rates will not be provided.
• Travelers cannot get a folio for a hotel stay. The invoice must be downloaded from Trips under Manage reservation. Under the booking, travelers can download the itinerary, which will have the invoice.
• Most OTAs will only have pre-paid rates. Others may have post-paid rates but this inventory will be limited. Some hotels may not allow pre-paid rates through third-party providers.
• Any hotel-specific modification rules will not apply.