--- title: Front Desk & Guest FAQ: Check-in, Passports | bedsKey description: Check-in and walk-ins, passport scanning checked against ICAO 9303, encrypted ID storage, early and late fees, room moves, loyalty points and web check-in. canonical: https://bedskey.com/faq/front-desk-guests/ updated: 2026-09-24 publisher: bedsKey (Innovate Solution) --- # Front desk & guests: questions and answers The bedsKey front desk puts arrivals, in-house guests and departures in one view. Photograph a passport and the guest form fills itself; ID scans are encrypted and deleted after your retention period. Returning guests, allergy alerts and loyalty points show beside the booking, and guests can check in online from their phone. ## Check-in, check-out & the desk ### What does the front desk screen show? Today's arrivals, in-house guests and departures in one view, so reception and duty managers see the day's work at a glance. ### How does check-in work? Assign a room, capture guest details and ID, and take a deposit. Rooms can be assigned at booking or on arrival. ### How are walk-in guests handled? Register, price, assign a room and check in a guest with no booking, all from one screen. ### How does passport scanning work? Photograph the passport page and the guest form fills itself. The machine-readable zone (MRZ) is checked against the ICAO 9303 standard, and the passport's expiry is checked against the stay dates. ### Does bedsKey print a registration card? Yes. The registration card prints from the details on file, and only the last four digits of the guest's ID number are printed. ### Can I move a guest to another room mid-stay? Yes. A room move keeps charges continuous on the same stay. If the move changes room type, nights already spent keep their rate and only the remaining nights re-price. ### Can I charge for early check-in or late check-out? Yes. Set a grace period, then charge a share of the nightly rate or a whole night. Staff can charge or waive the fee, and a waiver needs a reason. The charged-and-waived report lists every fee collected and waived, with reasons and approvers. ### How are cancellation and no-show fees set? As a sliding scale per rate plan. The fee is quoted in full before the guest cancels, so there are no surprises at the desk. ### Can the desk report a fault in a room? Yes. Raise a maintenance ticket, assign an engineer and take the room off sale until it is fixed. Housekeeping attendants can raise tickets from their phones too. ### Is there a lost and found register? Yes. Log, search and close items, each linked to whoever stayed in that room. ## Guest identity & documents ### How are passport and ID scans protected? Scans are encrypted with AES-256-GCM. Viewing them needs its own permission, and every view is recorded in the audit trail. See [platform and security](https://bedskey.com/features/security/). ### How long does bedsKey keep ID documents? You set a retention period. When it ends, the scans and ID numbers are deleted automatically. ## Guest profiles & CRM ### Does bedsKey recognise returning guests? Yes. A returning-guest panel shows stays, nights, spend and last visit beside the booking, where the desk actually looks. Profiles hold contact details, stay history, preferences and notes. ### How do guest alerts, such as allergies, work? Tag the guest and mark the tag as an alert. Alerts lead the guest panel so staff cannot miss them, and tags are shared across the group. ### Is there a loyalty programme? Yes. Points are earned automatically at check-out and redeemed straight off the folio, and each guest has a full points statement. ### Can guests check in online? Yes. Guests open a link on their phone and submit their details and arrival time. The desk reviews and applies them in one press. ### Can I manage company and travel-agent accounts? Yes. Corporate and agent profiles carry negotiated rates and credit terms, and their balances are tracked on the city ledger. ### How do I find a guest quickly? Search by name, room, phone number, booking reference or company. Contact: sales@bedskey.com ยท Book a demo: https://bedskey.com/contact/