How should an Irish hotel sell and redeem gift vouchers under Irish consumer rules?
A voucher may be sold today and redeemed across several stays years later. Your terms, booking records and balance checks need to work together throughout that journey.
For gift vouchers covered by Irish legislation, offer at least five years’ validity or no expiry, provide written validity information, allow partial spending and do not cap the number used in one transaction. First check the voucher type: certain promotional, loyalty and electronic-money products are excluded. Operationally, record every redemption and preserve the remaining value. Start with the CCPC’s business guidance.
Check coverage before setting your terms
Hotel gift voucher rules in Ireland depend on the product, not whether it is printed or emailed. The government’s explanatory FAQs confirm that qualifying electronic vouchers are covered and that the rules apply to vouchers sold from 2 December 2019.
- Identify the issuer and promise. Is this a purchased €200 hotel gift voucher, a defined experience, a loyalty reward or a payment card? Record the terms and the reason for your classification.
- Check exclusions precisely. Section 66A excludes specified discounted goods or services from specified traders for a specified date or a period no longer than three months. A short expiry alone does not make an ordinary voucher exempt.
- Review other categories separately. Exclusions include loyalty schemes, promotions tied to specified purchases, refunds for returned goods and electronic money. A hotel cancellation credit does not automatically qualify as a returned-goods refund. An experience voucher is not automatically exempt.
- Send a lasting validity record. Supply the expiry date, or the contract date plus redemption period, or a statement that no expiry applies. For clarity, also include value, issuer, voucher reference, eligible services and redemption instructions in the email or paper confirmation.
For covered vouchers, the minimum validity and written-information requirements are set out in section 66B(1)–(2). A changeable webpage alone is not the customer’s durable record.
A €200 voucher used across two bookings
Hypothetical example: a Galway hotel sells voucher GV-200-01 for €200 on 13 November 2026, redeemable until 13 November 2031. Assume it is an ordinary purchased hotel gift voucher, with no applicable exclusion, and both bookings are eligible. These illustrative charges are not market prices. The example assumes the hotel’s chosen system supports reuse of the same reference.
| Date and event | Value and booking record | Confirmation and control |
|---|---|---|
| 13 November 2026: sale | €200 received; opening voucher balance €200. Record payment reference SALE-01. | Email voucher reference, value, purchase date, expiry and terms. Record the coverage check and confirmation reference CONF-01. |
| 27 November 2026: booking G-101 | Eligible charge €120; redeem €120. €200 − €120 = €80 remaining. | Link redemption RED-01 to G-101. Send CONF-02 showing €120 used, €80 remaining and unchanged expiry: 13 November 2031. |
| 18 January 2027: booking G-208 | Eligible charge €130; redeem €80 and collect €50 separately. Voucher balance €0. | Link RED-02 and the €50 payment reference to G-208. Send CONF-03 showing both payment amounts and zero voucher balance. Mark the voucher exhausted. |
Reconciliation: €120 + €80 = €200 redeemed. Booking charges total €250, funded by €200 voucher value and €50 additional payment. Keep the original sale separate from redemption so the same cash receipt is not counted twice.
If the original voucher cannot carry a balance: section 66B(4)–(5) requires reimbursement where €1 or more remains and the contract prevents later redemption. Reimbursement may be cash, electronic transfer or another voucher. A replacement must equal the remainder and expire no earlier than the original. For the €80 example, link the replacement to GV-200-01 and disable the old spendable balance.
Test the awkward transactions before launch
Give reception and finance one agreed procedure. A booking confirmation is not evidence that the voucher balance updated correctly.
- Test mixed payment. Run the €80 voucher plus €50 payment example. Check what happens when voucher value is below a required deposit. If online checkout cannot handle it, provide a tested staff-assisted route.
- Test multiple vouchers. Apply two valid vouchers of €40 and €60 to a €100 charge. Confirm both ledger entries. A software limit must not become a one-voucher-only policy for covered vouchers.
- Test failure and reversal. Retry a failed checkout and attempt simultaneous redemption. For a cancellation, record the booking decision and any authorised balance restoration with a reason, timestamp and staff identifier.
- Check the closing balance. Match voucher references, booking references, amounts and confirmations. Stop and investigate duplicate deductions, missing confirmations or disagreement between the voucher ledger and the booking record.
Plan the RoomRaccoon voucher workflow
RoomRaccoon’s hotel booking engine supports direct reservations and booking confirmations. Its property management system (PMS) manages reservations and payment statuses. These capabilities do not establish how a particular voucher provider handles balances.
Ask RoomRaccoon to confirm whether SimplyManageVouchers can be enabled for your Irish property, which plan or upgrade is required and who issues the codes. Request a demonstration of partial redemption, multiple vouchers, mixed payments, cancellation reversals and balance exports. Agree which system holds the authoritative balance and which steps staff perform manually.
Bring the €200 example and your voucher terms to a demonstration of your proposed booking workflow.
Book a demo for your propertyHotel gift voucher questions
Can we require the guest to spend everything at once?
No, for covered vouchers. The CCPC guidance confirms that a single-transaction spending requirement is prohibited. Build partial use into the redemption procedure.
Must every remaining balance be refunded in cash?
No. The statutory reimbursement provision has specific conditions and permits a replacement voucher as well as cash or electronic transfer. Do not describe it as an unconditional cash-refund entitlement.
Can a company buy vouchers for its employees?
Yes. The CCPC confirms that the legislation also applies to business-to-business sales. A corporate purchaser does not itself remove the voucher protections.
What if the recipient’s name is misspelt?
For a covered voucher restricted to a named person, do not reject redemption because that person’s name differs from their identification. The government FAQs explain that name changes must not attract a fee.
Sources and checks
Checked 13 November 2026. Consumer-rule scope: Republic of Ireland. Examples and testing procedures are illustrative operational guidance.
- CCPC: gift voucher requirements for businesses.
- Consumer Protection Act 2007, section 66A: definitions and exclusions.
- Consumer Protection Act 2007, section 66B: voucher contract terms.
- Irish government: Consumer Protection (Gift Vouchers) Act 2019 FAQs.
- RoomRaccoon booking engine and PMS product information.
