When we talk about the optimization of the billing process I have to ask myself why this trend has done everything possible to avoid hotels. Checking-out at a hotel can take forever, even without a long waiting line. Please review your bill, the sample print-out, yes – please show us again the credit card you used upon check-in, separate private expenses from the corporate portion, and then, of course, the billing address is incorrect. I have often experienced many of these things. TV check-out takes even longer and the "Quick Check-Out" option with the card you return in the slot (which you still need to fill out by hand, however, with all the information that you already provided the hotel with at least five times) is not offered in many foreign hotels. Should we charge your credit card in euros (so that the hotel can pocket the exchange rate difference) or in local currency? How was your stay with us – even though you receive the obligatory customer satisfaction survey email not ten minutes later. We added a one euro donation to UNICEF on your bill, or should we remove it? (That’s a good question, because how on earth will the company account for it?).

The best solution is often the simplest: I just leave. No check-out, I get directly into a taxi and send a short email to the hotel: I just moved out of room 222. Please take the minibar into account and send me the receipt by email. You already have my credit card number. And please refer to my email signature for the correct billing address. The hotel room magnetic stripe card can be confidently left behind in the taxi, because, after all, we sell magnetic stripe cards and driving sales is always a good thing. :)

Does it work? Of course! And no matter whether I am in China, Vietnam, the USA, Belgium or Germany. It has never taken longer than an hour for the invoice to come via email. Thank you for your patronage. Gladly. I should have thought of this earlier. Now my alarm goes off ten minutes later on my check-out day.