GetYourGuide Reversed vs Reversal: What Is the Difference?

The difference in plain English

GetYourGuide’s current invoice Excel guide uses both Reversed and Reversal.

According to GetYourGuide:

• Reversed means the booking has been cancelled.
• Reversal represents the reverse charge for that cancelled booking and shows a negative amount.

GetYourGuide’s invoice booking-list guide is here.

So yes, the words are almost comically similar. No, they do not mean exactly the same thing. Somebody somewhere chose two neighbouring English words and then went home satisfied with their day.

1. Why can you see more than one row?

A cancellation may need the invoice to show both the booking and the financial effect of undoing it. That is why cancellation-related rows can look repetitive when you scan the spreadsheet quickly.

The important thing is not to count rows and immediately count deductions. Instead, trace the same GYG booking reference and look at the amounts and statuses together.

Two rows related to one cancellation do not automatically mean you have been charged twice. They may simply be the bookkeeping needed to reverse the original transaction.

Our Cancellation deduction guide goes deeper into the overall money effect.

2. A very simple example

Imagine a booking was originally worth €120. It later gets cancelled.

You may see the booking marked as Reversed, telling you the booking itself has been cancelled. A related Reversal row can then carry the negative amount that reverses the earlier financial effect.

The exact figures on your invoice can depend on the booking and cancellation circumstances, so this is deliberately a simple illustration. The useful habit is the same: match the booking reference, then calculate the net effect across the related rows.

Do not judge the entire situation from the first minus sign you meet. Minus signs are dramatic little creatures.

3. Does this mean you have been deducted twice?

Not necessarily.

This is one of the easiest places to misread the invoice because the cancellation can generate more than one line and at least one of them may be negative.

Before deciding there is a duplicate deduction:

1. Search the exact GYG booking reference.
2. Collect every row using that reference.
3. Note the status on each row.
4. Compare the retail price, commission and negative amounts.
5. Calculate the net effect across the related rows.

If you still see the same money being removed twice after that, then you have a specific discrepancy worth questioning. That is much stronger than “there are two scary rows and I dislike both of them”, even if the second sentence is emotionally accurate.

4. The slightly sneaky “Normal” cancellation case

There is one more wrinkle worth knowing.

GetYourGuide’s current invoice guide says Normal can also indicate supplier cancellation compensation when a supplier fails to provide the service and cancels on their side.

In that case, GetYourGuide says the affected booking reference can show a Normal status with a retail price of zero and a negative commission adjustment representing 25% of the retail price.

So if you are looking only for the words Reversed and Reversal, you can miss a cancellation-related charge wearing a perfectly innocent “Normal” badge.

Normal. Of course. Very helpful.

5. Booking Reference is the safest way through

When cancellation rows get confusing, stop trying to understand the whole invoice at once.

Copy the GYG booking reference and search for every occurrence. Then look at the related statuses and amounts together.

This is the same little technique we use in Booking missing from payout. One reference, followed through the paperwork. It is remarkably effective and requires no advanced spreadsheet wizardry.

6. What to send GetYourGuide if it still looks wrong

If the cancellation still appears to have the wrong financial effect, gather:

• The GYG booking reference.
• The GIS invoice number.
• The relevant Reversed, Reversal or Normal rows.
• The amount you expected.
• The net amount the cancellation actually created.

Then ask about the specific booking and specific amounts.

“Booking GYG123456789 shows these two cancellation-related rows and produces a net deduction of €X. Can you explain why?” is a much easier support question to investigate than “my invoice is cursed”. Even if, privately, we are not ruling that out.

How OTA Ninja handles these rows

OTA Ninja checks cancellations, reversals and related payout rows as part of the diagnostic.

It can flag entries that deserve a closer look and help you build the evidence around the booking reference and amounts. It does not automatically declare every negative row wrong, because negative rows are sometimes exactly what the accounting is supposed to contain.

That balance matters. We want to find discrepancies, not manufacture little spreadsheet crimes for entertainment.

The 30-second version

• Reversed = booking cancelled.
• Reversal = negative reverse charge for the cancelled booking.
• More than one row does not automatically mean a double deduction.
• Search the same GYG booking reference and calculate the net effect.
• Remember that some supplier cancellation compensation can appear as Normal with a negative commission adjustment.

Two similar words. One booking reference. Much less mysterious once they are made to sit separately.