"Fees" can mean a few different things in TripWorks, which is what makes them confusing. Here's how to tell them apart: what your guest pays, what you absorb, and where to see each.
In this article
The guest's Booking Fee
At checkout, guests may see a Booking Fee line. That's TripWorks' fee on the transaction, added to the guest's total — so it's paid by the guest, not you. (Whether it shows as its own line or is folded into the total is a display choice; either way the guest pays it.)
The processing fee you absorb
Separately, there's a card-processing fee that comes out of your side — it's withheld from your payout rather than added to the guest's bill. So your payout is your sales minus the fees you absorb. A couple of specifics:
- Amex and international cards carry a slightly higher processing cost, and that difference is on your side.
- Tips aren't charged the platform Booking Fee — card processing on tips is handled separately (billed monthly, not per booking). See are tips subject to platform fees?
Your exact fee rates are set on your account. If you want to review or adjust how fees are split between you and your guests, contact TripWorks — it isn't a self-serve toggle in Setup.
Who pays is set by channel, not by activity
Whether the guest pays the Booking Fee, and at what rate, is set for your account by booking channel: online checkout, bookings your team makes in the back office, point of sale, and reseller bookings. Every activity, ticket, product, and add-on sold through a channel follows that channel's setting. You can't set one activity to "guest pays" and another to "we absorb it." If you want a single activity's price to cover the fee, build it into that activity's ticket price.
How the Booking Fee is calculated
The Booking Fee is a percentage of what the guest pays for the booking:
- After tax. It's calculated on the trip total including your taxes and surcharges.
- After discounts. Promo code and voucher discounts come off first, so the fee is on the discounted total.
- Not on tips. Tips are left out.
- Not on gift card redemptions. The part of a booking paid with a gift card carries no Booking Fee (the fee was collected when the gift card was sold).
For example, a $100 booking with $8 sales tax has a $108 total. At a 6% Booking Fee rate, the fee is $6.48.
Adding items after the booking
When you add a product or add-on to an existing booking and the guest pays for it, the Booking Fee applies only to the new amount. What the guest already paid isn't charged a Booking Fee a second time.
Deposits
When a guest pays a deposit by card, the Booking Fee for the whole trip is collected with the deposit, so the balance payments that follow don't add more. If the booking later grows (more guests, an added item), the fee on the extra amount is collected with the next payment.
If the booking shrinks after the deposit (fewer guests, a cheaper option), the fee already collected isn't adjusted automatically. Later payments simply don't add any Booking Fee. To give the guest money back, issue a refund from the trip's Payments tab (see the next section).
Refunds and the Booking Fee
When you refund a card payment, the guest gets back their share of the Booking Fee along with the refund: all of it on a full refund, or the matching portion on a partial refund. TripWorks doesn't return its fees when a payment is refunded, so the Booking Fee given back to the guest comes out of your balance. The card-processing fee on the original charge isn't returned either.
The Refund Amount on the refund form already includes the Booking Fee (it reads "including booking fee" when the trip has one), so a full refund returns exactly what the guest paid. Cash, check, and other refunds you record yourself don't move any money through TripWorks, so no fee is returned or charged on them.
Factor the Booking Fee into your cancellation policy if you don't want refunds to cost you the fee. See Refund a payment.
Card holds
Placing a card hold doesn't charge a Booking Fee, and charging (capturing) the hold doesn't either. The captured amount carries only your normal card-processing fee, the same as any card charge. See Can I extend a credit card hold?
Gift cards
The fee is collected when a gift card is sold, not when it is redeemed. Paying for a booking with a gift card doesn't add a Booking Fee on the gift card amount.
Cash, check, and other offline payments
The Booking Fee is a card-payment fee. When you log a payment as cash, check, or another non-card method directly on the trip, TripWorks doesn't add a Booking Fee to that payment.
If the guest already paid part of the trip online or by card before switching to cash or check for the rest, that earlier card payment already collected the Booking Fee based on the full trip total at that point — so the check or cash payment for the remaining balance isn't charged again.
If you'd rather your guests cover card costs
You can add your own surcharge (under Taxes & Surcharges) to pass card-processing costs on to guests — that's a separate, operator-controlled line item from the fees above. See pass credit card fees to your customers.
Where to see and reconcile them
- On the booking: the guest Booking Fee appears in the booking's totals (what the customer pays).
- On your payouts: the payout report is the place to reconcile "what am I actually being charged" — each deposit shows your sales with the fees you absorb netted out.
Frequently asked questions
What fees does my guest pay vs. what do I pay?
Your guest may pay a Booking Fee (added to their total at checkout). You absorb the card-processing fee, which is withheld from your payout rather than charged to the guest. If you'd like guests to also cover card costs, add a surcharge.
Where do I see the fees I'm being charged?
The payout report is the best place — it shows each deposit as your sales minus the fees you absorb. The guest's Booking Fee shows on the booking's totals.
What's the difference between the Booking Fee and a surcharge?
The Booking Fee is TripWorks' fee on the transaction (paid by the guest). A surcharge is a line item you create yourself under Taxes & Surcharges — for example, to pass credit-card costs to guests. They're separate and can both appear.
Why is my payout less than my sales total?
Because the processing fees you absorb are withheld from the payout. Your payout equals your sales minus those fees (and any refunds). The payout report breaks this down per deposit.
Are tips charged a fee?
Tips aren't charged the platform Booking Fee. The card-processing cost on tips is handled separately and billed monthly rather than taken out of each booking. See Are tips subject to platform fees?
Can I change how fees are split with my guests?
The split between the guest Booking Fee and what you absorb is set on your account, not a Setup toggle — contact TripWorks to review it. You can always add a surcharge yourself to pass card costs to guests.
Do I get the processing fee back when I refund?
No. When you refund a card payment, the card-processing fee on the original charge isn't returned. Plan for it in your cancellation policy.
Is the Booking Fee refunded to the guest when I cancel and refund a booking? Who covers it?
Yes, the guest gets it back. A full card refund returns everything the guest paid, Booking Fee included, and a partial refund returns the matching share of it. TripWorks doesn't return its fees on a refund, so the Booking Fee given back to the guest comes out of your balance, and you cover it. The Refund Amount on the refund form already includes the Booking Fee. Cash or check refunds you record yourself don't move money through TripWorks, so no fee is involved.
Is the Booking Fee calculated before or after sales tax?
After. The Booking Fee is a percentage of the trip total including your taxes and surcharges, after any promo code or voucher discount. Tips and amounts paid with a gift card aren't included. For example, a $100 booking with $8 tax is $108, and a 6% Booking Fee on it is $6.48.
If I add a product or add-on to a booking later, is the Booking Fee charged again?
Only on the new amount. When the guest pays for the added item, the Booking Fee applies to that added amount. What they already paid isn't charged a Booking Fee a second time.
Is a Booking Fee charged when I capture a card hold?
No. Placing a hold doesn't charge a Booking Fee, and capturing it doesn't either. The captured amount carries only your normal card-processing fee, the same as any card charge.
The guest paid a deposit, then downgraded their booking. What happens to the extra Booking Fee?
A card deposit collects the Booking Fee for the whole trip up front. If the booking shrinks afterward, that fee isn't adjusted automatically. The guest's later payments don't add any more Booking Fee. If the guest is owed money back, refund it from the trip's Payments tab, and the refund includes the matching share of the Booking Fee.
Can I set who pays the Booking Fee per activity?
No. Whether the guest pays the Booking Fee is set for your account by booking channel (online checkout, back-office bookings, point of sale, and resellers), and every activity sold through that channel follows it. If you want one activity's price to cover the fee, build it into that activity's ticket price. To review your channel settings, contact TripWorks.
Do I collect a Booking Fee if a guest pays by check?
No. The Booking Fee only applies to card payments — a check, cash, or other non-card payment you log directly on the trip doesn't add one. The one exception: if part of the trip was already paid online or by card (an initial deposit, for example), that payment already collected the Booking Fee based on the full trip total, so nothing new is added when you log the check for the remaining balance.
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