How to take deposits on your tour bookings
Let customers pay a share of their booking now and the rest later, on the same booking page. A deposit is always a percentage of the booking total, set once for your whole business.
Turn on the deposit
- 1
Open the Deposit card
Go to Configuration → Bookings and find the Deposit card. Each setting there saves as soon as you change it.
- 2
Switch it on
Switch on Allow customers to pay a deposit and pick the Deposit percentage, from 1% to 99%.
- 3
Choose which bookings get it
Under Offer the deposit on, choose All bookings, Only bookings where every tour is selected or Bookings with at least one selected tour.
- 4
Pick the tours
For the last two, add the tours under Selected tours. With no tour selected, no booking is offered the deposit, and a tour you create later is not selected until you add it.
With Tatio Geysers selected, these carts get the deposit:
| Offer the deposit on | Tatio Geysers only | Tatio Geysers and Red Rocks | Red Rocks only |
|---|---|---|---|
| All bookings | Deposit | Deposit | Deposit |
| Only bookings where every tour is selected | Deposit | Paid in full | Paid in full |
| Bookings with at least one selected tour | Deposit | Deposit | Paid in full |
The setting applies to new bookings: each booking keeps the terms it was made with.
What your customers see
Nothing changes while customers choose their tours. On the booking page they reach after checkout, How much do you want to pay right now? offers your percentage and 100%, with the smaller one selected. A 30% deposit on a booking of 400 USD:
| Payment | Amount |
|---|---|
| Deposit, paid now | 120 USD |
| Balance, paid later | 280 USD |
Once the deposit is paid, the customer pays the rest in one payment, on the same booking page.
Change the deposit on one booking
A new booking's Deposit options follow your deposit setting and the tours in the cart, until you change them.
- 1
Open the Economy section
In the booking form, go to Economy.
- 2
Add a percentage
Next to Deposit options, click Add, enter a Percentage from 1 to 100 and click Done.
- 3
Remove one
Click the x on a percentage to remove it. One always remains, and the smallest is the one the booking page starts on.
- 4
Save the booking
Click Save.
Set a deadline for the balance
Nothing chases the balance until you give the booking a deadline. Pick a date in Full payment due, under Deposit options, and save the booking.
- ✓The day after that date, a customer who still owes money gets one e-mail with the amount left and a link to pay.
- ✓From that date, the booking shows on your dashboard's Payments due card until it is paid.
- ✓To give more time, move the date: a new reminder goes out after the new one.
- ✓Customers see the date on their booking page once they have paid a deposit.
Deposit promo codes
A promo code can unlock a deposit for the customers who use it, even when your business offers none. Its percentage is added to yours: with a 30% deposit and a 10% code, that customer can pay 10%, 30% or 100%. See promo codes.
Bookings that are always paid in full
These bookings never offer a deposit, whatever your setting:
- bookings from OTAs, which have already charged the traveller;
- imported bookings;
- the copy of a booking in your account when a partner resells your tour.
Questions we get asked
No. A deposit is always a percentage of the booking total. To offer it on some tours only, use Offer the deposit on.
No. After the deposit, the rest is paid in one payment.
Yes. They declare the amount they sent, you confirm it, and they declare the rest later: see bank transfers.