Seasonal pricing for direct bookings: rates, fees, discounts, and coupon codes
The price a guest sees on your own booking form is built from a few parts: a nightly rate, the seasons that override it, the fees on top, how children are priced, and the discounts that come off. Set each part once and every quote is right without a spreadsheet. This guide goes through the parts in the order the form applies them.
The order the form applies your pricing
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| Nightly rate & currency | The base price of the whole place per night |
| Seasonal prices | A different price, and if you like a different minimum stay, on a range of dates |
| Weekend price | A percentage or fixed amount added to the standard rate on the nights you pick; a day with its own price keeps it |
| Fees | Cleaning, per-guest, per-night, or percentage charges on top |
| Child rates | Age bands that scale your per-guest fees for children |
| Discounts | Automatic rules, with a stacking mode |
| Coupon codes | Promotional codes a guest types at booking |
Nightly rate, currency, and seasons
- 1
Set your usual price
Open the rental, then Dates & prices. With no dates selected, the panel shows Your usual settings. Enter your usual nightly price and pick the rental currency there. Different rentals can use different currencies. If you take card payments, the rental currency must match the payout account assigned to it.
- 2
Add a peak season
On the same calendar, tap the first and last day of the season. In the Price box, type a higher price and press Save. If you like, set a longer minimum in the Minimum stay box. Each box saves on its own, and a price never changes a minimum stay. Only the days you pick change, and the calendar shows the new price in bold under each night.
- 3
Add a low season
A second range with a lower price and a shorter minimum fills the quiet months. Everything outside your ranges uses your usual settings. Press Use my usual price on any dates to go back.
- 4
Charge more on weekends
Turn on Weekend price in Your usual settings and add a percentage or an amount. Friday and Saturday nights are picked for you, and you can pick others. A day with its own price keeps it.
Nothing sells without a rate
A guest cannot see a total, and Pay in widget cannot be turned on, until a nightly rate and currency are set. Do this first.
Fees: the only way to charge beyond the rate
A fee scales one of five ways: flat (once per booking), per night, per guest, per guest per night, or % of total. The percentage type is the tax shape, covered in its own guide.
- A cleaning fee is a flat fee. A linen or service charge can be per guest.
- A per-guest fee can apply to everyone or to adults only. A per-person tourist tax applies to everyone; a charge that is really about adults applies to adults only.
- Every fee has an optional guest note, one line in your own words shown under the fee: "Includes linens and towels". Notes are shown exactly as typed.
- A custom form field can never carry a charge. If it costs money, it is a fee.
Children: age bands, not separate fees
Turn on the adults and children counters under Guests & policies, then add age bands under child rates. Each band covers an age range and says what a child that age costs, as a percentage of your per-guest fees. You only set the top age of each band; the next one carries on from there, so there are no gaps. The last band decides who counts as a child at all.
A percentage scales per-guest fees, never the nightly rate, because the nightly rate is the price of the whole place. To charge per person per night, add a per-guest-per-night fee and set your bands beside it; a 50 percent band then prices children at half your per-person rate on its own.
Discounts and coupon codes
- Automatic discount rules apply without the guest doing anything, for example a longer-stay discount.
- The stacking mode decides whether every matching discount applies or only the best one wins.
- Coupon codes are separate: a promotional code the guest types at booking, with its own limits, valid through the day you pick.
- Percentage fees are calculated on the discounted subtotal, so a discount reduces the tax too.
Show the price, or not
On inquiry and request flows you choose whether guests see pricing. With Pay in widget pricing is always shown, because a guest has to see the amount before they can pay it. Most hosts show it: a guest who sees the total before asking sends fewer questions and books more often.
Summary
Set a rate and currency, add the seasons that get their own price, add fees for anything beyond the rate, price children with age bands, then let discounts and coupon codes come off the top. The form does the arithmetic on every quote, and the guest sees a total they can trust.
