What are booking fees, and who pays them?
Booking software charges in three main ways. Operator fees are a subscription or a percentage of each booking, paid by you. Guest fees, often about 6%, are added to the guest's total at checkout. Channel or API fees, commonly 1.5–3%, apply to bookings sold through resellers or connected apps (Arival, Sep 2025). Card processing is separate.
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Operator fees
These are what the platform charges you: a monthly subscription, a percentage of each online booking, or both. They're the easiest to compare, because they're on your bill.
Ask whether a percentage applies to every booking or only to online payments, and whether the API costs extra.
Guest fees
A guest fee is added on top of your price at checkout, which lets a platform look free to you. Your guests pay it instead, and they first see it at the last step.
It's the fee operators complain about most. Guest-paid booking fees of about 6%, channel or API fees of 1.5–3% and held payouts are the most repeated complaints (Arival, Sep 2025; Capterra reviews, Jun 2026).
Channel and API fees
Channels are the resellers and apps that sell your trips, from OTAs to travel agents, and they matter: OTAs took 37% of operator bookings in 2025 (Arival, Jan 2026).
A channel charges its own commission, and some booking platforms add a fee of 1.5–3% on bookings that come in through a channel or their API (Arival, Sep 2025). Check both before you connect one, and see what a booking API should expose.
Held payouts
Some platforms collect your guests' payments and pay you days later. Held payouts are among the most repeated complaints in operator reviews (Capterra reviews, Jun 2026). Ask where the money lands, and when.
What SB 478 changes
California's SB 478 requires mandatory fees to be included in the advertised price (California Attorney General). A fee every guest must pay belongs in the price they see first, not added at checkout.
Check how your booking platform shows its fees to guests in California. This isn't legal advice.
daybag's price, as one example
daybag charges outfitters a flat price and nothing per booking:
- Free: $0, with a soft cap of 25 bookings a month. Every booking still confirms past the cap.
- Pro: $39 a month, flat. Guests pay at booking, into your own Stripe account through Stripe Connect.
- No guest fee and no cut of your bookings, on either plan. Stripe's card fees apply to payments, as with any processor.
See pricing, or use the full checklist for choosing booking software.
Questions
What is a booking fee?
A charge added to the guest's total at checkout, on top of the operator's price. Platforms that cost operators nothing often earn this way.
Who pays booking fees, the operator or the guest?
Both, depending on the fee. Operator fees are on your bill, guest fees are paid by guests at checkout, and channel or API fees come out of bookings sold through resellers or connected apps.
What does California's SB 478 say about booking fees?
It requires mandatory fees to be included in the advertised price (California Attorney General), so a fee every guest must pay belongs in the price they see first.
Does daybag charge guests a booking fee?
No. Guests pay your price and nothing more, and daybag takes no cut. Free is $0 and Pro is $39 a month, flat.
Sources
- Arival: API fees increasingly common among booking systems · Sep 2025
- Capterra: FareHarbor reviews · Jun 2026
- Arival: Direct bookings dive, OTAs rise · Jan 2026
- California Attorney General: Hidden fees (SB 478) · checked Oct 2026