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Compare the costs of taking bookings

Compare five separate alternatives for the same service and month, keeping channel fees, acquisition and refund assumptions, trip contribution and owner time distinct.

USE YOUR FIGURES OR A MADE-UP EXAMPLE

A booking channel is a way guests find or buy the trip. Compare five separate alternatives for the same service and month. Each row uses the full completed-booking count, trip price and operating cost you enter; the tool does not divide one month’s bookings among the five channels.

Acquisition cost is money spent attracting a booking. Commission is a booking-based fee. Processing is payment handling.

Keep the proposed terms, date and basis for each amount in your own notes. Review every starting zero; it counts as no cost here while an unanswered cost still needs investigation. The example is made up. Equal completed and refunded bookings let you compare entered costs; they do not establish the volume or quality of guests each option would bring.

How to keep your work

Your work stays in this open page’s memory. Leaving or refreshing can clear it, including a saved comparison. Print/save PDF or download a copy before leaving. CSV is a table file for a spreadsheet; Word copies use editable RTF, and Markdown is plain text with simple formatting. Inputs and notes are not sent in analytics events, shared links or applications.

Use the same service and month in all five comparisons

Direct means the guest books with you; paid advertising can still be needed. A marketplace introduces customers through listings, while booking software manages reservations. A referral sends a guest from another business under agreed terms. None is automatically free.

Use one completed outing as the booking unit. Enter its earned price after discounts and its operating costs, such as fuel, crew and bait. Keep channel and payment charges in the fields below. For each alternative, estimate that month’s owner time for messages, bookings, changes and refunds. The hourly value is shared across alternatives; the hours belong to each scenario, not a combined workload.

Completed bookings per monthEarned trip price after discounts, before channel fees (USD)Costs caused by each completed trip (USD)Additional fully refunded bookings this monthPlanning value of one hour of owner admin work (USD)

Count completed outings once, then enter additional bookings fully refunded before departure separately. Both counts apply to every alternative. The model assigns no operating costs or earned revenue to the refunded bookings, although acquisition spending, retained fees and extra refund charges can remain. Keep any canceled-trip operating costs outside this comparison and allow for them in the wider cash plan.

How the result is worked out, and what is missing

The tool adds the fees, customer-attraction spending, refund costs and monthly charges you enter for each option. It subtracts those and the completed trips’ operating costs from trip revenue. It then shows owner time separately, using hours multiplied by the value you gave an hour. A repeat customer is someone who books again; an average repeat share can produce a decimal count across several trips.

Channel cash cost = completed bookings × (realized ticket × channel percentage + separate processing) + acquisition + lost refund fees + monthly cost. Acquisition = first-time completed bookings × first-time cost + repeat completed bookings × repeat cost + additional refunded bookings × first-time cost. Repeat share applies to completed bookings, and fractional counts represent an average. Separate processing = ticket × processing percentage + fixed fee; it is zero when already included. Revenue after booking-channel costs subtracts channel costs; contribution also subtracts the entered operating trip costs. Owner administration value = monthly owner hours × hourly value. The direct acquisition ceiling = (alternative cash cost + alternative owner admin value − direct non-acquisition cash/admin cost) ÷ direct first-time acquisition units. It is undetermined when there are no direct first-time completed or refunded bookings.

Review the actual fee base and terms. Some agreements treat taxes, add-ons, deposits, refunds or disputes differently. This comparison assumes equal completed-booking volume and does not rank customer quality, legal terms, data rights or operational fit.

Read the full booking-platform comparison →

Opening the tool…

Source records keep their original October 22–23, 2026 review dates. Examples are made up for learning; your entries are your assumptions. These tools do not check documents, send applications or make actual payments. Find federal documents to review · Report a correction.

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Compare the costs of taking bookings

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