Booking Fees – Yes or No?

• 6th May 2022

With the increase in costs of running a business, many are looking at ways that they can make extra to cover those costs without having to increase prices in a world where everyone is feeling the pinch. With the rise in VAT rate back to the pre-pandemic rate for leisure and hospitality businesses, every penny counts.

So…… Booking Fees!

I hear you say “I won’t pay booking fees myself – so why would my customers”. I feel you – I feel the same! But…… nearly all larger leisure operators charge a booking fee, and the public pay it.

The question you need to ask yourself is how much does your online booking system actually cost you? Not just the online booking system fees, but the online card transaction processing fee and the monthly fee for having online payments? That is the million dollar question that not many businesses understand or even know. But…. that is a cost to your business. When you calculate the actual fees, those costs are eating away at your profits when funds are tight as it is in the current situation.

So…… Why not?

What if I told you of a venue that charged 50pence per person booking fee and made £66,000 ALONE? That isn’t including the revenue that was already generated via online booking sales. What would you do with £66,000?

What if all your costs were covered, and you started making money out of online booking?

So……. How much?

The choice to make is whether you charge a flat fee – 50pence? £1? Why not push it to £1.50?

OR

charge per person – 20pence? 50pence?

Of course you will have the odd customer that will moan – but they will still book, cause they want to visit you! If they book a cinema ticket – there is a fee! Book a concert ticket – there is a fee! Book a theme park ticket – there is a fee!

The public are more accepting of paying booking fees now more than ever.

So – what is stopping you?

SMART Entertainment’s BookMy Online booking software solutions can manage booking fees easily – whether it be a fixed amount, or per person, it is easy to set up. The fee is automatically added to the booking at the start of the booking process.

To find out more of how our solutions can help manage your bookings and make you money, contact us on enquiries@smart-entertainment.co.uk or call one of the team on 0333 4440944