Every booking term, explained plainly.

A per-order charge added by a booking platform — often around 6% — either deducted from the operator's payout or added to the guest's total at checkout. The defining cost of commission-based platforms.

A pricing model where the software takes a percentage of every sale instead of a fixed subscription. The platform's revenue scales with the operator's, which means costs rise exactly when business is best.

A pricing model with one fixed subscription regardless of sales volume. Every additional booking is pure margin for the operator — the model theybook uses.

A reservation made on the operator's own website or booking page rather than through a marketplace or OTA. Direct bookings carry no channel commission and keep the customer relationship with the operator.

A marketplace like Viator, GetYourGuide or Expedia that resells tours and activities, typically for a 20–30% commission. Useful for discovery; expensive as a primary sales channel.

Software that syncs an operator's availability across multiple OTAs and resellers so the same seat isn't sold twice on different channels.

The roster for a specific departure: every booked guest with party size, contact details, intake answers and check-in status. The operational heart of running a trip day.

A single dated, timed instance of an experience with its own capacity — e.g. the 6:00 AM half-day charter on June 12. Bookings reserve seats against a specific departure.

The maximum number of guests a departure can hold, set by boat size, gear count, staffing or safety rules. Good booking software enforces capacity transactionally so overselling is impossible.

Selling more seats than a departure holds — usually caused by race conditions or unsynced channels. Prevented in theybook by an atomic seat lock at checkout.

A constraint tying experiences to a shared asset (a boat, room, vehicle or guide) so the same resource can never be booked for overlapping times across different products.

Per-guest-type pricing — adult, child, senior, observer — letting one departure sell several ticket types while enforcing a single capacity.

An optional extra sold during checkout — gear rental, photos, fish processing — charged per guest or per booking. The cheapest way to raise average order value.

Custom fields collected at booking — dietary needs, weight, certification level, emergency contact — stored on the reservation for the crew to review before the trip.

A liability release signed electronically during checkout with a typed signature and timestamp, stored against the booking so guests arrive ready to go.

A queue of guests who want a sold-out departure. When a cancellation frees seats, the next guest is notified automatically — recovering revenue that would otherwise vanish.

A guest who books but doesn't arrive. Reduced sharply by automated reminder emails with the meeting point and time.

How far in advance guests can (or must) book — from months out to cutoffs hours before departure. Shorter cutoffs capture last-minute mobile bookings.

The total confirmed revenue from a customer across all their bookings. The metric that identifies VIPs and justifies repeat-guest marketing.

The payment processor theybook connects to. Guests pay by card, funds settle directly to the operator's own Stripe account and bank — the platform never holds the money.

The transfer of collected payments to the operator's bank account. With direct Stripe processing, payouts follow Stripe's standard schedule under the operator's control.

A snippet that drops live availability and checkout into an existing website, so guests book without leaving the operator's pages.

Software that carries the operator's brand — their domain, logo, colors — with no platform branding between the business and its guests.

Prepaid value sold online and redeemed at checkout, with balances tracked across partial redemptions. A cash-flow bridge through the off-season.

A partial payment that secures a booking, with the balance settled later — common for high-value private charters. Reduces no-shows by creating commitment without demanding the full fare upfront.

A payment reversal initiated by the guest's bank. Clear cancellation policies, instant confirmations and signed waivers are the operator's best evidence — all attached to the booking record.

The share of booking-page visitors who complete a reservation. Moved most by page speed, mobile checkout quality, visible reviews and the absence of surprise fees at the end.

How close to departure online booking stays open — e.g. 'bookable until 2 hours before'. Short cutoffs capture last-minute mobile demand; longer ones protect prep time.

An OTA contract clause requiring your direct price to match your marketplace price. It restricts price, not the bundle — direct guests can still get better terms, perks or add-ons.

Moving an existing reservation to another departure. Seat-safe rebooking frees the old seats, enforces capacity on the new date, and notifies the guest automatically — no refund-and-rebuy dance.