FareHarbor vs. Peek vs. Rezdy: Tour Booking Payment Fees Compared
FareHarbor vs Peek vs Rezdy: learn how to compare booking fees, processing rates and payout timing, and when using your own merchant account makes sense.
Photo: Pixabay
On this page 8 sections
- How Tour Booking Platforms Make Money
- FareHarbor vs. Peek vs. Rezdy: What to Compare
- FareHarbor Booking Fee: Questions to Ask
- Peek Pro Payment Processing: Pricing and Payout Timing
- Rezdy Payment Fees: Plans and Gateway Options
- Can You Use Your Own Merchant Account?
- Fee Math for a Typical Tour Operator
- Next Steps for Comparing Tour Booking Software Fees
Key takeaways
- Tour booking platforms can charge through guest booking fees, operator subscriptions, per-booking commissions and payment processing, and each model moves costs to a different place.
- Your total cost includes more than the headline software fee. It also includes processing, reseller commissions, refund handling on cancellations and payout timing.
- Ask each vendor in writing whether you can connect your own merchant account and which gateways it supports. The answer affects your rates, reserves and control over funds.
- Run the same illustrative booking through each pricing model. Then confirm each vendor's current terms directly before you switch.
Many tour and activity operators treat FareHarbor vs. Peek, or adding Rezdy to the shortlist, as a software decision. It is just as much a payments decision. Booking platforms can earn money from guest fees, operator subscriptions, per-booking charges, payment processing or some mix of these. Each approach changes what you keep from a ticket. This guide explains how tour booking platforms make money and what to ask each vendor about fees, processing and payout timing. It also covers how to find out whether you can bring your own processor and how to run the fee math for your business.
This article does not describe or quote any vendor's current pricing. Booking software terms change and are often negotiated. Use the questions below to get written, current pricing from FareHarbor, Peek and Rezdy before you decide.
How Tour Booking Platforms Make Money
Before you compare vendors, it helps to know the ways a booking system can earn revenue from you or your guests:
- Customer booking fees. A fee added at checkout and paid by the guest, usually a percentage of the booking.
- Operator subscriptions. A monthly or annual software fee. It is often tiered by features, users or booking volume.
- Per-booking commissions. A percentage or flat fee charged to you on each booking.
- Payment processing. The card fees on each transaction. These may go to the platform's payments partner, a gateway or your own processor.
- Distribution commissions. Charges on bookings that come through resellers, online travel agencies or a platform's marketplace.
Any platform may use one of these or several. When you compare tour booking software fees, the headline number matters less than the answer to one question: "What does a typical booking actually cost me, all in?"
FareHarbor vs. Peek vs. Rezdy: What to Compare
Put the same questions to every vendor and get the answers in writing. Use one copy of this table per platform.
| Question to Ask | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Who pays the software cost: the guest, the operator or both? | It determines whether the cost shows up in your guest's checkout total or on your statement |
| Is there a fee added at guest checkout, and can you absorb it instead? | It affects your advertised price, your conversion and how you display prices |
| Who processes card payments, and at what rates for online, in-person and mobile sales? | Processing is a recurring cost on every card booking |
| Can you connect your own merchant account? Through which gateways? | It controls whether you can negotiate rates and keep your processing if you switch software |
| When do payouts reach your bank? Are future-dated bookings held? | Cash flow during peak season can matter more than a small rate difference |
| What happens to each fee when you refund a cancellation? | Weather and operational cancellations are routine in this industry |
| What commissions apply to reseller or marketplace bookings? | Channel commissions can outweigh every other fee on a booking |
| Can you export transaction-level fee data? | Your bookkeeper needs it to reconcile payouts |
FareHarbor Booking Fee: Questions to Ask
Ask FareHarbor to explain in writing how its fees are structured for an operator your size. Then work through the specifics that matter to a kayak outfitter, a walking tour company or a charter boat:
- Checkout fees. Is any FareHarbor booking fee added to the guest's total? If so, how is it calculated, and can you choose to absorb it?
- Guest-facing price. If a fee appears at checkout, how does it display next to the price you advertise? Regulators have paid increasing attention to fees that appear late in checkout. Our guide to total-price and fee display rules covers how this has played out for tickets and hotels. Ask a qualified professional how federal and state rules apply to your tour and activity listings.
- Processing. Who processes card payments, and at what rate? Does the rate differ for online bookings and walk-up sales at the dock?
- Cancellations. Say a sunset cruise is canceled for weather. What happens to any booking fee and to the processing fee on the refund?
- Payout timing. When do funds arrive, and are bookings for future dates held until the activity runs?
Peek Pro Payment Processing: Pricing and Payout Timing
Ask Peek which plans are available for Peek Pro and how payments are handled on each. Don't assume one structure applies to every operator.
Questions to bring to a Peek sales call:
- What plans are available, and what triggers a move to a different tier?
- Does any plan add a fee at guest checkout? If so, how is it displayed?
- Who handles Peek Pro payment processing? What are the rates for online bookings, card-present walk-ups and payments guides collect in the field?
- How long after a booking, or after the tour date, do payouts arrive?
- Does payout timing change for large private charters or bookings made months in advance?
- Can you export transaction-level fee data?
Pay close attention to payout timing. Say a group pays a spring deposit for a September trip. That deposit is a future obligation, and any processor carrying that risk may delay funds. Our explainer on why processors hold funds on travel bookings covers the logic. For how registration, trust account and bond rules apply to customer payments, see our guide to seller of travel laws.
Rezdy Payment Fees: Plans and Gateway Options
Ask Rezdy to walk you through its current plans and the payment routes available on each. Your Rezdy payment fees will depend on the plan and on how you take payments, so ask about both.
What to Ask Rezdy
- What plans are offered, and what does each one include?
- Which payment options are available? Does Rezdy offer its own payments product, third-party gateways or both?
- Which third-party gateways are supported, and is your current processor or gateway among them?
- Are there per-booking fees on top of any plan cost, for any channel?
- What commissions apply to bookings from resellers or connected agents?
Can You Use Your Own Merchant Account?
This question has the biggest effect on long-term cost and control, so ask every vendor directly. With integrated processing, the platform or its payments partner is effectively your processor. With your own merchant account, you negotiate rates and terms directly. Your booking software connects through a supported gateway.
| Factor | Platform's Integrated Processing | Your Own Merchant Account |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Usually bundled with onboarding | Separate application and underwriting |
| Rate control | Platform or its partner sets terms | You negotiate and can compare quotes |
| Payout and reserve terms | Set by the platform's payments provider | Set by your processor based on your risk profile |
| Switching software later | Processing may need to be rebuilt | Processing relationship stays with you |
| Cost programs | Limited to what the platform offers | May include surcharging where permitted, dual pricing or cash discount, subject to rules and software support |
Why Tour Operators Face Extra Scrutiny
Processors often view tours and activities as higher risk. Guests pay well before the service is delivered. Weather and operational cancellations happen. "Not as described" disputes can follow a disappointing trip.
That can mean reserves or delayed funding no matter which route you choose. These guides explain how to prepare:
- How a rolling reserve works
- Winning cancelled trip and refund disputes
- How travel merchant category codes shape your card fees
Your merchant category code must accurately reflect what you sell. Tour and activity businesses don't all share one code. A company that runs its own excursions may be classified differently from one that resells other operators' trips. The right code depends on what your business actually does, and your processor assigns it during underwriting. Never misclassify your business to get better terms. Doing so violates card network rules and can get your account closed.
In-Person and Mobile Payments Still Count
Many operators sell walk-up tickets at a marina booth, collect gratuities for guides, or sell photos and gear rentals on site. If your booking software supports outside processing, those sales may run on your own equipment. Options include handheld terminals for guides and check-in staff and online payment gateways that connect to your booking flow. Confirm compatibility with your booking platform before you buy hardware. If you also rent lodging, see our guide to vacation rental direct booking payments. For protecting those rentals against damage, compare a vacation rental security deposit vs. damage waiver. If you also book flights for guests, see how ARC and IATA accreditation affect airline ticket payment settlement.
MannyPay works with travel and tourism businesses. It also offers high-risk merchant accounts for operators whose profile needs specialized underwriting. Approval and terms depend on underwriting.
Fee Math for a Typical Tour Operator
The only reliable comparison runs your own numbers through each model. The worksheet below uses illustrative figures only. They are not any platform's actual rates.
An Illustrative $100 Tour Booking
| Model (Illustrative) | Guest Pays | Operator Pays | Operator Nets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6% guest-paid booking fee, 3% processing on the guest total | $106.00 | $3.18 processing | $96.82 |
| Same, but operator absorbs the 6% fee | $100.00 | $6.00 fee + $3.00 processing | $91.00 |
| Subscription spread at $1.50 per booking, 3% processing | $100.00 | $1.50 + $3.00 | $95.50 |
Then add the factors that headline numbers miss:
- Reseller commissions. A booking from an online travel agency may carry a commission larger than every other fee combined.
- Cancellations. Ask whether processing fees are returned when you refund a weather cancellation. Terms vary by provider.
- Seasonality. A flat monthly subscription costs more per booking in your slow months than in peak season.
- Cash flow. Delayed payouts during your busiest weeks can cost you more than a slightly higher rate.
- Chargebacks. Dispute fees and lost revenue add up quickly after a rough season.
Run the worksheet with your actual average ticket, your monthly volume by season and your channel mix. For the reseller side of that mix, see our comparison of what tour operators keep on Viator, GetYourGuide and direct bookings.
Next Steps for Comparing Tour Booking Software Fees
- Pull 12 months of booking data, broken out by channel and season.
- Send each vendor the question table above and ask for written, current answers, including processing and payout terms.
- Ask each vendor whether you can connect your own merchant account, and through which gateways.
- Model your real numbers using the worksheet.
- If outside processing is an option, compare quotes from processors experienced with travel risk.
To see what your own processing could look like alongside your booking software, request a free processing quote. A MannyPay specialist responds within one business day.
This article is for general educational purposes and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Card network rules and state laws change; confirm current requirements for your business.
