Deposit — what does a guest pay when booking?
Updated on 2026-08-10
How much a guest pays right away when booking is something you set yourself via Settings → Deposit (page title: "What does a guest pay when booking?"). What you choose here applies everywhere at once: in the booking widget, on the payment page and in the confirmation email. One setting, the same promise everywhere.
💡 Until 10 August 2026 the widget and email were fixed at 30% and 96 hours, whatever you set here. That's history: this screen is now the single source. So do review it once — the default (30%, 7 days) may not be what you promise on your own website.
The settings
Ask for a payment when booking — the main switch. When it's off, the guest confirms without paying and you settle on site.
When it's on, you choose what the guest pays:
| Choice | What the guest pays | |---|---| | A percentage of the total | E.g. 30%. Set it to 100 to have the full amount paid at reservation — a perfectly normal choice, many holiday homes do this. | | A fixed amount | E.g. €50 per booking, regardless of the total price. | | The first night | The price of the first night as a deposit. |
Payment term (days) — not paid within this term? Then the reservation expires and the dates automatically become available again. Keep in mind that someone may book on a Friday evening: a term of 1 day is tight over a weekend.
Include extras — calculates the deposit on the total including extras such as breakfast or final cleaning. Off = the deposit only counts on the room price.
Where does this apply?
- Booking widget — the guest sees exactly the amount you set here, and the payment term you choose.
- Payment page — the payment link asks for that same amount.
- Confirmation email — the email states the same amount and the same term.
This concerns bookings via your own widget and payment requests BedFlow sends. What a guest pays at an OTA (Booking.com, Airbnb, …) is determined by that channel itself.
Frequently asked questions
I want guests to pay everything upfront. Is that possible? Yes: choose A percentage of the total and set it to 100.
I don't want to ask for any online payment at all. Turn off the main switch. The guest then confirms without paying and you settle on site.
Does this apply per property? Yes. Everything on this screen is saved per property — properties never affect each other.
What if the guest doesn't pay in time? The reservation expires after the payment term and the dates automatically become available again for other guests.