“Just Venmo me later,” said no group travel organizer ever.
Even if you’re just getting started in the world of group travel, you’ve probably realized that sending Venmo requests and tracking down payments is something you don’t want to spend your time doing. If you’re expanding your business, you may have some questions about the best way to collect payments. Are checks in or out? Are third-party vendors worth it or just another hassle? And should you offer payment plans? A lot depends on your business model, number of travelers and trip costs, but there are some common guidelines to help you pick the best method for your business.
Here are five things to consider when it comes to collecting payments for your group trips.
1. Time Your Collections Well
You may be wondering when is the best time to collect payments. It’s a good idea to ask for a deposit and regular payments if you’re not requiring the entire trip to be paid upon booking. Installments can also be a great asset to travelers who may need more time to save trip funds. However, it’s important to keep up with who owes what to keep your business in the black as you approach your trip dates and start putting down deposits on lodging and attractions. Even if it’s not until a couple weeks after booking, the deposit should eventually become nonrefundable. That way, if one of your travelers drops out with limited notice, you’re not left owing a significant amount to hotels or attractions that required advance payment or had attrition clauses.
2. Tech Platforms Make It Easy
Tech platforms, such as GroupCollect and WeTravel, are powerful platforms that have payment collection capabilities and offer a robust set of features for managing the financial side of your trip business. In addition to processing payments, they often offer extra amenities, from white-label pages to inventory systems and report generation. They’ll keep up with which travelers still owe money and even send reminders to them about payments. If you’re a mom-and-pop operation, this set of features may be worthwhile to save you hassle. However, one drawback of using a third-party tech platform is that it takes a cut of your revenue. This percentage is often a bit more than your standard debit or credit card processing fee. For very large travel businesses accepting payment from hundreds or thousands of passengers a year, that portion of your profits starts to add up.
3. You Can Collect Payments Yourself
The higher the volume of travelers you’re accepting payments from, the more likely you are to want to collect payments yourself and minimize the commission that a third party would take. There are a couple of ways to do this. First, if your group is all in one place, and you see them regularly, you can accept payments in person with the help of payment processing vendors like Square, Stripe and PayPal Business; you can also use checks or your own company Venmo, if it’s not inconvenient. Secondly, if your travelers aren’t local or want an online option, you can build e-commerce features into your website. Major website builders offer the feature to easily add secure online payment options, often with a marginal fee for processing. The downside with the DIY approach is that you must keep track of your travelers’ payments yourself to make sure everyone is paid up.
4. Keep Payments Secure
No matter what methods you use to collect payments from your travelers, you have a responsibility to keep their payment information secure. Don’t ever ask your travelers to supply their payment information through email or texts. Instead, have them enter their payment details directly into whatever payment portal you’re using. Send them a secure link to upload any necessary information. Protecting your customers’ money means protecting your business, too. Have strong passwords for your accounts on third-party management platforms. Make sure you have security notifications set up on your banking platforms so that any breaches or theft can be caught and dealt with promptly. Finally, make sure you’re not intermingling your personal finances with your business finances to protect yourself from liability.
5. Leave Room for Add-Ons
Add-on experiences are a great way to provide optional enhancements for some travelers while keeping the trip affordable for all. But there will likely be travelers who want to opt in to these add-ons at the last minute. It’s a good idea to make sure you have a way to take payments for these add-ons even while you’re on the road. That could be a Square mobile POS device that plugs into your phone, or it could be your business’s Venmo, so long as you’re not entangling your personal financial accounts. That way, you (or your trustworthy guides, if you’re not on the trip yourself) can handle the payments on the road and let travelers join in on those amazing bonus experiences.
