Channel bookings handled through SuperControl have grown by an average of 44% year-on-year over the last three years. Also a quarter of all guest bookings managed in SuperControl now come through OTAs (Online Travel Agents), a trend which seems to be on the increase.
Around 30% of our developer capacity is spent on developing the functionality of OTA integrations and 50% of our infrastructure is dedicated to supporting these.
We at SuperControl are committed to your financial stability, which requires us to invest further in developing and supporting our channel integrations. This channel service fee helps to ensure that this service to you remains sustainable.
The channel service fee is 1% + VAT on the total accommodation value of bookings received via OTAs.
The channel fee is charged on the gross accommodation value.
We do not charge the fee on itemised extras, such as Booking or Cleaning Fees.
It only applies to bookings through the following OTAs:
- Booking.com
- Airbnb
- HomeAway
- TripAdvisor
- Expedia
- Cottages.com
These are the sites that are constantly evolving and therefore require the vast majority of resourcing, infrastructure, development, knowledge and servicing.
There is no channel service fee on bookings from niche or regional channels such as membership organisations and associations.
There will be no channel service fee on bookings from niche or regional channels such as membership organisations and associations.
The channel service fee applies ONLY to bookings through Booking.com, Airbnb, HomeAway, TripAdvisor, Cottages.com and Expedia.
Absolutely not. We are committed to facilitating direct bookings without a fee and will do all we can to help you get more direct bookings.
The channel service fee is calculated from the total rental value of the booking e.g. before booking extras.
Here are two examples to explain how the fee would be calculated with and without a channel uplift:
Example 1: No channel uplift applied
Total value sent to channel = £600
Booking extra e.g. cleaning fee = £50
Guest pays = £650
SuperControl receives = £6
Example 2: Channel Uplift applied
Net value = £600
Net value sent to channel plus 10% uplift = £660
Booking extra e.g. cleaning fee = £50
Guest pays = £710
SuperControl receives = £6.60
You can find more information on covering your costs by going to the following help guides: Booking.com Airbnb HomeAway TripAdvisor. For Expedia, please send a ticket to [email protected]
SuperControl will invoice you monthly for bookings that have departed in the previous month.
We suggest that a direct debit is set up for ease of accounting for all parties.
Channel Service Fee invoices is sent monthly, even if your normal payment terms are annual or quarterly. Invoices will have a 30 day due date.
You can set up a Direct Debit via the ‘pay now’ link on your invoice.
Click ‘pay now’
Choose ‘Direct Debit’
Click ‘Set up Direct Debit’ and complete the form.
Within your account you can view a report of channel service fees by period.
Go to Bookings > Charts & reports > Channel service fee report
Channel Service Fees are also clearly identified in each booking.
Yes, all relevant channel integrations have the option to uplift your prices. You can simply increase your uplift to take into account the Channel Service Fee + VAT.
You can find more information on covering your costs by going to the following help guides: Booking.com Airbnb HomeAway TripAdvisor. For Expedia, please sent a ticket to [email protected]
No, the guest will not be able to see this fee. When each booking is made, we will record the channel service fee as an “agent” fee in the booking. This will be itemised but only viewable to you, the client company.
The fee only applies to completed bookings. If the booking is cancelled before the booked dates, the fee will not apply.
If the booking is cancelled after the booked dates the fee will still be payable.
Yes, the price sent over to the channel will include the 1% channel service fee and will therefore be charged commission. There is no way for us to separate out the channel service fee as a non-commissionable element of the booking.
Yes, you can. Contact [email protected] to request for this to be done on your behalf, stating the new uplift percentage and the channel(s) to which it applies.
Yes, you can. You can use an iCal integration, which only sends and blocks out availability. You can find the help centre articles here.
If you need more than one iCal feed per property you can use a third-party tool such as Teamup. Instructions here.
Full integrations are always better than an iCal as they are more reliable and allow you full control of all your bookings through SuperControl.