Overview
Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) lets your travelers finance their trip through Klarna, Affirm, or Afterpay instead of paying the full amount upfront. Enabling BNPL can increase bookings by giving travelers flexible payment options. You get paid in full immediately -- the BNPL provider handles the financing risk.
Getting to BNPL Settings
Log in to your organizer dashboard
Open your trip and click "Payments" in the left sidebar (under Main Flow)
Expand the "Payment Options" section
You'll see toggle switches for Klarna, Affirm, and Afterpay
Enable BNPL Providers
Toggle on the providers you want to offer. Each toggle saves automatically with a confirmation message (e.g., "Klarna setting saved successfully").
Provider | Currencies Supported | How Travelers Pay |
Klarna | USD, GBP | 4 interest-free payments biweekly, or monthly financing |
Affirm | USD only ($50 minimum) | 4 interest-free payments, or 3-36 month plans |
Afterpay | USD, GBP | 4 equal payments over 6 weeks |
Requirements Before Enabling
Stripe must be connected -- BNPL is not available with Square
BNPL appears as a third payment option at checkout outside of Pay in Full and Installments
Availability depends on your Stripe account's capabilities -- some providers may need to be activated in your Stripe dashboard
The trip currency must match the provider's supported currencies
How It Works for Travelers
When BNPL is enabled, travelers see it as a separate payment option at checkout:
The traveler selects Buy Now, Pay Later as their payment option
They choose their preferred provider (Klarna, Affirm, or Afterpay)
A 4% convenience fee is displayed and added to their total
They're redirected to the provider to complete a quick application
If approved, the booking is confirmed immediately -- the provider pays you in full and the traveler repays the provider on its schedule (their first instalment is usually taken at checkout)
The traveler repays the provider according to their installment schedule
Fee Structure
Who | What They Pay |
Traveler | Trip cost + 4% BNPL convenience fee — plus the 6% processing fee if you have set travelers to pay it |
Organizer | No additional BNPL fee — the 4% is always the traveler’s. The 6% processing fee is paid by whoever you chose in Packages, you or the traveler |
The 4% BNPL fee is always charged to the traveler and is clearly displayed before they confirm — it is never taken from you.
Whether you receive 100% of your listed trip price depends on your processing-fee setting: if travelers pay the 6%, you receive the full listed price; if you absorb it, the 6% comes out of what you receive. You choose this per trip under Packages — see Understanding Processing Fees: Who Pays and How to Configure.
BNPL Availability by Currency
BNPL is available on trips priced in supported currencies. Each provider operates in specific markets:
Currency | Klarna | Affirm | Afterpay |
USD | Yes | Yes ($50 min) | Yes |
GBP | Yes | No | Yes |
EUR | No | No | No |
If your trip is priced in EUR, BNPL is not available — travelers will see Pay in Full and Installments only. For GBP trips, enable Klarna or Afterpay (Affirm does not support GBP). SquadTrip fixes the billing country by trip currency before sending the application -- US on USD trips (the form has no country field), UK on GBP trips -- so travellers outside that market may be declined. Anyone can use BNPL as long as the trip currency is supported and the provider approves their application.
Disable BNPL
To turn off BNPL providers, go to Payments > Payment Options and toggle off the providers you want to disable. Changes save automatically. Travelers who already paid with BNPL continue their repayment plan with the provider -- disabling only affects future checkouts.
Important Notes
Enabling BNPL is free for organizers -- no cost to offer it
The 4% convenience fee is transparent -- travelers see it before confirming
Travelers choose one payment option at checkout: Pay in Full, Installments, or BNPL — and someone on an installment plan can switch their remaining balance to BNPL later
Each BNPL provider has its own approval criteria and repayment terms
Consider mentioning BNPL availability in your trip description to attract more bookings
Travelers Can Also Pay Off a Balance with BNPL
BNPL is not limited to the original checkout. A traveler who booked with a deposit and an installment plan can clear their remaining balance with Klarna, Affirm, or Afterpay at any time, straight from their traveler portal.
They sign in, open their trip, and click Pay with BNPL on the banner above their payment schedule. If the provider approves them:
Their entire remaining balance is paid at once.
The 4% convenience fee is charged to the traveler, not to you.
All of their remaining scheduled installments are cancelled automatically.
You receive the full balance immediately instead of waiting out the installment plan.
If the provider declines, nothing changes — their installment plan stays active.
Only the traveler can start this, from their own portal. You cannot trigger it on their behalf, so if you want someone to use it, point them to their trip page.
Requirements are the same as at checkout — the provider toggled on for the trip, a connected Stripe account, a balance still owing, the booking not cancelled, and the trip not yet departed. The traveler must also not have used BNPL at checkout already or already paid off a balance with BNPL once (it works once per booking), and their balance has to fall inside the provider's limits:
Provider | Minimum balance | Maximum total charge (balance + 4%) |
Klarna | $1 | $10,000 |
Affirm | $50 | $17,500 |
Afterpay | $1 | $2,000 |
This survives a trip transfer. If you move a traveler to another trip and a balance remains, they can pay it off with BNPL on the new trip, as long as that trip has the providers enabled and they have not already used the pay-off once.
Troubleshooting
Problem | Solution |
BNPL toggle won't stay on | The toggles always show, but a toggle only saves when a Stripe account is connected -- otherwise it reverts with "No payment account is connected. Alternative payment methods cannot be enabled." BNPL is not available with Square. |
Traveler says they don't see BNPL at checkout | Verify BNPL is enabled in your trip settings and the trip currency matches the provider's supported currencies. BNPL requires a Stripe connection. |
Toggle saved but provider still not appearing to travelers | A toggle only saves if your Stripe account already supports that provider, so once saved the usual causes are the amount limits (Afterpay up to $2,000, Klarna up to $10,000, Affirm $50 to $17,500, including the 4% fee) or a EUR trip, where no BNPL is offered. |
Traveler's BNPL application was denied | Each provider has their own approval criteria. Suggest the traveler try a different provider or use a credit card. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Does enabling BNPL cost me anything as an organizer? A: No. There is no cost to enable BNPL providers. The 4% convenience fee is charged entirely to the traveler. The standard 6% processing fee on the trip price is unchanged -- paid by the traveler or absorbed by you, depending on your Packages setting. The traveller pays a 4% convenience fee on BNPL, which covers the higher cost BNPL providers charge compared with cards.
Q: Do I get paid immediately when a traveler uses BNPL? A: Yes. The BNPL provider pays the full trip amount to your Stripe account right away, just like a regular card payment. The traveler repays the BNPL provider over time -- you're not involved in that process.
Q: Can a traveler combine BNPL with SquadTrip installment plans? A: Not at the same time. Travelers choose one payment option at checkout: Pay in Full, Installments, or BNPL. A traveler who started on an installment plan can, however, later pay off their entire remaining balance with BNPL from their traveler portal — that cancels their remaining installments. BNPL is a separate option where the provider finances the full trip amount. The provider pays you if the traveler is approved, and the traveler repays the BNPL provider on its schedule.
Q: Which BNPL provider should I enable for international trips? A: Klarna supports USD and GBP on SquadTrip, making it a good choice for GBP-priced international trips. Affirm supports USD only. Afterpay is available on SquadTrip for USD and GBP trips. BNPL is not available for EUR trips.
Q: Is BNPL only available for U.S.-based travelers? A: No. It depends on the trip currency, not on where the traveller lives. A traveller can use BNPL as long as the trip is priced in a supported currency (e.g., USD or GBP for Klarna), but the application is sent as a US buyer (USD trips) or UK buyer (GBP trips), so the provider may decline travellers outside that market, and each provider applies its own eligibility criteria during the approval step.
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