Overview

Room sharing lets one traveler book their own bed in a multi-person room, then share a link so friends can join the same room and each pay for their own spot. Nobody has to front the cost of a whole room, and SquadTrip keeps the rooming list up to date automatically — no manual roommate-matching. Room sharing is on by default for new and duplicated trips.

How Room Sharing Works in Three Steps

Room sharing turns one booking into a self-filling room:

Step	Who	What Happens
1. Book a bed	First traveler (the "lead")	Picks a shared room and pays for just their spot — for example, 1 of 4 beds
2. Share the link	Lead	Gets a private room link and code after checkout, and sends it to friends
3. Friends join	Each friend	Clicks the link, lands in the same room, and pays for their own spot

Every booking is attributed to the right room automatically, so the lead never collects money from anyone and you never match roommates by hand.

Turning On Room Sharing (Organizer)

Room sharing is controlled per room option, using the "Occupants can book/pay separately" setting. It is enabled by default on new and duplicated trips, so most organizers don't need to change anything.

To check or change it:

From your Dashboard, open the trip in the Trip Builder
Go to the Room Types tab (room sharing requires "Pricing on Room Types" to be turned on)
Open a Room Category and find its rate lines under Room Options
In the Permission column for any occupancy of 2 or more, check "Occupants can book/pay separately"

Room Types editor showing the Permission column with the Occupants can book/pay separately checkbox ticked on the double and quad room options

The helper text explains the two modes:

Setting	Mode	What Travelers Can Do
Ticked	Per-spot booking	A traveler books their own spot, gets a share link, and invites friends to fill the rest
Unticked	Whole-room booking	Each booker pays for the entire room (or picks a single) — no share link

Empty spots are only reachable through the share link. If a booker has no friend to share with, that spot stays open until the trip closes. The checkbox is hidden for single-occupancy (1-guest) rooms, since there is no one to share with.

Booking Just Your Bed (Traveler)

At checkout, a traveler picks a room and chooses how much of it to pay for. When room sharing is on, they can book just their own bed instead of the whole room.

For example, an Oceanview Suite that sleeps 4 and costs $2,400 total works out to $600 per spot. The traveler pays $600 for their bed — not the full $2,400.

Traveler checkout showing an Oceanview Suite with a Book the whole room option and a selected Just my bed option for one of four beds

Choosing How Many Spots to Pay For

If the room holds more than one guest, the traveler sees a spot picker headed "How many spots are you paying for?" Their own spot is included automatically. They can tap any other spot to also pay for someone they're bringing — useful when, say, a couple wants one person to cover both beds.

Each spot is color-coded: You, Paid guest, and Open — invite a friend. The running total at the bottom shows "Paying for X of Y spots" so the price is always clear.

Spot picker titled How many spots are you paying for with four bed circles and a Paying for 2 of 4 spots total

Sharing Your Room Link

After checkout, the lead traveler gets a room code and a private share link on the confirmation screen and in their booking email. The code looks like OCE-SUI-4821.

The link can be shared by text, email, or any messenger. Anyone who opens it lands directly in the same room. The block also shows live room status — how many spots are paid, how many are still open, and how much is still owed — so the lead knows when the room is full.

Confirmation screen showing room code OCE-SUI-4821, a Copy share link button, and a room status line reading 2 of 4 paid

Joining a Room From a Share Link

When a friend opens the share link, they go straight to checkout for that exact room. A banner confirms it reads "You're joining [name]'s room" along with the room code and room name.

The friend pays only for their own spot — the same per-person price the lead paid — and books on their own payment plan. They never see anyone else's payment details.

Tracking Rooms on Your Dashboard (Organizer)

Open the Rooms tab on your trip dashboard to see every room and who's in it. Each room is auto-numbered and shows its occupants, a status pill (for example, "2 of 2 paid"), how much has been collected, and how much is still owed. Partly filled rooms show a "+ N open spots" indicator.

You can copy a room's share link to re-send it, and export your rooming list to hand off to your accommodation.

Organizer Rooms dashboard listing rooms by category with occupant names, status pills, amounts collected, and open-spot indicators

How Payments Split Between Occupants

Each occupant's payment is fully independent:

Aspect	How It Works
Per-spot price	Total room price divided by occupancy (a `$2,400` room for 4 = `$600` per spot)
Deposit and installments	Each occupant gets their own deposit and payment plan based on their per-spot price
Auto-billing	Each occupant is billed separately on their own due dates
Refunds	Processed individually per occupant

The organizer always receives the full room price once the room is filled, and no single traveler is ever on the hook for someone else's share.

Important Notes

Room sharing is on by default for new and duplicated trips; flip it on for existing trips in the Room Types editor
It requires "Pricing on Room Types" to be enabled — flat per-person pricing doesn't support per-spot booking
The "Occupants can book/pay separately" checkbox only appears for occupancy of 2 or more
Open spots are reachable only through the lead's share link — they are not bookable from the public trip page
If no friend joins, an open spot stays empty until the trip closes; follow up with the lead from the Rooms tab
Changing the setting affects new bookings only — existing bookings keep their original arrangement

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
Traveler can't book just one bed	Confirm "Pricing on Room Types" is on and the room option has "Occupants can book/pay separately" checked for that occupancy. Single-occupancy rooms never offer per-spot booking.
"Occupants can book/pay separately" checkbox is missing	The checkbox is hidden for 1-guest occupancy. It only appears for occupancy of 2 or more on a room option.
A friend's booking didn't land in the right room	They must use the lead's share link (or room code), not the public trip page. Booking from the trip page creates a separate room. Re-send the link from the Rooms tab.
Room shows open spots that won't fill	Open spots are only reachable via the share link. Ask the lead to re-share it, or the spots stay open until the trip closes.
Traveler paid for the whole room by mistake	The room option was likely set to whole-room (unticked) when they booked. Enable per-spot booking for future bookings; for the existing booking, contact support to adjust.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I need to turn on room sharing, or is it automatic? A: Room sharing is on by default for new and duplicated trips, so you usually don't need to do anything. For older trips, open the Room Types tab in the Trip Builder and check "Occupants can book/pay separately" on each shared room option of 2 or more guests.

Q: How much does each person pay in a shared room? A: Each occupant pays the per-spot price, which is the total room price divided by the occupancy. A room that sleeps 4 and costs $2,400 is $600 per spot. Everyone pays on their own schedule, and the organizer receives the full room price once it's filled.

Q: How does a friend join the same room as me? A: After you book your bed, SquadTrip gives you a room code and a private share link on your confirmation screen and in your email. Send the link to your friend by text, email, or messenger. When they open it, they go straight to checkout for your room and pay for their own spot.

Q: What happens if nobody fills the other spots in my room? A: Open spots are only reachable through your share link, so they stay open until someone uses it or the trip closes. You're only ever charged for the spots you chose to pay for. Organizers can see partly filled rooms on the Rooms tab and follow up.

Q: Can one person pay for more than one spot? A: Yes. At checkout, the spot picker lets a traveler tap additional spots to pay for people they're bringing — for example, one partner paying for both beds in a double. The total updates to show how many of the room's spots they're covering.

Q: How do I see who's in each room as an organizer? A: Open the Rooms tab on your trip dashboard. Every room is auto-numbered and shows its occupants, a "X of Y paid" status, amounts collected and owed, and any open spots. You can copy a room's share link to re-send it and export the rooming list for your accommodation.