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Setting Up Shared Room Booking: How to Let Occupants Book and Pay Separately

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Overview

When a room holds more than one guest, SquadTrip lets you enable a "book/pay separately" option so each occupant can register and pay individually. This is ideal for group trips where travelers sharing a room don't want one person covering the full cost. Each occupant books independently, pays their per-person share, and manages their own payment plan.

Getting to Split Payment Settings

  1. From your Dashboard, open the trip in the Trip Builder

  2. Navigate to the Packages tab for the destination you want to configure

  3. Enable the "Pricing on Room Types" toggle (if not already on)

  4. Click on the room type you want to configure, or click "Add Room Type" to create one

  5. In the room type settings, look for the "Occupants can book/pay separately" checkbox next to each occupancy level

Room type configuration showing the Occupants can book/pay separately checkbox for double and triple occupancy rows

Enable the Split Payment Toggle

For each occupancy level where you want travelers to book independently, check the "Occupants can book/pay separately" box. This toggle appears for every occupancy level of 2 or more guests.

Occupancy

Toggle Available?

What Happens When Enabled

1 guest (single)

No — hidden automatically

Single-occupancy rooms have only one occupant, so splitting doesn't apply

2 guests (double)

Yes

Each guest books and pays their own per-person share separately

3 guests (triple)

Yes

Each guest books and pays individually

4 guests (quad)

Yes

Each guest books and pays individually

After checking the box, click "Save" to apply the setting. Repeat for each room type and occupancy level where you want separate booking.

What Travelers See at Checkout

When the split payment toggle is enabled, each traveler in a shared room:

  1. Registers individually — each person creates their own booking

  2. Selects the shared room type and occupancy level (e.g., Double - 2 guests)

  3. Pays only their per-person share — the total room cost divided by occupancy

  4. Manages their own payment plan — deposits and installments are based on the per-person price

Example: A Double room priced at $900/person with split payments enabled means Traveler A pays $900 and Traveler B pays $900, each on their own schedule.

When the toggle is disabled, the first traveler who books the room pays for all occupants and is responsible for the full room cost.

How Payments Split Between Occupants

Each occupant's payment is completely independent:

Aspect

How It Works

Deposit

Each occupant pays their own deposit based on the per-person price

Installment plan

Each occupant has their own payment schedule

Auto-billing

Each occupant is billed separately on their due dates

Refunds

Processed individually per occupant if needed

Occupants don't need to know each other's payment status. Each person's booking stands on its own.

Adjusting How Many People a Traveler Pays For

From the organizer dashboard, you can manually adjust how many people a specific traveler is paying for within a shared room. This is useful when one traveler wants to cover a guest:

  1. Go to Trip Data → find the traveler's booking

  2. Open the room configuration for their reservation

  3. Adjust the "Paying for" count (e.g., change from 1 to 2)

  4. Save the change — the traveler's total updates to reflect the additional occupant

Important Notes

  • The split payment toggle only appears for occupancy levels of 2 or more — single-occupancy rooms cannot split

  • You must have "Pricing on Room Types" enabled for the toggle to appear

  • Enabling split payments mid-trip does not affect existing bookings — only new bookings use the updated setting

  • If you edit a room type, all configurations (including the split toggle) are saved together — make sure the checkbox is still checked before saving

Troubleshooting

Problem

Solution

"Occupants can book/pay separately" checkbox not visible

Verify that "Pricing on Room Types" is enabled in the Packages tab. The toggle only appears for occupancy levels of 2 or more. Single-occupancy rows never show the checkbox.

Toggle is checked but travelers can't book separately

Save the room type settings after checking the box. If the issue persists, try unchecking, saving, then re-checking and saving again. Clear your browser cache and reload the trip builder.

Traveler booked and paid for all occupants instead of just themselves

The split payment toggle was likely not enabled when they booked. Enable it now for future bookings. For the existing booking, use Edit Order in Trip Data to adjust the traveler's total to their per-person share and issue a partial refund for the difference.

Room shows wrong number of available spots

When split payments are enabled, each occupant takes one booking slot. A double room with split payments enabled requires 2 separate bookings to fill. Check your room quantity and occupancy settings match the expected capacity.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I enable split payments for some room types but not others? A: Yes. The "Occupants can book/pay separately" toggle is set per occupancy level per room type. You can enable it for your Standard Double room but leave it disabled for your Suite, or any combination you prefer. Configure each room type independently.

Q: What happens if only one person books a double room with split payments enabled? A: The room shows as partially filled. The first traveler pays their per-person share only. The second spot remains open for another traveler to book. You can see partially filled rooms in your Trip Data dashboard and follow up with the remaining occupant.

Q: Can travelers choose how many people they're paying for at checkout? A: When split payments are enabled, each traveler defaults to paying for themselves (1 person). If someone wants to pay for multiple occupants (e.g., a couple where one person pays for both), you can adjust this from the organizer dashboard after booking by changing the "Paying for" count on their reservation.

Q: Do I need to match travelers to the same room, or does SquadTrip handle that? A: Travelers select the room type and occupancy at checkout, but SquadTrip does not automatically assign specific travelers to share a room. If you need to coordinate room assignments, use Group Chat or contact travelers directly to confirm who is sharing with whom.

Q: Why can't I enable split payments for a single-occupancy room? A: Single-occupancy rooms have only one guest, so there's no one to split with. The toggle is automatically hidden for occupancy levels of 1. If you want travelers to book and pay individually, set the room's minimum occupancy to 2 or higher and enable the split payment checkbox.

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