Here are the steps for setting up payment plans with auto-billing:

Step 1: Choose Your Package

Start by selecting the travel package you want to create a payment plan for. Let's say you have a basic package priced at $2,400. You can offer two payment options: paying in full or paying in installments.

Step 2: Setting Additional Fees

While you can choose to charge an additional fee for installments, most customers prefer this option for the flexibility it offers. You can adjust the additional fee as per your preference, even setting it to $0. However, remember that offering flexibility often justifies a reasonable fee, and customers can always opt to pay in full if they prefer.

Step 3: Define the Minimum Deposit

To get started, set the minimum deposit amount. For example, let's make the minimum deposit $250.

Step 4: Payment Start and Trip Date

Specify the date when you want the first payment to be due. For instance, if today is November 6th, and you're managing a trip scheduled for November 16th, you might decide to start the payment plan in January. Setting the first payment date to January 15th aligns with the preferences of many customers who prefer paying the initial amount early in the year.

Step 5: Determine the Payment Schedule

To determine the payment schedule, consider the time frame between the first payment date (January 15th) and the trip date. In this case, it's over a year, but you may want to collect funds slightly ahead of time. You can set the number of months, for example, 10 months. Squad Trip will then calculate the monthly payments, and travelers will receive repayment reminders on the 10th of each month, five days before the payment date.

Step 6: Flexibility for Late Sign-Ups Here's where Squad Trip's dynamic payment scheduling shines. If a traveler signs up after the initial payment date, the system adjusts the number of available months to ensure you still collect the total amount by the deadline. For example, if the initial payment schedule has 10 installments, and someone signs up and there's only 6 months until the trip, SquadTrip will automatically recalculate the number of installments and the payment schedule so that you can collect the total amount within that 6 month timeline.

Step 7: Auto-charging

Auto-charging is setup by default! One. your travelers enroll in a payment plan, they will be billed automatically based on the payment schedule. No need to send reminders because SquadTrip will automatically remind them 5 days before their payment is due, and then charge their card automatically on the payment date.

To learn more about setting up a payment plan, watch the walkthrough video below: