The three things that can appear on a booking
Section titled “The three things that can appear on a booking”Most hotel commerce pricing collapses into one blended percentage. That hides which part is a service, which is a pass-through, and which is a sales cost. Separated:
- Platform fee — 1.5%. What the commerce layer charges to fulfil a confirmed booking.
- Card processing — at cost. What the card networks and the processor charge, passed through with no margin.
- Commission — 10% by default, only sometimes. Paid to whoever brought the guest. On a booking from your own website, this is zero.
A booking from your own site costs items 1 and 2. A booking from a partner, creator or AI agent costs all three.
Why card processing is not a fixed number
Section titled “Why card processing is not a fixed number”Card processing depends on the card type, the issuing country, the currency and the method. A domestic debit card and a foreign premium credit card do not cost the same to accept, and no honest provider can promise one flat figure for both.
Passing it through at cost means the hotel sees the real number per booking instead of a padded average. The trade-off is that the total is a range rather than a single headline. As an illustration only: with a 4.0% card fee, a direct booking totals about 5.5%. Your actual figure depends on the cards your guests present, and the real fee is shown per booking.
A worked example
Section titled “A worked example”A $100 direct booking from the hotel’s own website, using a 4.0% card fee purely as an illustration:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Booking value | $100.00 |
| Platform fee (1.5%) | −$1.50 |
| Card processing (illustrated at 4.0%) | −$4.00 |
| Hotel keeps | about $94.50 |
The same booking, if a partner or creator drove it:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Booking value | $100.00 |
| Platform fee + card processing | −$5.50 |
| Partner commission (10%, after fees) | −$9.45 |
| Hotel keeps | about $85.05 |
Even the partner-driven case sits below the 15–25% commission typical of an OTA booking — and the hotel keeps the guest relationship, the email address and the next booking.
What costs nothing
Section titled “What costs nothing”- Booking Engine on the hotel’s own website
- Property management through the extranet
- WinkLinks storefronts
- Affiliate, partner and travel-agent tools
- Manual social posting, analytics and leaderboards
- Consumer and Booking Engine APIs
There are no subscriptions, seats or setup fees. The only usage-priced items are AI content generation in Social and Partner API volume beyond a free monthly allowance — neither is required to take bookings.
Who is the merchant of record
Section titled “Who is the merchant of record”The hotel is the merchant of record. Payment is collected for the hotel, and the hotel remains the party contracting with the guest. This matters for tax, chargebacks and consumer-protection obligations, and it is the reason the hotel keeps the guest relationship rather than renting it.
A licensed operator — an approved travel agency, for example — can instead collect payment itself and pay the hotel directly. In that case Wink charges the operator a 1.5% Booking Fee, invoiced monthly, because it is not handling the funds.
Questions worth asking any provider
Section titled “Questions worth asking any provider”- Is the card fee passed through or marked up?
- Is the platform fee charged on bookings or on gross revenue?
- Is commission calculated on gross or net of fees?
- Who is the merchant of record, and who carries chargeback liability?
- Are there subscription, seat or setup fees on top?
- What happens to fees on a cancellation or refund?
Common mistakes
Section titled “Common mistakes”- Comparing a blended rate to a split one. Line up like with like before concluding anything.
- Forgetting the guest’s lifetime value. A direct guest you can email again is worth more than one you cannot.
- Treating commission as unavoidable. It applies to partner-driven bookings, not to your own website traffic.
- Assuming cheap means fewer features. Ask what the free tier actually includes before paying for a tier you do not need.