A few days ago, I came across a post in the Tourpreneur private Facebook group that sparked an important discussion. Our Co-Founder and CEO Jerome Bajou wrote a LinkedIn post about this very topic, a while back.

An operator asked why booking software companies still take a percentage of every sale and why the industry accepted this, making it the industry norm.

It’s a fair question. But there’s another one we rarely ask: what’s the real cost of not paying for your reservation technology at all?

When “Free” Costs You Bookings

Many “free” or commission-based systems make their money by passing a booking fee to the traveler at checkout. On the surface, it seems harmless, just a few dollars added to the final price.

But that small number has a big impact.

A survey by RubberCheese found that 48% of people abandon their booking because of unexpected extra costs like booking fees. Almost half of potential customers drop off before completing their reservation.

Think about that. You didn’t lose the booking because your tour was too expensive, you lost it because of a fee, creating a negative "aha" moment for your customer.

The Baymard Institute confirms the same pattern across industries: nearly 70% of online carts are abandoned, and the top reason is unexpected costs during checkout. In travel, where trust and timing matter most, that hesitation is often enough for a guest to close the tab and never return.

When a platform hides its business model behind guest-facing fees, it’s your revenue that suffers. What looks “free” for operators ends up costing you nearly half of your potential sales.

The Real Value

Operators often see a subscription fee as an expense. But when almost half of guests abandon bookings because of unexpected costs, the real expense is the one you can’t see - the sales you never close.

Paying for your software is more than covering costs. It’s protecting conversions, building trust, and keeping your brand in control of the guest experience.

Because the true cost of not paying for your reservation technology isn’t only measured in dollars, it’s also measured in bookings that never make it past checkout.