Collecting Trip Fees Online

Every trip leader knows this pain. You front the campsite booking, collect cash at the trailhead, and spend the next two weeks chasing three people who "forgot their wallet." Venmo and Zelle help, but you're still sending individual requests, tracking who's paid in a spreadsheet, and hoping everyone settles up. It's awkward, it's slow, and it doesn't scale.

When you collect payment at the time of signup, everything changes: - **No-shows drop dramatically.** People who've paid are far more likely to actually come. - **No awkward money conversations.** Payment is handled before the trip even starts. - **You know your budget immediately.** No guessing how much you'll actually collect. - **Refunds are clean.** Clear policy, automatic processing, no disputes. - **It's fair.** Everyone pays the same way at the same time. This is standard practice for commercial tour operators. There's no reason club trips should be any different.

With TheClubTrip, the flow is simple: 1. **Connect your club's bank account** via Stripe (one-time setup, takes 5 minutes) 2. **Set a trip fee** when creating a trip (e.g., $30 for a weekend trip) 3. **Participants pay at signup** via credit card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay 4. **Money goes directly to your club's account** minus a small processing fee You can see payment status for every participant in your trip admin dashboard. Paid, unpaid, refunded — all in one view.

When a participant pays, the fee structure is transparent: - **Trip fee** — the amount your club receives (you set this) - **Booking fee** — covers payment processing (Stripe fees + platform fee), paid by the participant - **Non-refundable booking fee** — if you issue a refund, the trip fee is refunded but the booking fee is retained Example: You set a $30 trip fee. The participant pays approximately $33.50 total. Your club receives exactly $30. The $3.50 booking fee covers Stripe (3.7% + 30c) and TheClubTrip's 4% platform fee.

Be clear about refunds before signups open. Common policies: - **Full refund** (minus booking fee) if cancelled 7+ days before the trip - **50% refund** within 7 days - **No refund** within 48 hours or for no-shows With TheClubTrip, refunds are one-click from the trip admin page. The trip fee is refunded to the participant's original payment method. The booking fee is retained.

Some members may prefer to pay cash or check. You can handle this by: - Setting the trip fee as optional (not required for signup completion) - Adding them manually to the trip and marking payment as handled offline - Using the trip cost field for informational purposes only But in practice, most people prefer paying online. It's faster, there's no cash to handle, and they get an instant receipt.