How to Price a Custom Trip: Net Rates, Markup, Margin and Showing the Price Clearly

Updated October 2026. All figures in examples are illustrative. Your suppliers, market and fees decide real numbers.

Step 1: Build the full cost, not the headline cost

The most common pricing error is leaving something out. Build a cost sheet before you think about margin.

Cost line	Examples	Often forgotten
Accommodation	Nightly rates, breakfast, resort fees	City or tourist tax, resort fees
Transport	Flights, trains, transfers, car hire	Fuel, tolls, parking, baggage fees
Experiences	Guides, tickets, tastings	Gratuities, entrance fees for guides
Meals included	Set dinners, tastings	Service charges
Supplier fees	Booking, payment or service fees	Card fees on your side
Your own costs	Payment processing, insurance, software	Time value of the planning stage

Add a contingency line for currency movement and small extras. Many agents choose a small percentage of costs and revisit it as they learn which trips run over.

Step 2: Know what is net and what is commissionable

Suppliers present rates differently.

• Net rate: the wholesale price. You choose the markup, so the whole difference between cost and selling price is yours.
• Commissionable rate: the retail price with commission paid to you afterward. The client pays the published price, and the supplier pays you a percentage.
• Package or fixed-price product: the supplier sets the price. Your income is commission, a fee, or both.

Mixing these in one trip is normal. Keep them separate on your cost sheet so you know where your income comes from on each line.

Step 3: Choose how you earn, then calculate the price

If you add a margin to net costs, use this formula:

Selling price = total cost divided by (1 minus margin).

Total net cost	Target margin	Selling price	Your profit
4,000	10%	4,444	444
4,000	15%	4,706	706
4,000	20%	5,000	1,000
4,000	25%	5,333	1,333

Markup and margin are different. A 25 percent markup on 4,000 gives 5,000, which is a 20 percent margin. If you apply markup when you meant margin, you will consistently earn less than you planned. See how much a travel agent should charge for the full breakdown, including planning fees.

Step 4: Decide what the client sees

There are two honest approaches:

• Itemised: every component with its price, plus your fee as a separate line. Builds trust and works well for sophisticated clients.
• All-inclusive: one price for the trip with a clear description of what is included. Simpler to read, and your margin sits inside it.

Choose one and be consistent. Whichever you pick, state what is included, what is excluded, the currency, and a validity date.

Step 5: Offer options

When a client sees one price, the decision is yes or no. When they see two or three, the decision becomes which one. A common structure is three levels:

Option	What changes	Typical role
Comfortable	Good, well-reviewed properties and standard transfers	The sensible baseline
Recommended	The properties and experiences you would choose for them	The one you steer toward
Exceptional	A special property, a private guide, an upgraded moment	Shows what more money buys

Explain the trade-off between options honestly: what the extra amount buys and what the client gives up if they choose the lower one. Never make the middle option look like a poor deal.

Step 6: Protect yourself with validity and terms

• Put a date on the price after which it may change.
• State the payment schedule: deposit, balance and due dates.
• Link to your cancellation and amendment terms.
• Say what happens if exchange rates move.

When these sit on the same page as the price, there are fewer follow-up questions. In Story of a Trip, the client accepts the terms on the proposal and the exact text they saw is stored with the acceptance. See how to put terms and conditions online.

A worked example (illustrative)

A seven-night trip for two. Net costs: accommodation 2,100, ground transport 700, experiences 650, supplier fees 50. Subtotal 3,500. Add a 5 percent contingency of 175: 3,675. Your target margin is 20 percent.

Selling price = 3,675 / 0.8 = 4,594. Round to 4,600. Your profit is 925, which is 20.1 percent of the price. Per person: 2,300. If you also charge a planning fee of 250, show it on its own line or credit it against the booking, as your terms state.

Common pricing mistakes

• Using markup when you meant margin.
• Forgetting taxes, fees and card costs.
• No validity date, so prices go stale.
• Hiding a fee in the price and surprising the client later.
• Offering one price with no alternative.

Currency: the quiet risk in a quote

If you buy in one currency and sell in another, exchange-rate movement can eat your margin before the trip happens. Manage it deliberately.

• Quote in the currency the client will pay. It avoids confusion and surprises.
• Note the date of the rates you used. "Prices based on exchange rates as of [date]."
• Choose a policy for movement. Either the price is fixed once accepted, or it may change within stated limits. Put it in your terms.
• Add a small buffer if supplier costs are in a volatile currency and your validity period is long.
• Shorten validity when risk is high. A price valid for a few days carries less risk than one valid for weeks.

Per person or total? Show both

Travellers	Total price	Per person
2	4,600	2,300
4 (shared rooms)	7,800	1,950
6 (shared rooms)	10,500	1,750

Per-person prices often fall as group size rises because some costs, such as a guide or a vehicle, are shared. Make clear which costs are shared and which scale per traveller. If a single traveller needs their own room, show the single supplement as its own line.

Itemised or all-inclusive: how each looks

Itemised

Accommodation, 7 nights: 2,100. Ground transport: 700. Experiences: 650. Planning fee: 250. Total: 3,700. Clients can see where the money goes and compare components. It invites questions about each line.

All-inclusive

Seven-night private trip for two, including all accommodation, transfers, guided experiences and planning: 4,600. Simple and confident. It invites fewer line-by-line challenges, but the client may wonder what they are paying for, so show the value in the rest of the proposal.

When costs change after you quote

1. Check what your terms say. They should explain whether prices are held until acceptance, and what happens after.
2. If the change is yours to absorb, do so quietly. Small supplier increases on a confirmed trip are a business cost.
3. If it must be passed on, tell the client immediately and clearly. Show what changed and why, and offer alternatives.
4. Send a new version of the proposal and ask for acceptance. See how to handle changes after you send a proposal.

A pre-send pricing checklist

• Every cost line is included, including taxes, fees and small extras.
• Contingency is added for currency and variance.
• Margin is calculated on selling price, not as a naive markup.
• Per-person and total prices are both shown.
• Inclusions and exclusions are written clearly.
• Validity date, payment schedule and cancellation terms are visible.
• Two or three options are offered where the trip allows.

Key takeaways

• Build the full cost sheet first, including the things people forget.
• Selling price = cost / (1 minus margin). Markup is not margin.
• Offer two or three options and explain the trade-offs.
• Put validity, payment terms and cancellation terms with the price.