The rule
Any price you see already includes every required fee.
- A per-night price includes every fee charged per night. A fee charged once per reservation, or as a percentage, is shown right next to every per-night price before you enter dates (for example, "+ $3.50 booking fee per reservation").
- Once you enter dates and party details (people, pets, vehicles), the total shown is the most you'll pay, apart from taxes and extras you choose.
- Charges required for the party you described (a third adult, a pet, an extra vehicle) are fees, not extras.
- A card fee counts as a fee unless a way to pay without it is offered in the same checkout.
- If choosing a site costs extra, the price shown for each site, on the map or list, includes that charge before you pick it. A site-choice charge is always a fee, never an extra.
- These may be added later, as long as the rate or amount is shown before payment: metered electric, refundable deposits, and charges caused by changes you make after booking (such as an extra vehicle you didn't declare).
A "fee" is any charge collected with a reservation, whatever it's called, other than the nightly rate, taxes (charges set by a government), extras you chose, and a cancellation charge.
What this looks like
The search results show one number for your three nights. At checkout, that number hasn't grown.
Only taxes and extras you chose (firewood, a golf cart) can be added. A booking fee is never added on the last screen.
Why
One large software company charges guests a booking fee but publishes no amount. One guest letter describes charges "that only show up after your credit card is charged."
How it's checked
Make a test booking using the test basket in Appendix A, T1. Testers check the software company and the campground separately. Each gets its own result.
Software company
On a fresh test campground with fees set up, make the test booking.
Pass
- Every price shown follows (a)–(e).
- The total after dates and party details equals the final charge before taxes, extras and (f) items.
Fail
- Any fee first appears later.
Campground
Pass
- All its required fees are entered so they're included.
- (f) rates are shown before payment.
- Nothing else is charged at check-in.
Fail
- A required charge is collected outside the total.
- A campground charge is labeled a tax.
Not met
- Software limitation: the software can't include a fee type.
- Evidence
- Booking · Settings
- Source
- S6 · G3 · Evidence E4