# Payment timings

**Understand the available payment schedules and timings to better align with your business needs. As an overall each payment type has different available timings with some differences among travel services.**

## Accommodation payment timings

These are the payment timings avalaible for accommodation orders:

| Timings |  |  |
|  --- | --- | --- |
| `pay_at_the_property` | The traveller can pay at the property using the property accepted method. | Payment for the booking is usually due on the checkin date (unless there is a prepayment policy with instalments scheduled before the checkin date) |
| `pay_online_now` | The traveller pays online at the time of the booking, using one of the available payment methods. | Payment for the booking1 is charged on the booking date. |
| `pay_online_later` | The traveller can pay online 48 hours before free cancellation period ends, using one of the available payment methods. | Payment for the booking1 is charged 48 hours before free cancellation period ends. |


1 *Extra charges (if any) are excluded.*

Please note that `pay_online_later` is currently **not available** for payment methods: Credit Card (CC) MOTO, CC SCA, CC Riskified or Credit Cards.

### Payment timing availability

The availability of these payment options depends on your specific payment scenario, including your payment agreements and the payment methods accepted by the property.

For example,  `pay_online_now` and `pay_online_later` timings are available only if:

- You have a partner agreement that permits their use (Otherwise, the default option is `pay_at_the_property`).
- The property has enabled Online payments in our platform.


### Check the available payment timings

Use the following endpoints to retrieve available payment timings for your specific scenario:

|  Endpoints |  Response |
|  --- | --- |
| /accommodations/search | Provides payment timings for each product retrieved. |
| /accommodations/availability | Returns available payment timings for the products in the response. |
| /orders/preview | Shows payment timings and schedules for the selected set of products in an order. |


For best practices and examples, refer to the [Search for accommodation](/demand/docs/accommodations/search-for-available-properties) and [Orders](/demand/docs/orders-api/order-preview-create) sections.

### Payment schedules

In the [/orders/preview](/demand/docs/open-api/demand-api/orders/orders/preview) endpoint each payment timing object (pay_at_the_property, pay_online_now, pay_online_later) contains a `dates` field, with different dates for different sort of charges.

* The `dates` field consists of 2 or 3 items,  each of which shows the date (at) on which an amount of the total price of the booking must be paid.
* This includes both the total booking price and any additional charges that might be collected separately.


#### Extra charges

In some countries, certain extra charges, like tourist taxes, must be paid at the property due to legal requirements.

These cannot be collected in advance when using the `pay_online_now` or `pay_online_later` timings, and will be separated in the payment schedule.

However, there are other extra charges that the property can collect online as part of their [prepayment policy](/demand/docs/payments/payments-timings#pay-at-property-with-prepayment).

Refer to the [Accommodation pricing section](/demand/docs/accommodations/prices-accommodations) for more details and examples on extra charges.

## Accommodation examples

Find here some examples of common payment schedules:

### Pay online now

In the following orders/preview response taken as example, there are 2 date items "2025-01-18" (booking date) and "2025-02-10" (checkin date):


```json
{
 "accommodation": {
   "general_policies": {
     "payment": {
       "pay_online_now": {
         "method_required": true,
         "dates": [
           {
             "at": "2025-01-18",
             "price": {
               "accommodation_currency": 200.64,
               "booker_currency": 200.64
             }
           },
           {
             "at": "2025-02-10",
             "price": {
               "accommodation_currency": 5.14,
               "booker_currency": 5.14
             }
           }
         ]
       }
     }
   }
 }
}
```

| Schedule | `at` | `price` |
|  --- | --- | --- |
| First item | The booking date (In this example 2025-01-18). | In `pay_online_now` timing, the total amount that must be charged for the stay without extra charges (if any). In this case **200.64**.This amount is the **total cost** of the booking less charges that must be collected at the property, and will be paid using whichever payment method has been selected for the booking. |
| Second item | The checkin date for the booking (2025-02-10). | The extra charges amount that will be collected at the property at checkin date using one of the payment methods they accept. In this case **5.14**. |


### Pay online later

In this orders/preview response, there are 3 date items "2025-01-18" (booking date), "2025-02-02" (payment date) and "2025-02-10" (checkin date):


```json
{
  "accommodation": {
    "general_policies": {
      "payment": {
        "pay_online_later": {
          "method_required": true,
          "dates": [
            {
              "at": "2025-01-18",
              "price": {
                "accommodation_currency": 0.00,
                "booker_currency": 0.00
              }
            },
            {
              "at": "2025-02-02",
              "price": {
                "accommodation_currency": 200.64,
                "booker_currency": 200.64
              }
            },
            {
              "at": "2025-02-10",
              "price": {
                "accommodation_currency": 5.14,
                "booker_currency": 5.14
              }
            }
          ],
          "methods": {
            "cards": [1, 2, 3, 4, ...]
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
```

The dates object offered for the `pay_online_later` timing shows that:

| Schedule | `at` | `price` |
|  --- | --- | --- |
| First item | The booking date (In this example 2025-01-18). | Will always be 0 for this payment timing. |
| Second item | The date on which payment will be charged. This is either when the free cancellation period ends, or 48 hours before the checkin date. In this example 2025-02-02. | The amount to be charged, in this case **200.64**. |
| Third item | The checkin date for the booking. | The extra charges amount that will be collected at the property at checkin date. In this case **5.14**. |


### Pay at the property

#### Without prepayment

In the following orders/preview response taken as example, there are 2 date items "2026-11-18" (booking date) and "2026-12-01" (checkin date):


```json
{
  "accommodation": {
    "general_policies": {
      "payment": {
        "pay_at_the_property": {
          "method_required": true,
          "dates": [
            {
              "at": "2026-11-18",
              "price": {
                "accommodation_currency": 0.00,
                "booker_currency": 0.00
              }
            },
            {
              "at": "2026-12-01",
              "price": {
                "accommodation_currency": 205.78,
                "booker_currency": 205.78
              }
            }
          ],
          "methods": {
            "cards": [1, 2, 3, 4, ...]
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
```

| Schedule | `at` | `price` |
|  --- | --- | --- |
| First item | The booking date. | In `pay_at_the_property` timing, the total amount that must be charged at the moment of the booking is always **0.00** (unless there are prepayment policies). |
| Second item | The checkin date for the booking. | The total amount that must be charged for the stay including extra charges (if any). This is collected at the property at checkin date using one of the accepted payment methods. In this case ****205.78****. |


#### With prepayment

There are cases when the property sets a prepayment policy, scheduling an instalment between the booking and checkin date.

Example:


```json
{
  "general_policies": {
    "payment": {
      "pay_at_the_property": {
        "method_required": true,
        "dates": [
          {
            "at": "2026-11-18",
            "price": {
              "accommodation_currency": 0.00,
              "booker_currency": 0.00
            }
          },
          {
            "at": "2026-11-30",
            "price": {
              "accommodation_currency": 57.27,
              "booker_currency": 57.27
            }
          },
          {
            "at": "2026-12-01",
            "price": {
              "accommodation_currency": 76.29,
              "booker_currency": 76.29
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}
```

* In this example there are 3 date items for different instalments:


| Schedule | `at` | `price` |
|  --- | --- | --- |
| First item | When the order request is sent. | Here, the total amount that must be charged for the booking is **0.00** |
| Second item | When the first instalment is due. This item is not returned if there is no prepayment policy set by the property. | The amount that must be charged before checkin, in this case ****57.27****. This is collected online using one of the accepted payment methods. |
| Third item | The checkin date for the booking. | The final instalment that will be collected at the property at checkin date. In this case **76.29**. |


Curious to know more?
For additional information on supported payment methods, use cases, and guidance on creating order requests, refer to:

* [Payment methods](/demand/docs/payments/payments-methods)
* [Payment use cases](/demand/docs/payments/pay-examples-intro)
* [Payments quick guide](/demand/docs/payments/how-to)