Add-ons
Add-ons are optional extras a guest can choose to pay for, such as a high chair, a crib, an extra bed, or a welcome basket. You set them up per property on the property's Pricing tab. Guests who book directly can pick them, and once booked they can add or remove them from their guest portal. The cost joins the booking's balance and is paid through the normal checkout.
Add-ons are different from fees. A fee is mandatory, so every booking that qualifies pays it. An add-on is optional, so only guests who choose it pay.
Where Add-ons Can Be Chosen
| Where | Who picks | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Your direct-booking website, at checkout | The guest | Only if your booking website offers add-on selection. Chosen add-ons are included in the guest's quote and saved on the booking when it is created. |
| The guest portal, after booking | The guest | The Enhance your stay card on the guest's booking page. See Guest Portal Guide. |
| OTA bookings (Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO) | -- | Not available. Add-ons are never offered on OTA bookings. |
The New Booking form in the admin app does not offer add-ons.
Setting Up Add-ons
- Open a property and select the Pricing tab.
- Scroll to the Add-ons card, below the Fees and Taxes cards. Its title shows how many add-ons the property has, for example Add-ons (3).
- Click Add add-on.
- Fill in the form:
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | Shown to the guest, and used as the line label on the booking, the guest's receipt, and your statements. For example, "High chair". |
| Description | Optional. Shown to the guest. |
| Price | The price for one unit (one stay, one night, or one week, depending on Pricing unit). Must be 0 or more. |
| Currency | USD, EUR, GBP, or CRC. Use the same currency the property's bookings are priced in, because the price is added to the booking as entered and is never converted. |
| Pricing unit | Per stay, Per night, or Per week. See How the Price Is Calculated. |
| Sort order | "Lower numbers appear first." |
| Taxable | "Apply taxes to this add-on." On by default. See Taxes on Add-ons. |
| Active | "Show this add-on in guest quotes." Turn it off to stop offering the add-on without deleting it. |
- Click Create add-on.
To change an add-on, click its pencil icon and then Update add-on. To remove it, click the trash icon and confirm.
Add-ons are available on single-unit properties. Multi-unit properties do not show the Add-ons card.
How the Price Is Calculated
The price charged is worked out from the number of nights in the stay:
| Pricing unit | Price for the stay | 5 nights at $35 | 10 nights at $35 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per stay | The price, once | $35 | $35 |
| Per night | Price x nights | $175 | $350 |
| Per week | Price x weeks, where any part week counts as a full week | $35 (1 week) | $70 (2 weeks) |
For Per week, the form reminds you: "A full week is charged for each partial week (a 5-night stay bills one week)." A 7-night stay is one week. An 8-night stay is two.
Guests always choose one of each add-on. There is no quantity. If a guest needs two cribs, set up two add-ons (for example "Crib" and "Second crib").
Taxes on Add-ons
When Taxable is on, the add-on is taxed the same way as your taxable fees. Every tax with Taxable Fees ticked in its Applies To setting (see Fees and Taxes) is charged on the add-on's price. Taxes that apply only to Nightly Rates are not.
When Taxable is off, no tax is charged on the add-on.
Whether an add-on is taxable is fixed when it is added to a booking. If you later change the Taxable setting, bookings that already have the add-on keep the setting they were booked with.
Example
A 10-night direct booking. Your 13% IVA applies to nightly rates and taxable fees. The guest adds:
| Add-on | Pricing unit | Taxable | Charged | IVA (13%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High chair | $35 per week | Yes | $70.00 (2 weeks) | $9.10 |
| Extra bed | $20 per night | No | $200.00 (10 nights) | $0.00 |
| Total | $270.00 | $9.10 |
The booking total goes up by $279.10.
Add-ons and Your Commission
Add-on revenue belongs to the owner, and your management commission applies to it, the same as accommodation:
- Owner statements and invoices: add-ons are part of the commission base. In the example above, the $270.00 of add-ons adds $270.00 to the amount your commission percentage is charged on. The IVA on the add-on is handled like all other IVA. It is passed through to the owner and is not part of the commission.
- Reservations-agent and partner commissions: the base these commissions are worked out on also includes add-ons (accommodation + add-ons).
Add-ons on a Booking
Each add-on on a booking shows as its own line, labelled with the add-on's name:
- In the Price Breakdown card on the booking's detail page.
- On the guest's Booking Receipt (the Print Voucher PDF) and on the booking statement (Download Invoice).
The amount, currency, and taxable setting are fixed when the add-on is added to the booking. Changing an add-on's price or pricing unit later affects only new selections, never bookings that already have it.
Turning an add-on off (Active unticked) hides it from new quotes and from guests who have not already added it. A guest who already has it still sees it in their portal. Deleting an add-on does not remove it from bookings that already have it.
What Guests Can Do in the Portal
On a direct booking, the guest's booking page shows an Enhance your stay card ("Optional extras added to your balance.") listing the property's active add-ons, each priced for their stay, with an on/off switch. It also shows the booking's current Balance due.
- Adding an add-on adds its price (plus tax, if taxable) to the booking's balance. The guest pays it through the normal Payment page.
- Removing is possible only for add-ons the guest added in the portal, and only until they have been paid. Once the guest's payments cover the add-on, the switch locks and shows "Already paid. Contact us to make changes." Changing an add-on after it is paid is handled by your team as a refund.
- Add-ons chosen when the booking was made cannot be removed by the guest.
The card appears only when all of these are true:
- The booking is a direct booking made in Argonautas. OTA bookings, and bookings imported from another property-management system, never show it.
- The booking is not cancelled or checked out.
- The property has at least one active add-on.
Common Questions
Should this be an add-on or a fee? If every qualifying guest must pay it (a resort fee, a damage waiver, a charge for large groups), make it a fee. See Property-specific fees. If the guest chooses whether to pay (baby gear, an extra bed), make it an add-on.
Can I add an add-on to a booking for the guest? Not from the add-on list. The New Booking form does not offer add-ons. Send the guest their portal link so they can add it themselves, or add a charge on the booking's Price Breakdown card.
A guest wants to remove an add-on they already paid for. The portal will not let them, because the money has been collected. Your team handles it as a refund.
Why did the guest's balance go up by more than the add-on's price? The add-on is taxable, so tax was added on top. See Taxes on Add-ons.
Are add-ons sent to Airbnb or other OTAs? No. Add-ons are only offered on direct bookings.
Related
- Fees and Taxes -- Mandatory fees, property-specific fees, and how taxes are applied.
- Pricing a Villa -- The Pricing tab where add-ons are set up.
- Guest Portal Guide -- What guests see, including the Enhance your stay card.
- Payments & Billing -- How guests pay their balance.
- Booking Lifecycle -- Where add-on lines appear on a booking.