🧒 Child Price Settings – Calculation Methods Explained

👶 Understanding Child Pricing Settings

When setting up child pricing for your property, it’s important to choose a calculation method that fits your overall pricing strategy and meets your guests’ expectations.

We offer three child pricing models, each with its own logic, advantages, and ideal use cases.

👉 You can apply a default child policy for all room types by going to Settings > Other Policies, or set individual policies per room type under Settings > Room Type.
Regardless of where you set it, the same pricing methods and options are available.

Let’s explore each of the three methods to help you choose the one that works best for your property.

🔹 1. Relative to Occupancy

This is the standard and most straightforward child pricing model. The child price is added per child, regardless of the number of adults. Each person (adult or child) counts toward the room’s total occupancy.

Example Setup:

• Adult rate: €50 per person

• Child rate: €10 per child

✔️ Best for:

• Simple, transparent pricing

• Per-person charge structure

⚠️ Consideration:

• Can lead to lower pricing if children occupy beds that would otherwise be priced for adults.

🔹 2. Relative to Room

This model locks in the base room price for 2 guests, even if the reservation includes children. Children only incur charges if the occupancy exceeds 2 people.

Example Setup:

• Base 2-person room price: €100

• Additional child price: €10 per child beyond 2 guests

✔️ Best for:

• Hotels that always want to sell the room at 2-person minimum rate

• Avoiding underpricing when only 1 adult + 1 child books

⚠️ Consideration:

• Can be less fair in solo parent situations (e.g., 1 adult + 1 child still pays the full 2-person rate)

🔹 3. Percentage-Based

Overview:
This model calculates a "bed price" (i.e., average per-person price) based on the adult price for that occupancy. Each child then pays a percentage of this bed price.

Formula:

• Bed Price = Total price for equivalent adult occupancy ÷ total number of guests

• Child Price = Bed Price × % (e.g., 10%)

• Adult Price = Full Bed Price

Example Setup (10% child rate):

✔️ Best for:

• Proportional child pricing

• Scenarios where child cost should scale with overall occupancy price

• Advanced users who want full control (including using 100% to match adult rate)

⚠️ Important Limitation:

This method assumes your adult pricing increases linearly (e.g., 1 adult = €50, 2 = €100, 3 = €150).
If your pricing includes discounts or tiered structures (e.g., 3 adults = €130 instead of €150), the child pricing becomes unpredictable or inconsistent.

Example issue:

• 3 adults = €130 → Bed price = €43.33

• 1 child at 10% = €4.33

• Total = €150 + €4.33 = €154.33 (vs expected €155 if linear)

📝 Final Tip

In some cases, you may want child prices to match the adult rate (excluding city tax or extras). To achieve this, you can use the Percentage-Based child pricing method and set the child percentage to 100%.

For example, imagine a family room where the price for 4 adults should be the same as for 2 adults and 2 children — but children should not pay city tax. In this scenario, you’d configure your children’s policy as follows:

✅ How to Set Up a 100% Child Rate

1. Enable children in your policy
   • Turn on the Accept Children toggle (switch to green).
2. Define infant age range
   • Specify which age group qualifies as infants (e.g. 0–2 years).
3. Set adult age threshold
   • Keep the toggle Children over X years old are considered adults turned off.
4. Define the child age range
   • Specify which ages are considered “children” who must pay (e.g. from 3 to 18 years old).
5. Set the extra child price
   • Enter 100% to make child prices equal to adult prices (excluding city tax or extras).

📢 Tip: This setting is synchronised with Booking.com, where children can be included in a reservation but are charged the same rate as adults. SabeeApp will correctly identify the number of adults and children in the booking, ensuring that city tax (or other extras) is applied only where appropriate.

For example, if a booking is made for 4 adults and 1 child, the total price will be calculated for 5 guests. However, city tax will be charged only for the 4 adults, not for the child.

This ensures accurate pricing and compliance with local tax regulations.

If you're unsure which method to choose, feel free to reach out to our support team or consult your account manager. We're happy to help tailor your pricing setup to your property’s needs!