Paying for your stay

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Paying for your stay

Audience: Member, Guest

What it is

How you settle what a booking costs — by card (Stripe) or by internet banking against a Xero invoice, where your club offers it — plus how account credit and split charges for non-member guests work. You pay either inside the booking wizard's Pay step or later from the booking's Complete Payment card (/bookings/<id>). The payment states are in STATE_MACHINES.md.

When you'd use it

• You have just finished the booking wizard and money is due.
• You closed the wizard before paying and need to finish from your booking page.
• Your club uses internet banking and you want to pay a Xero invoice by bank transfer instead of by card.
• You have account credit from an earlier cancellation and want it applied.

Step-by-step

Pay by card (Stripe)

1. On the Pay step of the wizard, or the Complete Payment card on your booking page, choose the card option and enter your card details.
2. The headline shows exactly what you are being charged now:
   • A normal booking shows Total: $X — the whole amount.
   • A split booking (a Members First hold, see below) shows Charged today: $X — only your member portion — with a second line naming the non-member guest portion that is "charged closer to your stay".
3. Confirm the payment. On success the booking moves to a paid state and you get a booking-confirmation email. The booking page is always the live source of truth if a confirmation, payment, or cancellation email goes missing.

The figures come from the server, not from arithmetic in your browser, so the "charged today" amount always matches what is actually taken.

Pay by internet banking (Xero invoice)

If your club has internet banking enabled and your stay is far enough ahead of the club's lead-time cutoff, you can choose Internet Banking instead of card:

1. Choose the internet-banking option. The club raises a Xero invoice and emails you the payment instructions. That invoice email is always sent — it is your instruction to pay — regardless of any other notification choice.
2. Pay the invoice by bank transfer using the reference on it. Your bed is held under the club's internet-banking lead-time rules while the transfer clears.

Operators manage the bed-hold and lead-time settings with the Internet Banking guide.

Use account credit

If you hold account credit (for example from a cancelled paid booking), your current balance shows on your profile under Account Credit (/profile, the Account Credit section). Credit is applied toward what you owe the club; your dashboard's Account Credit card links straight to it. How a cancellation produces credit rather than a card refund is covered in Changing or cancelling a booking.

Split charges for non-member guests

When a Members First hold splits a mixed party (your members are booked now, your non-member guests are held provisionally), the money is split too:

• Today you are charged only your member portion — the pay screen reads "Charged today: $X".
• The non-member guest portion is auto-charged to the same card around the hold deadline, if beds still remain. If no bed remains, those guests are bumped and you are not charged for them.
• If you paid your own place by internet banking (so there is no card on file for the later guest charge), the club warns you and can email you a secure pay link (/pay/<token>) to settle the guest portion yourself. If a guest portion reaches its deadline still unpaid, the club emails you a payment link and extends the hold; if it is still unpaid at the end of check-in day, that provisional guest booking is automatically cancelled — your own place is untouched.

The booking side of this split is described in Booking a stay.

What it costs / what to expect

Payment path	What to expect
Card (Stripe)	Charged immediately; booking confirmed on success
Card, split booking	"Charged today" is your member portion; guest portion charged near the hold deadline
Internet banking	Xero invoice emailed; pay by transfer; bed held per lead-time rules
Account credit	Applied toward what you owe; balance shown on your profile
Payment failed	Booking stays unpaid with a Complete Payment card — retry from there

All amounts are shown in dollars, formatted from the integer cents the club stores. Settlement rules are in DOMAIN_INVARIANTS.md.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Why it happens	What to do
Booking still says "Payment required" after you paid	The card step was interrupted, or payment did not complete	Open the booking and retry from the Complete Payment card
You do not see an internet-banking option	Your club has not enabled it, or your stay is inside the lead-time cutoff	Pay by card instead
Your card was declined	A normal card failure	Try another card from the Complete Payment card
The invoice email never arrived	It may be in spam	Check spam; the booking page always shows what is owed even without the email
You expected credit to be applied	Credit shows but was not used	Check the Account Credit section on your profile; contact the club office if it looks wrong
Your non-member guests were bumped	No bed remained at the hold deadline	Their provisional hold lapsed; your own place stands — re-add them if beds free up

Related links

• Back to the Member & Guest Guide and the documentation hub.
• Sibling guides: Booking a stay, Changing or cancelling a booking.
• Reference: the payment lifecycle and payment & settlement invariants. Operators use the Payments and Internet Banking guides.