Overview
Occupancy Rates let you assign different prices to a room based on the number of travelers staying in it: single, double, triple or quadruple occupancy. When a traveler goes through the sign-up flow, pricing dynamically adjusts depending on how many people are in their party.
Occupancy rates typically fall into these common categories:
Single occupancy
Double occupancy
Triple occupancy
Quad occupancy
How to Set Up Occupancy Rates
Occupancy-based pricing is configured within a room option in a lodging activity.
Add a lodging activity to your itinerary. (This works on both group and individual trips.)
In the Rooms tab, make sure it’s converted to Room Options.
Click “Add Option” to define a new room type
In the Booking & Pricing tab:
Set pricing to Per Room.
Check Price based on occupancy.
Enter the total price for the whole room in the Total Price field for each occupancy type you want to support. Use Add Rate to add triple or quadruple occupancy.
If you are collecting deposits for these bookings, set the payment schedule type to "Deposit + Final Balance" and fill in the deposit amount for each rate.
What number goes in the Total Price field?
Each occupancy rate is the total amount the whole room pays at that occupancy, not a per-person price. Tern uses the number exactly as you enter it. It doesn't multiply it by the number of travelers or divide it into a per-person price.
Suppliers often quote per person, so convert their quote to a room total before you enter it:
Supplier quote | Enter in Tern |
$5,299 per person, double occupancy | 10,598 in Double Occupancy |
$9,086 solo | 9,086 in Single Occupancy |
$4,800 per person, triple occupancy | 14,400 in Triple Occupancy |
If the lodging is priced per night, enter the room's nightly total. Tern multiplies it by the number of nights.
Deposits work the same way. The deposit for each rate is the deposit for the whole room, not per person.
Once completed, the itinerary and booking page will reflect the correct pricing based on the number of travelers. When your clients select a room, the overall price adjusts according to the rates you've set.
What clients see on the itinerary and landing page
Before a client picks a room, each room option shows Starting at followed by its lowest occupancy rate. The lodging's summary price on the Pricing tab shows the lowest rate across all room options.
A solo traveler pays for the whole room, so the single rate is usually the lowest total. That means Starting at usually shows the single occupancy price, not the double occupancy price per person. To lead with per-person pricing, include it in the room option name (for example, "Superior Deluxe | $5,299 per person double / $9,086 solo") and in your trip overview.
Once a client selects their room and travelers, they see the exact rate for their party size.
Traveler Experience
During sign-up, travelers only see room options that match their party size and pricing for those rooms based on the number of travelers added.
When selecting rooms travelers will now see the option to select travelers for each room they select
Adjusting travelers will automatically adjust the price of the room based on the occupancy rates setup
If there are no travelers selected then we will show that there are no room options, we will show the same message if there are too many travelers for the room
Each traveler can only be assigned to one room and all travelers need to be assigned to one room
Other Notes
Per-person pricing inside occupancy rates: Tern doesn't multiply a per-person price inside occupancy rates. Enter the full room total for each occupancy. If you'd like per-person entry, you can add or upvote the request on our feature request board.
Group Trip Sign-Up Limitations: Currently, travelers cannot return to add additional guests after signing up for a group trip. If the rates shown don’t reflect the correct number of travelers, please reach out for assistance.
Varying Deposit Rates: If you set the payment schedule type to be "Deposit + Final Balance", each room option and occupancy rate will have a deposit field where can enter the deposit amount relevant to that rate.
Tern supports adult, child, infant, and other traveler type categories for Project Expedition tours — but only when the specific tour has those pricing rates defined in the PE system.
How it works:
- When an advisor selects a PE tour date/time, Tern fetches the pricing rates from PE (e.g., Adult, Child, Infant)
- A separate count dropdown appears for each pricing rate
- If only one rate is available (e.g., "Participants"), only one count field is shown
Examples
Here is an example of two room options that also have Single and Double Occupancy rates. This will ensure that travelers only see the option that is available for their number of travelers but still give the flexibility of requesting a roommate.