Flexible date ranges make it easier to plan and sell both group and individual trips by giving travelers more control over their stay. As an advisor, you define the window: earliest check-in, latest check-out, and minimum nights and travelers choose the dates that work for them.
This helps accommodate flexible arrivals while still ensuring your pricing, availability, and minimum stay requirements are respected.
Lodging pricing in manually created subtrips: Flexible vs. Fixed schedule
When setting up a lodging activity on a group trip, the schedule type you choose affects how pricing is calculated — and the right choice depends on whether you're building a subtrip manually or letting travelers select their own dates.
Flexible Date Ranges are available for both group and regular trips
Flexible date ranges are available on all lodging activities. Occupancy-based pricing works seamlessly with flexible stays.
Lodging Activity Setup
When creating or editing a lodging activity, you can choose from two schedule types:
Fixed (default): Specific check-in/check-out dates
Flexible: Traveler selects their dates within a range
Flexible Schedule
Flexible schedule — for traveler-selected dates
Use Flexible schedule when you want travelers to choose their own check-in and check-out dates from the landing page. In this mode, the activity displays the per-night rate but does not calculate a total stay cost — because the actual dates aren't yet confirmed. When a traveler completes their selection on the landing page, the activity converts to Fixed automatically and the total is calculated based on their chosen dates.
You’ll be prompted to define:
Earliest Check-In
Latest Check-Out
Minimum Nights Required
You can also set standard check-in and check-out times for consistency.
These rules ensure travelers select a date range that fits within your parameters.
Room and Occupancy-Based Pricing Still Applies
Note: prices will only adjust based on flexible dates when the activity is priced per night. When pricing by room and/or occupancy, your rates will dynamically adjust based on:
Number of travelers
Room type selected
Dates and number of nights
Once a traveler selects their room and dates, the system calculates the total cost accordingly.
Advisors will see the message:
“Ready for authorization after room and date selections”
This means the traveler must finalize both their room and dates before payment authorization is available.
What Travelers See
On the itinerary or landing page:
Travelers won’t see a fixed date on lodging activities with flexible dates.
Instead, they’ll choose their check-in and check-out dates during the sign-up process.
Nightly prices are shown as “starting at” based on the lowest rate for the room.
During Sign-Up
When travelers sign up for a group trip:
They’re prompted to select their check-in and check-out dates.
No dates are pre-filled (to avoid accidental selections).
Once dates and room type are selected, the total cost is shown.
The nightly rate is used to calculate the total based on stay length and occupancy.
They can proceed to optional activities selection and finalize their payment.
Try the traveler sign up flow with Flexible Dates and Occupancy rates here.
Advisor Reviewing Selections
Once a traveler has made their date and room selections the lodging activity will be switched to a Fixed schedule which can be manually adjusted as an advisor for any future updates.
Fixed schedule — for manually created subtrips
If you're creating a subtrip manually and already know the specific dates (for example, when migrating an existing booking into Tern), use Fixed schedule instead. With Fixed schedule and Per Night pricing, Tern multiplies the nightly rate by the actual number of nights between the check-in and check-out dates you enter, giving you the correct total automatically.
FAQs
Q: Can I still use occupancy-based pricing with flexible dates?
Yes! Occupancy pricing and flexible scheduling work together seamlessly.
Q: What happens if a traveler selects fewer nights than the minimum?
They won’t be able to proceed until they meet the minimum night requirement. The traveler will see an error that they haven't met the minimum night requirement.
Q: Will this work for non-group trips?
Yes. Flexible dates can be used for any itinerary.