Hotels by Tern lets you search, book, and pay for hotels inside your Tern itinerary, so a hotel takes seconds to sell instead of 30 minutes.
Why We Built It
Tern was founded to eliminate the invisible work that keeps advisors from selling more and serving their clients. Hotels are one of the biggest pieces of that work. Almost every trip needs one, and booking it the old way means sourcing a rate on another site, building the proposal, collecting authorization, going back to book, and re-entering the confirmation. If the room or rate changed in between, you start over with your client.
We looked hard for a partner to power hotel booking. The suppliers we evaluated varied widely in how reliably they paid commission and how they supported bookings when something went wrong. Their APIs also limited the booking experience we could build. To do hotels the Tern way, with support at any hour and commission paid on time, we decided to become the hotel supplier ourselves.
How It Works
Tern is the supplier and merchant of record. When you book a hotel through Hotels by Tern, Tern is the supplier on the booking. Your client's card is charged by Tern, and their card statement shows Tern along with the hotel name.
Where the rooms come from. Tern partners with reputable wholesalers for its hotel inventory. Tern will continue to add more sources of inventory over time.
How Tern is paid. Tern buys rooms at wholesale net rates and adds a markup, the same way every bed bank does. The markup pays for 24/7 support (from October 26, 2026), card processing, and the booking experience. Your commission is added on top, and your client pays once.
Your commission. At launch, commission is 10% on every booking. We believe you should control your own economics. Soon you'll be able to set your own commission on each booking, within guidelines your agency sets.
Before You Start
Your agency's credential holder must finish Hotels by Tern onboarding, which adds Tern as a supplier. See "Hotels by Tern: Agency Onboarding."
Once the credential holder approves Tern, anyone with access to that credential in Tern can book hotels.
If you don't have a booking credential in Tern, you can't book hotels through Tern.
Your traveler's booking contact details must be complete.
Card authorization must be turned on.
You or your agency must have terms and conditions published in Tern.
The first bookable check-in date is November 16, 2026. You can't book stays that check in before November 16 through Tern.
Steps
Open the trip and go to the Itinerary.
Open the Hotel Booking library. If your credential is approved, search results show live rates and availability.
Set your dates and guests. Add children with their ages so you get accurate rates.
Search for a hotel. Search by location or landmark to see how far each hotel is from it, or zoom the map to a neighborhood. You can filter by nightly rate, rating, brand, amenities, or properties you've saved as templates in your library.
Click View room rates on a property. Compare room options, photos, benefits, and cancellation terms for each rate. Each rate shows your agency's commission. Note: Check the cancellation terms before you share the trip. Many rates are non-refundable, and the hotel is booked as soon as your client authorizes payment.
Select a room. This adds the hotel to your trip, with Tern filled in as the supplier. If the booking contact details are complete and card authorization is on, the hotel shows as Ready to book.
Review the booking details. Open the hotel to check the check-in and check-out dates, total cost (this includes fees due at the property, which your client pays to the hotel, not to Tern), estimated taxes and fees (including any mandatory surcharges), and your agency's commission.
Publish the itinerary and share it with your client. Rates aren't held. Tern refreshes the rate each time you open the Booking and Pricing tab, and again when your client opens the payment page, so the price can change before your client pays.
Your client authorizes payment. Your client verifies their email with a code, reviews the hotel, and authorizes payment. When the authorization page loads, Tern refreshes the rate and availability, so your client always sees the current price. Note: Tern confirms the room before charging. Once your client authorizes, the hotel is charged and booked. If the room is no longer available, your client isn't charged.
You'll Know It Worked When
The hotel shows as Booked on the trip Overview. When you open the booking, you'll see the Tern Booking Confirmation (also called the booking ID) and the hotel confirmation number, room details, cost breakdown and payment info, and a hotel voucher on the Documents tab.
The booking is also shared with your agency for commission reconciliation. If a booking hits an error, you'll see it in Tern, and Tern's support team is notified right away, 24/7 from October 26, 2026.
Changing or Canceling a Booking
To change a booking inside the free-cancel window, cancel it and book a new one. You can cancel a booking yourself. After the free-cancel deadline, tell us in chat.
Getting Paid
Tern pays commission to the agency of record the Friday after checkout, straight into the bank account set up during onboarding once it's verified, with no processing fees (Canadian dollar accounts pay an FX fee). If your agency uses Tern's back office, every hotel booking appears on your statement already matched.
Support
From October 26, 2026, Tern has a 24/7 support team for hotel bookings. If a client has an issue with a Hotels by Tern booking, tell us in chat. See "Problems at the Hotel and Getting Help" for what's urgent.
Common Issues
I don't see live rates and availability: if your agency has finished onboarding, you may not be turned on yet. Tern is turning on attending advisors during the user conference and everyone else shortly after. If your agency hasn't finished onboarding, contact your agency admin or owner.
The hotel doesn't show as Ready to book: check that the booking contact details are complete, card authorization is on, and the accreditation in Booking & Pricing is verified.
I can't book a hotel for my client's dates: if check-in is before November 16, 2026, book through your usual channel instead and create a manual lodging activity in Tern. Before your client pays, you can also convert a Hotels by Tern stay to a custom activity using the three-dot menu on the booking overview.
The rate changed on the authorization page: Tern refreshes rates and availability on load, so the price shown is current.
The room name doesn't match the hotel's website: names come from Tern's hotel suppliers and can differ. To confirm a room with the hotel, tell us in chat.
I need to change a hotel booking: inside the free-cancel window, cancel and rebook. After the deadline, tell us in chat.
Why is the room name different on the hotel’s website?
Room names in Hotels by Tern come from our hotel suppliers, not directly from the hotel. Suppliers often use standard names, so the same room can be named differently in Tern than on the hotel’s own site. For example, “Deluxe Room, 1 King Bed” in Tern could be “Grand Deluxe King” on the hotel’s website.
To check whether two rooms match, compare the details, not the names:
Bed type and number of beds
Room size
View (city, ocean, garden)
Maximum occupancy
Key features, such as a balcony or separate living area
If the details match, it’s likely the same room. If you’re not sure, tell us in chat before you book and we’ll help confirm the room.