GetYourGuide Monthly vs Bi-weekly Payments: Which Costs What?

The short answer

GetYourGuide currently gives suppliers two payment-frequency choices: monthly and bi-weekly.

Monthly means one invoice and one payment run each month, with no extra payment-frequency cost. Bi-weekly means two invoices and two payment runs each month, but GetYourGuide currently adds 2 percentage points to your existing contractual commission rate.

GetYourGuide’s current payment-cycle guidance is here.

1. How monthly payments work

GetYourGuide says the monthly invoice is issued on the 1st business day of the month and the payment is processed on the 5th business day.

For bank transfer, its current guidance says arrival can take up to the 12th business day of the month. PayPal may take up to 24 hours.

Monthly is the simple option. One invoice. One payment run. One reconciliation. Fewer opportunities to ask yourself which Tuesday a booking belongs to.

There is no extra payment-frequency charge for monthly payments.

2. How bi-weekly payments work

GetYourGuide calls the option “bi-weekly”, although in practice it is two payment runs per month rather than a payment every fourteen days.

Its current schedule says invoices are issued on the 1st business day and the 16th (or next business day where needed), with payment runs around the 5th and 20th.

That gets money moving toward you sooner, which can be genuinely useful for an operator paying guides, fuel, transport, tickets and all the other cheerful little expenses that arrive with alarming punctuality.

The trade-off is the extra 2 percentage points of commission.

3. Which bookings go into each payment run?

For monthly payments, GetYourGuide says the beginning-of-month run includes bookings with travel dates in the previous month, plus eligible adjustment payments within its stated cut-off window.

For bi-weekly payments, the month is split. The beginning-of-month run generally covers travel dates from the 16th to the end of the previous month, while the mid-month run covers travel dates from the 1st to the 15th of the current month, with adjustment cut-offs applied around those periods.

This matters when a booking looks “missing”. It may simply have fallen into the other payment window. Tiny calendar problem, not financial apocalypse. Always a pleasant result.

4. The extra 2 percentage points

This is the bit worth understanding properly.

GetYourGuide says bi-weekly payment frequency carries +2 percentage points on top of your current contractual commission rate. It also says the elevated commission has applied to bi-weekly payment frequency for bookings since March 2023.

The newer commission breakdown in the Supplier Portal can show payment modifiers separately, including the additional charge associated with twice-per-month payouts. GetYourGuide explains that breakdown here.

If your commission looks unexpectedly high, first check whether you selected bi-weekly payments. Our Commission looks wrong guide then helps you trace the actual booking rows.

5. What happens if you switch?

GetYourGuide says suppliers can change payment frequency at any time, but the change to both payment frequency and commission becomes effective from the 1st of the following month.

So if you change the setting halfway through this month, do not expect tomorrow’s payment to immediately adopt a new personality.

GetYourGuide gives the example that switching on January 10 means the bi-weekly schedule and additional commission begin from February’s payment run onward.

6. Which one is better?

There is no universal winner, friend. This is a cash-flow decision.

Monthly may suit you if:

• You are comfortable waiting for one monthly payment.
• You prefer simpler reconciliation.
• You would rather avoid the extra commission.
• Your business has enough cash buffer between payout runs.

Bi-weekly may suit you if:

• Faster cash flow materially helps the business.
• You have regular supplier, guide or operating costs that need paying sooner.
• The value of receiving money earlier is greater than the extra commission cost.
• You are comfortable reconciling two payment cycles each month.

If you are not sure, do the unexciting but useful bit: estimate what the additional 2 percentage points costs you over a normal month and compare that with the cash-flow benefit. Numbers can be terribly sensible when encouraged.

A very simple example

Imagine your contractual commission rate is 25% and you have €10,000 of applicable retail bookings.

At 25%, commission would be €2,500 before any other applicable tax or adjustments. With the bi-weekly payment modifier taking the rate to 27%, commission would be €2,700.

That is €200 more commission in this simplified example in exchange for receiving money through two payment runs instead of one.

This is an illustration, not a promise about your invoice. Your actual booking mix, rates, tax and adjustments can differ. Please do not march into Supplier Support waving my imaginary €200.

Where OTA Ninja fits

OTA Ninja does not choose your payment frequency for you. That would be a surprisingly bossy feature.

What it can do is help you check the commission and payout files after the fact. If you are on bi-weekly payments and the commission looks wrong, the booking-level comparison can flag unusual rates or differences for a closer look.

The 30-second decision

1. Check your current contractual commission rate.
2. Monthly: one payment run, no extra payment-frequency cost.
3. Bi-weekly: two payment runs, +2 percentage points commission.
4. Estimate the real monthly cost of those 2 points.
5. Ask whether earlier cash is worth more to your business than that cost.

There. Cash flow versus commission. Slightly less romantic than choosing a kayak, but considerably more useful to get right.