Direct booking value calculator
Direct booking or booking platform?
Use the same booking. See how much each route leaves.
See the full example and method
What this example shows
Compare the same €300 booking through two channels
Fictional example: the stay costs €90 to serve. An OTA takes €54 commission. Direct acquisition costs €25, plus €6 for payment.
What you get: The direct booking leaves €179 and the OTA booking €156 before fixed overhead and tax. Replace the five figures to compare your own booking. OTA means an online booking platform.
Start with this illustrative example or replace the five values. Use one currency and amounts excluding VAT. Compare completed, retained bookings with the same booking value and fulfilment cost.
Use completed bookings as the denominator
For acquisition cost, divide the attributable campaign, agency and production cost by completed direct bookings from the same cohort. An enquiry, an unfinished checkout or a cancelled booking is not a completed booking. If you only have booked revenue or platform ROAS, this input has not yet been established.
What the result leaves out
This is contribution before fixed overhead, tax and any omitted channel costs. Add OTA related payment or programme costs to the commission input as an effective percentage when applicable. Direct payment is modelled as a percentage only. The comparison does not establish channel incrementality, equivalent demand, cancellations, repeat revenue or the cost of shifting a booking from one channel to another.