Luxury Travel Toolsby Global Lux Agency

Free tool

Payment & Cancellation Timeline Builder

Turn a supplier’s deposit, balance and cancellation terms into dated deadlines. See when to ask your client for each payment, what cancelling would cost on any day, and download the dates to your calendar.

The booking
When the deposit is paid.
Shown in calendar titles, e.g. “Maldives, June”. It goes into the share link, so avoid client names if you’ll share it.
Supplier payment terms
Example: 25%. Use the supplier’s figure.
Example: 84 days (12 weeks). Terms vary by supplier — check the contract.

Extra instalments (optional)

Cancellation charges

Enter each tier as the supplier states it: cancelling this many days or more before departure forfeits this percentage of the total. The defaults are an example only.

Client deadlines
Leaves time for funds to clear. Example: 7 days.

Payment & cancellation timeline

Setting example dates…

How the timeline works

  1. Deposit is due on the booking date, as a percentage of the total or a fixed amount.
  2. Instalments (optional) fall the chosen number of days before departure, as a percentage of the total. Any that had already fallen due when the booking was made move to the booking date.
  3. Balance is whatever remains, due the chosen number of days before departure. If that date has already passed at booking, the full amount is due at booking.
  4. Client dates are each supplier deadline minus your buffer, never earlier than the booking date.
  5. Cancellation bands turn each tier (“this many days or more before departure → this percentage of the total”) into a date range, with the charge in your currency.

All dates count calendar days back from departure. Deadlines that have already passed are flagged against today’s date on your device.

Adding the dates to your calendar

The .ics file contains one all-day event per deadline and works with Google Calendar, Apple Calendar and Outlook. Importing an updated file may add a second set of events, so delete the old ones first if the terms change.

About the defaults

This tool uses no published figures. The deposit, balance date, buffer and cancellation scale it starts with are examples to show how it works, not industry standards: always enter the terms from your supplier’s contract.

Questions & answers

How do I work out a balance due date from “X days before departure”?
Count back that many calendar days from the departure date. A balance due 84 days before a 9 July departure falls on 16 April. Some suppliers count from the day before departure, use working days or give a deadline time, so check the wording in the contract and adjust the number of days if needed.
Why set client due dates earlier than the supplier deadline?
A buffer gives time for the client’s payment to clear and for you to pay the supplier before their deadline. The tool moves each client date back by the buffer you choose (7 days in the example), but never before the booking date.
What happens if the booking is made inside the balance period?
If the balance due date has already passed when the booking is made, the full amount is due at booking. The tool shows a single payment and flags it. Instalments that would already have fallen due are also moved to the booking date.
How do I enter cancellation tiers?
Enter each tier as the supplier states it: cancelling this many days or more before departure forfeits this percentage of the total. For example, “56 days: 50%” means cancelling 56 or more days out costs 50%, until the next tier starts. Include a tier from 0 days so the final days before departure are covered. The tool sorts the tiers and warns if a charge goes down as departure gets closer.
Is the calendar file private?
Yes. The timeline and the .ics file are created in your browser. Nothing is sent to our servers or stored. The share link holds your inputs, so leave the trip reference blank if you don’t want a client’s name in it.
Are the default terms typical?
They are an example only (a 25% deposit, balance 84 days before departure and a four-step cancellation scale) to show how the tool works. Deposit and cancellation terms vary widely between hotels, villas, yachts, cruise lines and tour operators, so replace them with the terms in your supplier’s contract.

Add this tool to your website

Free for agencies, brokers and suppliers. Paste this snippet into your page — it resizes automatically and always uses our latest data. Please keep the credit link. In Notion, Ghost and other editors that support oEmbed, pasting the page link is enough.

Cite or link to this tool

Writing about this topic? You are welcome to link to or cite this tool.

For brands & suppliers

Reach the people planning luxury travel

Our tools are used by advisors, hotels, DMCs and travellers at the moment they are planning and pricing. Sponsorships, featured listings and custom tools are available.

Work with us