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Reserve Now & Pay Later has now been enabled on a majority of affiliate links! The much-loved feature for travelers will now help increase your conversion rate and average booking value while providing an overall better experience for your audience. 

What is Reserve Now & Pay Later?

Reserve Now & Pay Later is a feature that allows travelers to make a confirmed reservation for most of our 300,000+ tours and activities with no upfront payment. Experiences that offer Reserve Now & Pay Later have been shown to increase your conversion rates and make travelers more likely to book high-ticket items, which means higher commission for you.

Travelers can reserve a Viator experience up to 4 months before their chosen date and cancel up to 2 days before that date, with no advance commitments. The Reserve Now & Pay Later feature is now enabled on all affiliate tools (links, banners, widgets, and self-service API) and has been automatically added to over 90% of the experiences you can find on Viator Selector.

How to tell your audience about Reserve Now & Pay Later

This is a great opportunity to share experiences with your audience and show them how convenient it can be to book with Reserve Now & Pay Later. Here are some tips to help you effectively communicate the Reserve Now & Pay Later option to your audience:

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Explain the benefits of Reserve Now & Pay Later

Show your audience the benefits of Reserve Now & Pay Later how much easier planning a trip can be when they have full flexibility. Reserve Now & Pay Later allows travelers to secure their spot for experiences without having to pay upfront. This can help them plan their trip more effectively and save money.

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Encourage your audience 

Use a clear and compelling call to action in your communication to help travelers take advantage of Reserve Now & Pay Later. This can be as simple as saying, “Reserve your spot now and pay later” or “Click here to reserve your spot and pay later”.

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Use social media 

Social media and other online platforms are great ways to promote experiences to your audience. By consistently posting about high-demand experiences with flexible booking options like Reserve Now & Pay Later, you can encourage your audience to book their experiences through your links and help grow your social media presence. 

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Highlight the limited availability of certain experiences

If you are promoting an experience that tends to sell out quickly, you can use the Reserve Now & Pay Later option to encourage your audience to hold their spot and take advantage of the opportunity. By emphasizing the limited availability of the experience, you can create a sense of urgency that encourages your audience to act quickly.

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Provide specific examples 

Share examples on how Reserve Now & Pay Later can help travelers book their dream experiences. Here are a few to get you started:

  • Managing cash flow: For travelers on a tight budget, Reserve Now & Pay Later can be a useful way to manage their cash flow. It allows them to book their experiences now, lock in the price to avoid any potential price increases, and pay for them later. This can help them avoid having to pay for everything upfront and potentially strain their finances.
  • Group bookings: When booking an experience for a group of people, using Reserve Now & Pay Later can help manage the group’s finances. It allows one member of the group to book the experience for everyone and then collect payment from the other group members at a later date.
  • Flexibility: Some travelers may not have a fixed travel itinerary and may want to book experiences more flexibly. With Reserve Now & Pay Later, they can book experiences without having to fully commit to a specific date or time, giving them more flexibility in their planning.
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Engage with your audience 

Answer any questions your audience may have about booking with Reserve Now & Pay Later. This can help build credibility with your audience and encourage them to view you as a trustworthy source for high-quality, flexible travel recommendations.

Why travelers love Reserve Now & Pay Later

  • Payment flexibility: Travelers are no longer hesitant to book experiences early in the planning process, as no payment is needed at the time of booking. This allows them to feel empowered to add more experiences to their itinerary.
  • Commitment-free reservations: Travelers won’t miss out on likely-to-sell-out activities and can reserve multiple Viator products at once without payment, allowing for easy cancellation as plans are made closer to the travel date.

Reserve Now & Pay Later allows travelers to make a confirmed reservation for most of our 300,000+ tours and activities.

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How Reserve Now & Pay Later compares to Free Cancellation

The only difference between booking an experience with Reserve Now & Pay Later and one with Free Cancellation is the date on which the traveler’s card is charged for the booking. With Reserve Now & Pay Later, the card is not charged until two days before the activity begins, whereas with any other booking, the card is charged immediately upon booking.

How to know if your audience uses Reserve Now & Pay Later

We have added a new ‘Reserved’ status to the Payment status column in the Booking section of your Reports tab. Here, you can see whether the booking has already been paid in full or has been reserved, with payment pending. For bookings made with Reserve Now & Pay Later, commission is still paid out in the same time frame: you will receive commission for a booking once the tour or activity has been completed.

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