A cancellation policy template, filled in with your dates.
This deposit and cancellation policy generator writes the terms a lodge or outfitter sends with every booking: the deposit, when the balance is due, what you keep if a guest cancels and what happens if you cancel. It also works out each date and amount for one booking.
Your deposit and cancellation policy
The defaults are a starting point: a 50% deposit, the balance 60 days before arrival and three cancellation windows. Change anything; the policy, the payment dates and the refund table update as you type. The link in your address bar keeps your answers, so you can bookmark it.
Policy text
Short version for the confirmation email
Payment schedule
| Payment | Due | Per guest | Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | – | – | |
If the guest cancels
| Cancelled between | Days before arrival | Paid by then | Lodge keeps | Refund |
|---|
A starting point, not legal advice. Everything is worked out in your browser; nothing you type is sent anywhere.
The reasoning behind each line
There is no single right policy. These are the questions each term answers, so you can set yours on purpose.
The deposit
The deposit holds dates you could otherwise sell, and it covers what you commit before the guest arrives: guides, food orders, floatplane seats, permits. Set it high enough that a guest who walks away has paid for most of what you can no longer recover. A percentage grows with the package; a fixed amount per guest is easier to quote when packages vary.
Say plainly whether it is refundable. A deposit called non-refundable that you sometimes hand back invites more arguments than one you always keep, or one you always refund on the same terms.
When the balance is due
Put the balance date before the point where you could no longer resell the spot. For a lodge that sells weeks many months ahead, 60 to 90 days gives time to find another guest. A day-trip outfitter can ask much closer to the date, or on the day. Guests who book after the balance date pay in full at booking, and the generator shows that automatically.
Cancellation windows
Each window says how much you keep when notice arrives a given number of days before arrival. Keep them few and round (90, 60, 30) so a guest can work out the answer without asking. Line the last window up with the balance date: once the balance is paid, cancelling costs what has been paid. If a window keeps more than the guest has paid by then, the generator warns you, because the policy would be asking for money you do not hold.
Sending someone in their place
Allowing a guest to transfer the booking keeps the spot sold, so it costs the lodge little and avoids many disputes. For a hunt, the replacement must hold or be able to get the licence and tags.
Weather and cancellations by the lodge
Treat two cases separately. Weather during a trip is part of fishing and hunting, and a policy that refunds every lost day is hard to run. When you cancel the whole trip because the floatplane cannot fly in or a fire closes the area, the guest has done nothing wrong: offer a refund, new dates or a credit, and say which. Say too that flights and hotels the guest booked separately are not yours to refund.
Tag draws
If a hunt depends on a draw the hunter may not win, decide before the results come out: refund the deposit less a fee that covers your work, carry the deposit to next season, or treat it as a normal cancellation.
Travel insurance
Recommending trip cancellation insurance lets you keep a firm policy without leaving the guest exposed. At a remote lodge, mention medical evacuation cover as well.
One text everywhere
Use the same terms on your website, in the quote and in the confirmation. The short version from the generator is written for the confirmation email, with that booking’s dates and amounts.
Still working out the package price? Use the guided trip price calculator first, then set the deposit as a share of it.
What other lodges publish
We read the published terms of 69 fishing lodges, hunting outfitters, guest ranches and eco lodges: the median percentage deposit is 50%, two thirds give no cash refund of the deposit, and the median balance is due 60 days before arrival. See the full benchmark and download the data.
How Malvavisco records deposits and balances
Malvavisco is administration software for remote lodges, and these terms are settings in it. A deposit policy is a percentage or a fixed amount, with when the deposit and the balance fall due. A cancellation policy has windows by days before arrival and the share you keep in each. You attach them to your rates, and each booking gets a payment schedule with its own due dates.
- Payments your team records. Cash, bank transfer or a card terminal, each with a receipt and allocated to the booking’s bill. Reversals are recorded too.
- Reminder emails. Deposit and balance reminders, plus pre-arrival and post-stay messages, from English, Spanish or Portuguese templates.
- Balances by currency. Reports show what is owed and overdue in each currency on its own, with no automatic conversion, so US-dollar and Canadian-dollar balances are never added together.
What it does not do: it does not process cards or collect payments online, and guests cannot book or pay on your website through it. See how it works for fishing lodges or hunting lodges, or ask for a demo.
This is not legal advice
The generator writes a clear starting point, not a contract reviewed for where you operate. Rules on deposits, refunds and consumer contracts differ by state, province and country, and some give guests rights that a written policy cannot take away.
Have a lawyer or your outfitters’ association read the final wording, especially the non-refundable deposit and the clauses about cancelling for weather or a closure. Keep the policy on your website, the quote and the confirmation email word for word the same, and keep a dated copy of each version you publish.
Deposits and cancellations at lodges
Only if your policy says so. A lodge deposit is often non-refundable because it holds dates the lodge cannot resell, with one exception: it is returned when the lodge cancels. Some operators refund it, less a fee, when notice comes early. Whatever you choose, state it in one plain sentence.
Far enough ahead that you could still resell the spot if the guest does not pay. For a lodge that sells weeks months in advance, 60 to 90 days gives time to find someone else; a day-trip outfitter can ask much closer to the date. Guests who book after the balance date pay in full at booking.
Whatever the policy says, so it should say it. The guest has not cancelled, so the usual remedies are a full refund, new dates or a credit for everything paid. Decide separately whether days lost to weather after the trip has started are refunded, and state that flights booked separately are not covered.
If your policy allows it. A transfer keeps the spot sold, so allowing it at no charge before arrival costs the lodge little, as long as the new guest accepts the same terms and pays any balance due. For hunts, the replacement must hold or obtain the licence and tags.
Enough to cover what you lose if the guest walks away: the costs you commit before arrival and the risk of not reselling the week. The generator starts at 50% of the total; try a lower percentage or a fixed amount per guest and see what each does to the payment dates and refunds.
No. It runs in your browser and nothing is sent to Malvavisco. Your answers are kept in the page address, so bookmarking the page brings the same policy back.
