The payment cycle
Who receives what, and when: from booking to the payout to the host.
Payment through StripeA licensed payment provider: your card details stay with Stripe.
The stay goes to the hostInternational Booking only receives its service fee: 10 €.
Traveller guarantee includedProperty unavailable or different from the listing: refund under article 12 bis of the rental terms.
Who receives what
💳 Your payment
on Stripe’s secure pageStripe, payment intermediary
🏠 The host, seller of the stay
stay · cleaning service · tourist tax · options
on the host’s payment account, with StripeWhat the 10 € service fee is for
Its purpose: connecting you with the host and processing your booking. It is International Booking’s only earnings on the booking; the stay price goes to the host.
- The site and the bookingListing, calendar and prices of the property, booking path, confirmation email.
- Secure paymentThe payment page with Stripe; the part of the Stripe fees linked to the service fee, covered by International Booking.
- The security depositThe card hold placed, renewed as needed, then released; a detailed statement for any retention.
- Identity verificationBefore the access codes are shared; documents deleted within 30 days.
- Support during the stayMessaging, guest area, review of any report; property unavailable: a reply within 3 hours and help with relocation.
- InvoicesThe service fee invoice, issued by International Booking, and the stay invoice, issued by the host.
- For the hostNo commission on the stay price: listing, payment set-up, support with bank disputes, tourist tax statement.
- International Booking’s rolePlatform publisher: without a mandate from the host, without collecting rent, without holding funds on its own account.
The service fee in practice 5
- A fixed amount: 10 € per booking, whatever the price, the number of nights and the number of guests.
- On top of the stay price: shown on its own line before payment, paid together with the stay.
- No VAT: VAT exemption for small businesses (article 293 B of the French tax code); a separate invoice reaches you.
- Refunded when the cancellation comes from the host or the property (traveller guarantee); kept when you cancel, cancellation option included: the booking has been processed.
- Booking through Airbnb or Booking.com: this fee concerns direct bookings on International Booking; each platform applies its own fees and conditions.
See: Rental terms, art. 4.3, 5, 6.1, 8.7, 12 bis · Host terms (FR), art. 8, 11, 12.4, 13
- Before paying
The summary
Every amount is shown before payment.
Details 3
- Stay, cleaning service, tourist tax, chosen options, service fee: one line each, then the total.
- Options: security deposit waiver, cancellation option up to the day before arrival.
- The booking is confirmed once the payment is received and the rental terms are accepted.
- At booking
The payment
On Stripe’s secure page: the stay goes to the host, the service fee to International Booking.
Details 3
- Stripe, a licensed payment provider, processes the card: your card details stay with Stripe, outside the systems of the host and of International Booking.
- On your bank statement: the label chosen by the host, seller of the stay.
- Two invoices reach you: one for the stay, issued by the host, and one for the service fee, issued by International Booking.
- Before arrival
Security deposit and verification
A card hold with no charge, then an identity check: the access codes follow.
Details 4
- The hold reserves the deposit amount on your account: it may show as “pending”, then clears by itself.
- It renews as needed during the stay and the 7 days after.
- Deposit waiver: an option to choose at booking.
- Verification: ID document and selfie of the person who booked. Documents stay confidential and are deleted within 30 days.
- During the stay
Arrival and stay
The traveller guarantee covers you throughout the stay.
Details 2
- An issue on arrival (property unavailable or different from the listing, access blocked, equipment out of order): please report it in writing within 24 hours, with photos.
- The traveller guarantee gives a right to a refund, in full or pro rata depending on the situation.
- After departure
Deposit released
The hold is released within 7 days of the end of the stay, property returned in the condition it was handed over.
Details 2
- Any retention covers damage, missing items, extra cleaning and the supplements of article 8.
- Each retention comes with a detailed statement.
Cancellation and refunds 4
- Without the cancellation option: the sums paid are kept, whatever the reason for a cancellation on your side. Situations linked to the property fall under the traveller guarantee.
- With the cancellation option: up to the day before arrival, the stay amount is refunded to you; the option price remains with the host, like an insurance premium.
- Cancellation by the host or property unavailable: full refund of the sums paid.
- Timing: the refund goes back to the original payment method and shows within 5 to 10 business days, depending on your bank. For an expired or closed card, your bank usually credits the new card; otherwise the amount reaches you another way, usually a bank transfer.
A question about a payment 2
- Please write to us first: [email protected], or reply to your confirmation email. A refund that is due goes back to your card as soon as possible.
- Dispute with your bank (chargeback): a banking procedure of 2 to 3 months in general. During the procedure, Stripe holds every refund of that payment.
Blind spots with your bank: statement and card 6
- Two lines on your statement: the stay payment, charged, and the deposit hold, “pending”, with no charge. The hold uses your card limit: please keep that amount available; the access codes follow its validation.
- When the hold renews, the new one is placed before the old one is released: your bank may show both as “pending” while it clears the old one.
- Card declined at renewal: another card is requested before the current hold expires; sums due remain payable and are then settled by any means of payment.
- Release and your bank: the hold is released within 7 days after the stay; your bank then clears the “pending” line on its own timing, sometimes a few business days.
- Currency: amounts are in euros; a card held in another currency goes through your bank’s conversion, at its rate and with its possible fees.
- Confirmation by your bank (3-D Secure): a validation in its app or by text message may be requested; the payment completes with that validation.
Blind spots during the stay: charges, dates, platforms 9
- Charges afterwards: an extra person without an accepted prior request, short visits included (10 € per person per night); a late departure without prior agreement (one night); a tobacco smell or a nuisance noted (half a night); keys forgotten, lost or kept (call-out, keys and lock); extra cleaning. Each comes with a supporting statement and is settled from the deposit or with the booking’s payment method.
- Damage beyond the deposit: the difference remains due; holiday insurance with tenant’s liability cover protects you.
- Deposit waiver: it avoids the hold; extra charges and damage remain due and are settled with the booking’s payment method.
- Earlier arrival, later departure: each takes up a night, at the price of a full night and subject to availability; a goodwill gesture remains possible when the amount at stake is marginal.
- Absence on arrival day (no-show): the sums paid are kept, as with a cancellation on your side.
- Early departure: the remaining nights remain due, unless the host agrees or the traveller guarantee applies.
- Change of dates: on request, subject to the calendar and the host’s agreement; a difference in your favour gives a credit on the stay, a difference against you is paid before confirmation; without agreement, the original booking stands.
- Invoices: the stay and service fee invoices reach your guest area after the deposit is released.
- Booking through Airbnb or Booking.com: cancellation, refund, deposit and guarantee follow those platforms’ conditions, the rental terms applying alongside; this page describes direct booking.
See: Rental terms, art. 3.2, 6, 6 bis, 6 ter, 7 bis, 8, 11, 12, 12 bis.6
Useful terms 4
- Card hold: an amount reserved on your account, with no charge, released within 7 days after the stay, property returned in the condition it was handed over.
- Service fee: 10 € per booking, International Booking’s earnings (what is it for?).
- Cancellation option: the flexibility to cancel up to the day before arrival; its price appears on the booking page.
- Dispute (chargeback): a request to one’s bank to cancel a card payment.
The steps below describe the International Booking payment account. Stripe account already linked: your payments arrive there, on your own payout schedule, until this account opens; bookings paid afterwards are settled on it.
- At sign-up
Your payment account
Opened in your name with Stripe, from your host area.
Details 2
- Stripe asks for your identity details and bank details: you are the seller of the stay, Stripe the payment intermediary.
- Payments, refunds, disputes and payouts can be followed from your Stripe dashboard, opened in one tap from your area.
- At booking
The guest’s payment
The stay arrives in your account; the guest also pays a 10 € service fee to International Booking.
Details 3
- Stripe fees on the payment are yours, except the part linked to the service fee: International Booking covers it and returns it to you on each payment.
- Early booking (Stripe holds funds for 90 days at most): when a period’s payout falls more than 85 days after booking, the nearer periods are paid at booking; each later period is charged 30 days before its first night, then arrives in your account. Card declined: payment link sent to the guest, then your decision after 7 days.
- You issue the invoice for the stay; International Booking issues the guest an invoice for its service fee.
- Until arrival
Funds wait for the arrival
They remain in your account, with Stripe, until 48 hours after the guest’s arrival.
Details 3
- The time counts from the property’s check-in time.
- Long stay (more than 28 nights): paid out in periods of 30 nights, each 48 hours after its first night.
- A guest report opened before that time (property unavailable or different from the listing, access blocked, equipment out of order, request for compensation or relocation, satisfaction of 1 or 2 out of 5) puts the payout on hold: International Booking informs you, reviews the situation with you and releases the payout at the end of the review, minus any refund due to the guest.
- 48 hours after arrival
The payout
Funds reach your bank account; the bank transfer time comes on top.
Details 3
- Free balance (returned share of fees, collected deposit, adjustments): paid out every week.
- Payout rejected by your bank: please update your bank details from your Stripe dashboard; the payout restarts at the next run.
- “📅 What I receive”, in your area: every upcoming and completed payout.
- On the local authority’s deadlines
Tourist tax
Included in the price, it reaches you with the stay: you declare it and pay it over.
Details 2
- International Booking calculates it from the rates voted by each local authority.
- The statement per local authority (stays, nights, guests, amounts) waits in your area, ready to declare, with an email reminder.
Cancellations and refunds 4
- Cancellation on your side or property unavailable: the guest gets a full refund, the stay from your account and the service fee returned by International Booking. Stripe fees on the original payment remain yours.
- Guest cancellation: the guest’s booking conditions apply; any refund leaves from your account, and the service fee follows the same conditions.
- Traveller guarantee: a refund that is due leaves from your account, after the report is reviewed with you.
- Negative balance (refund or dispute beyond the balance): settled between you and Stripe, in particular against later payments.
Bank disputes 3
- Opening: Stripe holds the disputed amount in your account during the procedure and charges a 20 € dispute fee, kept by Stripe whatever the outcome.
- Response: International Booking informs you and prepares the file with you (accepted terms, messages, proof of arrival and stay). Submitting it adds a 20 € counter fee, returned if the dispute is won.
- Outcome: the guest’s bank decides, in 60 to 75 days in general. Won, the amount comes back to you; lost, the guest keeps it.
Blind spots on the host side 7
- Stripe fees depend on the card: the Stripe pricing varies with the card’s type and origin (standard or premium, European or from outside Europe); you can check it from your Stripe dashboard.
- Calendar up to date: every open date can be booked and paid at once; a double booking counts as the property being unavailable and follows the rule for a cancellation on your side.
- Your income: you declare it according to your tax situation.
- Card data: it stays with Stripe; International Booking only sees the amounts, dates and statuses needed for follow-up.
- Removing a property: free of charge, at any time; confirmed bookings are honoured and their payouts keep their schedule.
- Fair dealing: a relationship started on the platform stays on it, without bypassing the service fee, during the service and 12 months after.
- Airbnb or Booking.com bookings: their payments and payouts follow those platforms; this cycle describes direct booking.
See: Host terms (FR), art. 7, 11.2, 12.1, 17, 18, 19 · Stripe pricing
From payment to payout, the stay’s funds remain in your payment account, with Stripe: International Booking only receives its service fee.