When you choose to pass credit card processing fees (and Brindlechute fees) to your client, the total fees may look slightly higher than a simple percentage. This is expected and correct.
This happens because credit card processors charge their fee on the full amount your client pays — including the fee line items themselves.
To ensure you still net exactly the trip price you set, Brindlechute uses a standard payments approach called gross-up math.
The key idea
If your client pays the fees, and the processor charges fees on everything paid, then the fees themselves also get charged a fee.
That’s why the system must charge slightly more than “3% of the trip.”
This is not extra margin or padding. It’s simply the math required to keep your payout exact.
Example A: Passing only the card processing fee (3%)
Goal
You want to:
Net exactly $450.00
Have the client cover the 3% card processing fee
How it works
Credit card processors take 3% of the total amount charged. That means you receive 97% of what the client pays.
Total to charge = Net ÷ (1 − 0.03)
$450.00 ÷ 0.97 = $463.9175, rounded down to $463.91
Result
Trip: $450.00
Card processing fee: $13.91
Total charged: $463.91
Why this isn’t $13.50:
$13.50 is 3% of $450.00, but the processor charges 3% of the full total charged ($463.91), not the net amount you want to receive.
Example B: Passing the card fee (3%) and the Brindlechute fee (1%)
Goal
You want to:
Net exactly $450.00
Pass the 1% Brindlechute fee to your client
Pass the 3% card processing fee to your client
Step 1: Add the Brindlechute fee (1%)
Trip price: $450.00
Brindlechute fee (1%): $4.50
Subtotal before card processing: $454.50
This is the amount you need to receive after card fees so you still net $450.00.
Step 2: Gross up for card processing
Total to charge = Subtotal ÷ (1 − 0.03)
$454.50 ÷ 0.97 = $468.5567, rounded down to $468.55
Result
Trip: $450.00
Brindlechute fee (1%): $4.50
Card processing fee: $14.05
Total charged: $468.55
This ensures:
The processor takes roughly 3% of $468.55 (about $14.06)
You receive about $454.49 after card fees
After the $4.50 Brindlechute fee, you net $450.00, give or take a cent
Your Brindlechute fee rate may differ from the 1% used here. The math works the same way at any rate.
Why the processing fee looks “slightly higher”
Because the card processor charges a percentage on everything your client pays, including fee line items.
So to avoid you absorbing part of the processing fee, the system must charge slightly more than a simple “3% of the trip.”
Does the difference get bigger on larger bookings?
No. The effective rate is fixed. Only the dollar amount grows, and it grows in exact proportion to the booking.
💡The percentage never moves. A $50,000 booking is charged at exactly the same effective rate as a $500 booking.
The effective rate is set entirely by which fees you pass, not by the size of the transaction:
3% card fee only — effective rate 3.093% (0.093 points above the stated 3%)
0.5% Brindlechute fee + 3% card fee — effective rate 3.608% (0.108 points above the stated 3.5%)
1% Brindlechute fee + 3% card fee — effective rate 4.124% (0.124 points above the stated 4%)
Using the 0.5% + 3% combination as an example, the gap between the stated rate and the effective rate is always 0.108% of the trip price:
$1,000 booking — about $1.08 above a flat 3.5%
$10,000 booking — about $10.82 above a flat 3.5%
$50,000 booking — about $54.12 above a flat 3.5%
Larger dollar figure, identical rate.
Individual fee amounts are also calculated separately for each scheduled payment, and each one is rounded down to the nearest cent. In practice this means the fee your client is charged is a cent or two below the exact calculation, never above it.
One exception in the other direction: if you have set a maximum fee cap, the cap can pull the effective rate below the stated rate on high-value payments. See Why does the fee preview exceed the maximum fee cap.
How to explain this to your client
If a client asks why the fee line doesn’t match the stated percentage, here are three framings depending on how much detail they want.
Keep it simple
The processing fee is calculated on the total amount charged, which includes the fee itself — so it lands slightly above the stated rate. This is standard for any business that passes card fees to the client.
Show the math
When fees are passed to the client, the processor charges its cut on the total amount paid, including the fee line items themselves. So a 3.5% rate computes to about 3.6% once that’s factored in. On a $9,500 booking, that’s roughly a $10 difference — not an error, just the math required so we receive the exact trip price quoted.
Head off the “hidden fee” question
This isn’t an additional or hidden charge. It’s the same 3.5% rate, calculated on the total transaction rather than only the trip price. Calculated the simpler way, we would be short a few dollars on every booking. Every fee amount is also rounded down to the nearest cent, so the figure on your invoice is always at or slightly below the exact calculation.
If a client pushes back
You have two options beyond absorbing the fees entirely:
Adjust the fee on that booking. You can override the processing fee percentage on an individual booking to land on a round number, rather than waiving it altogether. See How to override fees on a booking.
Route the client to ACH. ACH carries a lower processing fee than card, and some outfitters pass no fee at all on ACH payments. You can set ACH as the default payment method on the client’s invoice. See How to set the default payment method on a client’s invoice.
Final takeaway
Passing fees to your client requires gross-up math
Gross-up ensures you net exactly the trip price you set
Without it, you would quietly pay part of the processing fee yourself
The effective rate is the same on every booking, regardless of size
If you prefer simpler-looking totals, you can absorb the fees, override the fee on a single booking, or route the client to ACH