Crew Split lets a customer book for a group and pay only their own share. After checkout they get a link to send to the people they're splitting with. Each friend opens it and pays their share by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, with no account and no app.
Anything the group hasn't paid by the deadline is charged to the organizer's card automatically. The organizer is told exactly when, and the most it could be, before they pay.
You never wait on the group. The booking is confirmed the moment the organizer pays their share, exactly like a deposit booking, and the rest is collected before the rental.
Turn it on
- Go to Settings > Location settings > Checkout.
- Turn on Crew Split (split the bill).
- Optionally change:
- Most people a booking can be split between (default 8, counting the organizer, up to 20).
- Charge the organizer for unpaid shares (hours before the rental) (default 48).
That's it. Eligible bookings now show Crew Split as a payment option at checkout.
Checking it yourself? If you're signed in to RentalTide in the same browser, your booking page treats you as staff and hides Crew Split, because staff bookings can't be split. Open your booking page in a private (incognito) window and pick a date at least 3 days out (with the default 48-hour setting, the group needs at least 24 hours to pay before the organizer is charged). Closer dates show Crew Split greyed out.
What your customer sees
At checkout, the organizer picks Crew Split: split it with friends and sets how many people are splitting, themselves included. They see:
- what they pay today (their share),
- what each friend pays,
- and a clear warning: anything their crew hasn't paid by the deadline (date and time shown) is charged to the card they're using, up to the rest of the booking total. If everyone pays, nothing more is charged.
After checkout, their confirmation page shows a Crew Split card with a Send the link to your crew button (it opens the phone's share sheet, so they can drop it into a group chat) and a running tally of who has paid. They also get the link by email.
Each friend who opens the link sees your business, the trip, who invited them and their share. They can pay for more than one person (for example, a couple paying together), add their name so the organizer knows who paid, and add an email for a receipt.
When the organizer is charged
The deadline is the first of these that applies:
- The listing's own Auto-charge remaining balance (days before rental), if you set one under the listing's deposit settings.
- Otherwise, the location's Charge the organizer for unpaid shares setting (48 hours before the rental by default).
The organizer gets a reminder (email and text) about a day before the charge, with what's still owed and the link to nudge their crew. At the deadline, the organizer's card is charged only what is still owed. If the group paid everything, nothing is charged.
If that charge fails, your Deposit payment plans settings apply: it retries, then either flags the booking for review or cancels it. For Crew Split we recommend Flag for staff review, so you can follow up with the organizer instead of refunding the whole group.
When it isn't offered
Crew Split is not shown, or is shown greyed out, when:
| Situation | Why |
|---|---|
| The trip starts too soon for the group to have 24 hours to pay before the deadline | There's no time to collect from friends |
| The booking needs your approval | Only a hold is taken until you approve |
| The customer is checking out a cart | A split covers one booking |
| A staff member is booking it, including you when you're signed in to RentalTide in the same browser | There's no organizer at the keyboard to share a link |
| A share would be under $0.50 | Card networks don't allow smaller charges |
What you see
On the booking, the payment section shows a Crew Split panel with the number of people and when the organizer will be charged for anything unpaid. The booking reads like a deposit booking: the organizer's share paid, the rest outstanding.
Each friend's payment is recorded on the booking as its own payment, with the usual fees, and lands in your Stripe payouts like any other card payment. The outstanding balance goes down with every payment.
Collected some of the balance in person? Just record it as usual. The next friend's share and the organizer's final charge both shrink to match, because Crew Split always works from what the booking actually still owes.
Changes and cancellations
- Rescheduled booking: the deadline moves with the rental, keeping the same lead time, and the reminder is sent again.
- Cancelled booking: the organizer is not charged, the link stops accepting payments, and refunds go back to whoever paid, through your usual refund tools.
- Price changes: friends always pay their share or what's left, whichever is less; the organizer's final charge covers the rest.
Fees
Crew Split costs nothing extra. Each payment (the organizer's share, each friend's share and any final charge) carries your normal processing fees. Your platform fee is the same as for any booking and is never charged twice.
Common questions
Can a friend pay for someone else? Yes. On the link they can choose how many shares they're paying for.
What if two friends try to pay the last share at the same time? The first one to start paying gets it. The other is told the last share is being paid and to check back in a few minutes.
Does the organizer need to send the link to everyone? Yes. RentalTide doesn't message the friends directly. The organizer shares one link with the group, however they normally talk to them.
Can I turn it off later? Yes. Existing split bookings carry on as agreed; new bookings just won't see the option.