Child, infant and senior fares: cost each service before discounting

A child can be free in an existing hotel bed and still require a paid transport seat, meals and activity tickets. A senior can receive a concession on one attraction while costing the same as an adult everywhere else.

An age-based selling fare is a commercial choice. It is not evidence that every supplier charges proportionally less.

Collect rules service by service

For each hotel, transport provider and activity, record age cutoff, age measurement date, bedding policy, meal inclusion, seat requirement and any eligibility conditions. Use the supplier's written policy for the actual travel dates.

Ask about exact boundaries. “Under twelve” differs from “twelve and under.” If a child has a birthday during the trip, confirm how each supplier applies its rule. Do not assume one supplier's definition can be copied across the itinerary.

Build the child's cost from the components

Here is an invented example for a child sharing existing bedding. It is not a recommended rate card or a statement about any supplier's policy.

Service	Illustrative child cost
Incremental hotel charge	₹0
Meals	₹1,200
Activity tickets	₹800
Allocated transport seat	₹3,000
Total on this cost basis	₹5,000

A 20% target margin on those included costs produces a ₹6,250 fare. Selling at half an adult's ₹10,000 fare produces ₹5,000 and leaves no surplus over these costs. The familiar “half price” rule has no economic basis in this example.

Separate bedding from age

Child with bed and child without bed may need different accommodation costs even at the same age. A room that accepts two adults and one young child may not accept a different family combination. Check occupancy limits and extra-bed availability rather than treating beds as unlimited add-ons.

Infants also need explicit handling. A supplier may charge no fare while another requires a fee or service arrangement. Transport capacity and safety requirements must be verified independently of whether you charge the family.

Model the actual traveller mix

A twenty-person departure containing fourteen adults, four discounted children and two infants is not equivalent to twenty adults paying the headline fare. Sum the actual selling lines and actual service requirements.

If fixed costs were allocated over paying adults in your original plan, keep that basis clear when comparing scenarios. Do not count an infant as a full-fare customer merely to make the coach cost per person look lower.

Configure, then verify a sample booking

Tourify supports age-banded selling lines with child, infant and senior rates. Configure the intended thresholds, then check a representative family booking, including boundary ages and optional supplements.

Supplier cost rules and bedding assumptions still require explicit review. A selling-rate field does not automatically import hotel policies or prove that the margin matrix represents every possible family mix.

Keep a short sales note explaining what each fare includes and which bedding arrangement it assumes. Before publishing, reconcile it with the room occupancy plan so the customer-facing promise and the hotel request describe the same stay.