How much commission does Booking.com charge for holiday rentals in Switzerland?

How are Booking.com fees calculated?

Booking.com charges a commission per contract. There’s no public price list for Swiss holiday rentals. In its presentation for Graubünden Ferien in March 2025, Booking.com lists 12% as the standard rate. Specialist blogs usually cite around 15% for Europe. The rate in your Extranet is what counts.

If you enable Payments by Booking.com, a 1.6% payment-processing fee also applies, according to the same presentation. Without Payments, the guest pays you, and Booking.com invoices you for the commission. Guests don’t pay their own service fee on Booking.com.

Some programmes also reduce your earnings: with Genius, you fund a 10 to 20% discount for members. Specialist blogs say Preferred Partner status adds 2 to 3 percentage points to your commission. Both are optional.

How much do you keep from a Booking.com booking in CHF?

Example in Grindelwald: 4 nights at CHF 180 plus a CHF 120 cleaning fee comes to CHF 840, or CHF 23'100 over the year. Specialist blogs assume the commission applies to the full booking amount, including cleaning. Booking.com doesn’t confirm this publicly.

Since Airbnb started charging a single fee, the two platforms are almost level. At the Graubünden rate, Booking.com is around CHF 730 cheaper per year.

What’s the acquisition tax trap?

Booking.com is based in the Netherlands and invoices its commission without Swiss VAT. This is a service from abroad. If you’re not liable for VAT, the FTA says you must pay acquisition tax on it once your purchases from abroad exceed CHF 10'000 in a calendar year. If you’re liable for VAT, you must account for it in all cases. In this example, the commission of CHF 3'465 is well below that limit. Find out more about VAT for landlords.

How does Booking.com pay you, and who collects the tourist tax?

• With Payments: Booking.com collects the money from the guest and pays you the amount minus the commission and 1.6%.
• Without Payments: The guest pays you. You take the risk of non-payment and pay the commission by invoice.
• Tourist tax: Booking.com doesn’t collect it for the municipality. You list it as a fee payable on site and settle it yourself. In July 2025, Airbnb described itself as the only platform in Switzerland that automatically collects tourist taxes.
• Cancellations: You set your own rules for each rate plan, from flexible to non-refundable.

What are the pros and cons of Booking.com?

How can you reduce your Booking.com costs?

1. Check your commission rate in the Extranet and ask your destination. Graubünden Ferien offers a connection for a one-off fee of CHF 290, with 12% commission.
2. Enable Payments. Booking.com says this brings an average of 7% more bookings and 6% fewer cancellations and no-shows.
3. Use Genius only during low-season periods when you’d otherwise struggle to fill the gaps.
4. Add up your commissions over the year and keep an eye on the CHF 10'000 acquisition tax threshold.
5. Set a lower direct price. Article 8a of the Federal Act against Unfair Competition (UCA) has prohibited price parity clauses for accommodation providers since 1 December 2022.

How do you connect Booking.com to other channels?

In the Extranet, you’ll find a calendar link (iCal) for export and import. This means a Booking.com booking blocks the other calendars. According to its Connectivity Portal, Booking.com isn’t currently onboarding new connectivity providers. For individual rentals, the calendar link is often the simplest option. See the guide to connecting Booking.com with a calendar link.