Rental Day Calculation
How rental days are counted and the day-end-time setting
The rental day calculation determines how many days a customer is charged for. This directly affects the booking total since pricing is based on daily rates.
Default Behavior
By default (no day-end-time configured), rental days are calculated using calendar days:
Rental Days = dropoff date - pickup dateExample: Pickup on May 10, dropoff on May 13 = 3 rental days
Day-End-Time Mode
You can optionally configure a Day End Time in Settings > Pricing & Tax. This changes how rental days are counted.
How It Works
When a day-end-time is set (e.g., 10:00):
- Day 1 starts at pickup time and ends at the day-end-time on the pickup date
- If pickup time is after the day-end-time, Day 1 extends to the day-end-time the next day
- Each additional day is a full 24-hour block from the day-end-time
- The dropoff can happen at any time on the final day
Examples
With day-end-time set to 10:00:
| Pickup | Dropoff | Rental Days | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 10 at 08:00 | May 10 at 18:00 | 1 | Same day, before and after day-end-time |
| May 10 at 08:00 | May 11 at 09:00 | 1 | Dropoff before next day-end-time |
| May 10 at 08:00 | May 11 at 14:00 | 2 | Dropoff after next day-end-time |
| May 10 at 12:00 | May 11 at 12:00 | 1 | Pickup after day-end-time; Day 1 ends May 11 at 10:00 |
| May 10 at 12:00 | May 12 at 09:00 | 2 | Two full day blocks needed |
When to Use
Day-end-time is useful when:
- Your business defines a "rental day" based on a checkout time (like hotels)
- You want same-day returns to count as 1 day
- You need more control over how partial days are billed
The day-end-time setting affects server-side pricing calculations only. The customer-facing display (e.g., "3 days") on the search results page still uses calendar days for simplicity.