I’ve been designing websites for people since 2005. But, I was a fishing guide for a long time after that and I was one of the first charter captains in Tampa Bay to use an online booking system well over a decade ago.
I have tried just about every booking system on the planet. All had their strengths, all had their weaknesses, some didn’t have monthy fees, some had monthly fees… etc.
As of writing this… Fare Harbor is the best system I have used thus far for my clients.
Is it perfect? No. Is it really good and worth checking out? Absolutely.
Check out the pros and cons below.
Pros
FareHarbor makes it really easy for you to take online bookings and they do not charge any monthly fees. So, if you don’t book a fishing charter or other service, it cost you nothing. They don’t even charge a setup fee and they do a LOT of work for you for setting up your system — all you have to do is provide them with the info they need and the images they need.
They also have a pretty comprehensive remarketing email system so that you can follow up with you clients, get reviews, and even market to them later.
Here’s a bullet list of my favorite things about FareHarbor.
- Easy Setup
- Free setup
- Works with WordPress
- No Monthly Fees
- Re-marketing tools
- Great user experience for customers
- Mobile friendly
- Syncs your calendar with Google Calendar or iCal
- Collect deposits or full payments up front
Cons
FareHarbor isn’t perfect. There are a few things I don’t like. Their reps do not really want you to have ANY other way to book on your website. Soon after integrating their system, they will call you and suggest you remove your phone number and contact forms. This is annoying. Just tell them to go pound sand and you will never hear from them again.
There is no way to sign up online for their system. You have to schedule a call with them to get started. Sometimes you have to wait several days to get a meeting with them. So, if you wanted to get started today… that’s probably not going to happen.
Here’s a bullet list of my least favorite things about FareHarbor.
- The sign up process isn't instantly available
- Too pushy to remove your contact info from your website
- They want to install the system instead of letting your or your web designer do it
Conclusion
If you are looking for a great booking system that works great on all devices, makes your calendar easy to manage, re-market to your clients, with no contract or monthly fees. fareHarbor will be great for you.
The 7% booking fee sounds kinda harsh. But… considering it includes your credit card processing fee, it’s not that bad. And, you have the choice to either pass the fee on to your client, split it with your client, or you can eat the whole fee yourself. It’s up to you.
If you run a fihsing charter business, outdoor adventure business, or several number of other types of businesses that need to take online bookings. You should take a look at FareHarbor.
FYI… they do NOT have a referral program so I get NOTHING for sending you their way. This is my honest review.
