Additional drivers are a routine part of rental life. A customer arrives with a partner, a colleague, or a family member who may take the wheel, and your team needs a clear answer about whether that is allowed and what it costs. The Extra Drivers page gives you that answer category by category, so your policy stays transparent for customers and simple for staff.
What the Extra Drivers feature does
Extra Drivers lets you charge for additional drivers and manage the pricing rules for them. Instead of relying on a note in a rate sheet or a verbal agreement at the counter, you configure the policy once in the admin area and the software applies it to bookings for the relevant vehicle categories. You decide three things for each category: whether extra drivers are allowed at all, how many drivers are permitted, and how the fee works for drivers beyond the free allowance.
Because the rules sit alongside your other price settings, they stay close to the rest of your commercial configuration.
Where to find the settings
In the admin area, open the Prices section in the left menu and choose Extra Drivers. The page displays a table with one row per vehicle category. If your fleet is organised into categories such as economy, compact, SUV, or van, each one appears as its own row, so you can tailor the policy to the type of vehicle and the customers who typically rent it.
Understanding the columns
Each row contains the same set of controls, and together they describe the complete policy for that category.
| Column | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Allowed | A switch that enables extra drivers for the category. When it is off, the other settings in that row are disabled. |
| Max allowed | The maximum number of drivers permitted for the category. |
| Free | How many drivers are included at no charge. |
| Per driver | The fee charged for each driver beyond the free amount. |
| Fee type | Whether the fee is charged as a One-time amount or Per day. |
Read together, these settings answer the questions staff and customers ask most often. Is a second driver permitted? How many drivers can a booking include? Does the first additional driver cost anything? What does each further driver cost, and is that a single charge or a daily one?
How the fee is applied
The pricing model is straightforward. Drivers up to the Free amount are included at no charge, and each additional driver beyond that amount is charged the Per driver fee. The Fee type determines whether that amount is charged once for the rental or for each day of it.
This gives you flexibility without complexity. A short weekend rental and a two-week holiday can share the same rule, with the fee type deciding how the charge scales. The tip in the source documentation is a practical starting point: set a Free value of 1 to include the first additional driver at no charge, then charge for any further drivers. That feels generous at the counter while still recovering the cost of covering more than one driver.
One rule for the whole fleet
If you prefer a single, simple extra-driver policy across your business, turn on Set same price in the Vehicle Category heading. This applies one set of settings and one fee to every category at once, replacing the individual category rows with a single row that applies to all categories.
It is a good fit for operators who want a consistent, easy-to-explain policy and who do not need to differentiate between vehicle types. Operators with a more varied fleet may prefer to keep categories separate, so that a large people carrier can carry a different rule from a small city car.
Setting it up step by step
- Open Prices and choose Extra Drivers.
- Turn on Allowed for each category where you want to permit extra drivers, or use Set same price to configure all categories together.
- Set the Max allowed, Free, Per driver fee, and Fee type.
- Click Save.
Work through the rows in a logical order: decide the maximum first, then the free allowance, then the fee and its type. That sequence also makes the policy easier to explain to staff and to include in your rental terms.
What happens after you save
The rules apply to future bookings for the relevant categories. Drivers up to the free amount are included at no charge, and each additional driver is charged the per-driver fee according to the fee type you selected. A confirmation message appears when the settings are saved successfully, so you can be confident the change has been recorded.
Tell your team when a policy changes, especially if it affects a popular category. Clear internal communication prevents surprises at pick-up and keeps the experience consistent.
Special cases and permissions
- When Allowed is off for a category, its other settings are disabled. This makes the switch a clear master control for the category.
- If no fleet categories exist, the page shows a message asking you to add them first.
- The Save button and editing are only available to users who have permission to update these settings. Other users see the page without editing capability.
- The confirmation message on save is your signal that the new rules are in place; if you do not see it, check your permissions before assuming the change was applied.
Permission control matters in a multi-user back office. Pricing decisions usually sit with owners or managers, while front-line staff need to see the policy but should not change it. Restricting edit access protects your margins and keeps the published policy aligned with what was agreed internally.
Business benefits
Clear cost recovery
Additional drivers add administrative work and operational exposure. A defined fee lets you recover part of that cost without improvising at the counter.
Consistent answers
A single configured rule means every agent quotes the same allowance and fee, which reduces disputes and builds trust.
Category-level control
Different vehicle types can carry different policies, matching the risk and value of each part of your fleet.
Less admin effort
Set same price keeps a simple policy easy to maintain as your fleet and categories grow.
Practical use cases
Family and holiday rentals
A couple booking a car for a touring holiday often wants both partners on the agreement. A free allowance of one additional driver, with a modest one-time fee for anyone further, is easy to explain and feels fair.
Corporate accounts
Business customers may add a colleague mid-trip. A per-day fee can align the charge with the length of the rental, while a maximum keeps the arrangement within policy. Because the rule applies to future bookings automatically, account managers do not need to recalculate it.
Long-term rentals
On longer rentals, choose deliberately between one-time and per-day charging. A one-time fee is simpler to communicate; a per-day fee scales with the duration. Neither is inherently better, but the choice should match how you price the rest of the booking.
Best practices
- Publish the policy in your terms and on the booking journey so customers know the allowance and fee before they arrive.
- Keep the maximum realistic. A limit that is too low frustrates customers; one that is too high may not match your capacity.
- Review the free allowance whenever you review rates, since the two work together to shape the value of a booking.
- Use Set same price only when a single policy genuinely suits every category.
- Brief staff after any change and check the saved settings during regular price reviews.
Conclusion
Extra driver pricing is a small setting with a visible effect on both revenue and customer experience. By deciding per category whether additional drivers are allowed, how many you permit, how many are free, and how the fee is charged, you replace ad-hoc decisions with a policy that is consistent and easy to maintain. Whether you choose one fleet-wide rule or a category-by-category approach, the page keeps the details in one place and applies them to future bookings automatically.