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Travel · head to head

Bookinglayer vs Travelport Smartpoint

Bookinglayer logo

Bookinglayer

Travel

Booking system for surf camps, retreats and activity-led accommodation

From
€260/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Travelport Smartpoint logo

Travelport Smartpoint

Travel

Travelport GDS booking desktop for travel agents, now on version 12

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Bookinglayer at 260 euros a month the entry tier is a heavy fixed cost for a fifteen-bed camp, several times what a comparable small hotel pays for a property management system.; Travelport Smartpoint travelport retires older Smartpoint versions on its own schedule, and agencies that do not track release notes can lose sign-on access to Travelport+ or Apollo with little warning.
  • They diverge on capability: Bookinglayer covers Package builder, Travelport Smartpoint covers Graphical and cryptic modes.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bookinglayer and Travelport Smartpoint actually diverge.

Attributes where Bookinglayer and Travelport Smartpoint differ
AttributeBookinglayerTravelport Smartpoint
Starting price€260/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer month by planquote
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWindows, Web

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Travel).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Bookinglayer

  • Package builder
  • Activity scheduling
  • Instalment payments
  • Guest portal
  • Direct booking engine
  • Back office
  • Multi-location support
  • API access

Only in Travelport Smartpoint

  • Graphical and cryptic modes
  • Multi-GDS content
  • Smartpoint Cloud
  • Automation scripting
  • Marketplace distribution
  • Queue and PNR management

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Bookinglayer

  • A surf camp selling seven-night packages where lesson capacity, not bed capacity, is the constraintnot Travelport Smartpoint
  • A yoga retreat taking deposits nine months ahead with staged balance paymentsnot Travelport Smartpoint
  • A dive centre allocating instructors and equipment alongside accommodationnot Travelport Smartpoint
  • A ski school running two locations under one booking system and one guest portalnot Travelport Smartpoint

Travelport Smartpoint

  • A retail agency already on a Travelport segment agreement needing the current supported desktop versionnot Bookinglayer
  • A TMC running mixed cryptic and graphical booking teams on one workspacenot Bookinglayer
  • An agency migrating from an older Smartpoint build after Travelport retired 8.1 to 9.1not Bookinglayer
  • A consolidator wanting Apollo, Galileo or Worldspan content behind a single agent interfacenot Bookinglayer

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Bookinglayer

  • At 260 euros a month the entry tier is a heavy fixed cost for a fifteen-bed camp, several times what a comparable small hotel pays for a property management system.
  • The Essential plan includes only two users, so a camp with a reception team, an instructor coordinator and a manager is pushed to the 415 euro tier by headcount rather than by features.
  • The 2 per cent commission alternative carries a 100 euro monthly minimum, so a genuinely closed off-season still costs money.
  • API access sits only on the quoted top tier, which blocks integration work for mid-sized operators unwilling to move to bespoke pricing.
  • The product is deliberately narrow: an operator whose business shifts toward conventional room-night accommodation will find the package model is overhead rather than advantage.

Travelport Smartpoint

  • Travelport retires older Smartpoint versions on its own schedule, and agencies that do not track release notes can lose sign-on access to Travelport+ or Apollo with little warning.
  • Pricing is never published and is folded into a segment incentive agreement, so two agencies of similar size can be paying materially different effective rates with no way to compare.
  • Cryptic command knowledge is still needed for a meaningful share of servicing tasks, so a newly hired agent takes months to reach full productivity.
  • It is a Windows-weighted desktop product, and agencies wanting fully remote or Mac-based teams need Smartpoint Cloud or virtual desktop infrastructure to compensate.
  • Switching to Sabre or Amadeus means retraining staff on a different command language and renegotiating a separate incentive deal, which locks agencies into their existing GDS relationship longer than pure product quality would justify.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bookinglayer

€260/month
  • Essential$260/month
    • About 300 USD equivalent
    • Two users included
    • Package builder and booking engine
  • Pro$415/month
    • About 445 USD equivalent
    • Ten users and two locations
    • Extended functionality
  • Alpha$undefined/month
    • Custom quote
    • Multiple locations
    • API access included
  • Commission alternative$undefined/month
    • 2% of booking value instead of a fixed fee
    • Minimum EUR 100 per month
    • Suits seasonal businesses with quiet months

Travelport Smartpoint

On request
  • Travelport Smartpoint$undefined/year
    • Usually bundled into a GDS segment agreement
    • Distribution and version entitlement managed per country via the Marketplace
    • Segment incentive payments to the agency

Which should you pick?

Choose Bookinglayer if

  • You need package builder.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want activity scheduling.
Bookinglayer review

Choose Travelport Smartpoint if

  • You need graphical and cryptic modes.
  • You work on Windows, Web.
  • You also want multi-gds content.
Travelport Smartpoint review

Questions people ask

Is Bookinglayer or Travelport Smartpoint better?
Neither clearly leads. Bookinglayer starts at €260/month and Travelport Smartpoint at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bookinglayer or Travelport Smartpoint?
Bookinglayer starts at €260/month and Travelport Smartpoint at On request.
Does Bookinglayer or Travelport Smartpoint run on more platforms?
Bookinglayer runs on Web, iOS, Android. Travelport Smartpoint runs on Windows, Web.
What is Bookinglayer best used for?
Bookinglayer is most often used for a surf camp selling seven-night packages where lesson capacity, not bed capacity, is the constraint, a yoga retreat taking deposits nine months ahead with staged balance payments, a dive centre allocating instructors and equipment alongside accommodation, a ski school running two locations under one booking system and one guest portal. Of those, a surf camp selling seven-night packages where lesson capacity, not bed capacity, is the constraint and a yoga retreat taking deposits nine months ahead with staged balance payments are not what Travelport Smartpoint is typically brought in for.
What can Bookinglayer do that Travelport Smartpoint cannot?
Bookinglayer covers Package builder, Activity scheduling, Instalment payments, Guest portal. Travelport Smartpoint covers Graphical and cryptic modes, Multi-GDS content, Smartpoint Cloud, Automation scripting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bookinglayer: How much does Bookinglayer cost?

Essential is 260 euros a month for two users, Pro is 415 euros for ten users and two locations, and Alpha is quoted. There is a 5 per cent discount for annual payment.

Travelport Smartpoint: Do we pay a separate licence fee for Smartpoint?

Usually not directly. It is typically bundled into a GDS segment agreement in which Travelport pays incentives per booked segment.

Bookinglayer: Is there a commission option instead?

Yes, 2 per cent of booking value with a minimum of 100 euros a month, which suits businesses with a pronounced off-season.

Travelport Smartpoint: What happened to older Smartpoint versions?

Travelport retired versions 8.1 through 9.1 as of 30 April 2026; agencies must be on Smartpoint 12.0 to keep signing on to Travelport+ or Apollo.

Bookinglayer: Why not just use a normal hotel PMS?

Because a package that bundles nights, lessons, equipment and transfers with capacity limits on the activities rather than the beds does not fit a room-night model.

Travelport Smartpoint: Is there a browser version?

Yes, Smartpoint Cloud runs in a browser for agents without a managed Windows desktop.

Bookinglayer: Does it include API access?

Only on the top Alpha tier, which is quoted rather than published.

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