How to Switch Booking Software (Without Losing Data or Customers)

Jarod LaFalce

Co-Founder / COO of BookingTerminal

Published on: August 20, 2025 | Estimated Read Time: 7 minutes

Introduction

Switching booking software is sometimes inevitable. Rising fees, outdated tech, poor support—too many operators are stuck with platforms that hold their business back. And while the cost of staying put is high, the fear of switching often wins out.

But the truth is: switching isn’t as daunting as it seems—especially when your new provider actually helps. The guide below walks through exactly how to make the move, step by step, without disrupting your operations.

Signs It’s Time to Switch

Every operator has a different breaking point—but the same frustrations show up again and again. If any of these sound familiar, it might be time.

New or rising fees
You started with one rate. Now you're paying more—per booking, per OTA, or just because your provider changed the rules.
Slow or unhelpful support
When something breaks, you can’t afford to wait 48 hours for a templated reply. You need real help from someone who understands your business.
Poor checkout conversion
If your booking flow is clunky, confusing, or not mobile-friendly, you're leaving money on the table every day.
Too complex to train new staff
A system that takes hours—or days—to train someone on is a system that slows your growth.

Any one of these can drag your business down. But most operators wait until two or three are happening at once. Don’t. If growth is your goal, switching is imperative.

Pre-Switch Checklist

Before you move to a new booking system, there are a few things to take care of upfront.

Review Your Current Contract

Some platforms lock you into a contract—usually with minimum terms or auto-renewals. If that’s the case, check how much time is left and whether early termination fees apply. You don’t want surprises on your way out.

Save all important data locally

Once you leave your old system, access to your data could disappear. Download anything you might need: financials, tax documents, past bookings, customer info—get it all saved locally.

Map Your Needs

List what works and what doesn’t with your current setup. As you compare new vendors, this will help you ask better questions—and avoid making the same mistakes twice.

Do these three things up front, and the rest of the switch gets a whole lot easier.

Choosing Your New Booking Software

You don’t want to go through this process again in a year. Choosing the right platform now means you can stop thinking about software—and get back to running your business.

At this point, you’ve already mapped out what you need, what’s missing, and what’s been holding you back. Use that list to start narrowing down your options. Check reviews, talk to other operators, browse vendor sites, and book demos with a shortlist. If a company isn’t willing to take the time to walk you through their platform, that’s a red flag.

Before you jump into any demos, read our guide to choosing the best online booking software. It’ll help you ask the right questions—and avoid getting stuck in another system that doesn’t fit.

Planning Your Migration

Once you’ve chosen your new software, it’s time to plan your move. Here’s how to make the switch without disrupting your day-to-day.

Time It Right

Try to schedule your switch during the off-season or a slow period. Switching during peak season isn’t impossible, but it’s a lot to juggle—especially if you're training staff at the same time. If it has to happen mid-season, make sure your new provider offers real onboarding support and doesn’t leave you to figure it out alone.

Get everything set up

Before you go live, build out your dashboard: schedules, pricing, policies, marketing content, and more. A solid provider will help with this setup. At BookingTerminal, we do it for you. Just give us access to your old platform or provide us with the information, and we’ll rebuild everything—so you can focus on running your business, not copying and pasting. Learn more about our onboarding process here.

Migrate Future Bookings

If you’ve got bookings already on the calendar (you probably do), those need to come over before you launch the new system. This ensures accurate availability and avoids confusion across systems. We handle this, too. During onboarding, we’ll import all your future bookings so you don’t have to start from scratch—or worse, manually re-enter anything.

A little planning now means fewer headaches later. With the right software partner, migration should feel like momentum—not mayhem.

Communicating the Change

Once you're ready to go live, let your previous software vendor know you're leaving. This ensures you won’t get billed past your contract, your availability is taken offline (so no stray bookings sneak through old links), and any final offboarding steps get handled properly.

Skipping this step can lead to duplicate bookings, overcharges, or lost data—none of which you want after putting in the work to switch.

Going Live

Now for the step you’ve been waiting for—it’s time to go live with your new software.

The most important task here is updating the “Book Now” buttons on your website. Your new provider should give you the correct links or embed codes to make this quick.

If you’re comfortable handling the update, great. If not, your onboarding team should walk you through it—or you can hand it off to whoever manages your site. (At BookingTerminal, we offer two simple code snippets and we’ll even add them for you.)

Once those buttons are live, bookings can come in immediately—so double-check that your availability is accurate and your internal dashboard is ready to go. It’s a good idea to monitor activity during the first few days to make sure everything’s flowing as expected.

You’ve done the work. Now let the system do its job.

How BookingTerminal Makes Switching Easy

Switching booking software doesn’t have to be painful—especially when your provider is doing most of the work.

At BookingTerminal, we take a white-glove approach designed to save you time and eliminate complexity. From the start, you're paired with a dedicated account manager who will guide you through onboarding and stay with you long-term. We see this as a partnership, not just a setup.

We learn your business
Your account manager will meet with you to understand your operation—your tours, pricing, seasonality, and key needs.
We build your system for you
If you're comfortable sharing access to your current software, we’ll set up your new dashboard ourselves—schedules, pricing, and more. Prefer not to share access? No problem—we’ll gather what we need through a short onboarding form.
We migrate your future bookings
Any upcoming reservations are transferred into your new system so you don’t lose anything in the switch.
We connect your website
Once everything is approved, we’ll link your “Book Now” buttons so you can start accepting live bookings immediately.

Depending on your timeline and availability, we can get you up and running in as little as one day.

Switching doesn’t have to slow you down—with the right support, it moves you forward.

Conclusion

Switching booking software can feel like a big leap—but when you do it right, it unlocks real growth. Less stress, fewer headaches, and a system that works with you, not against you.

If you’ve made it this far, you’re already ahead of most operators who stay stuck in systems that slow them down.

And if you want a provider that actually helps you through the process—not just with setup, but long-term—BookingTerminal’s here when you’re ready.

Ready to switch? Book a demo and let’s make it simple.