Cost calculator assumptions explained
You typed your quotes into the calculator and want to know what it assumed along the way.
The cost calculator multiplies the numbers you type in by the number of people, nights and rooms, adds a contingency you choose, and lists every empty line as unpriced. It looks up no prices and makes no promises. This guide lays out each assumption so you can check the result by hand.
The tool is the island trip cost calculator. The wider method is in how IslandQuest decides what to recommend.
What is each line’s sum?
Every line follows a rule short enough to repeat on paper.
- Room: rooms x nights x rate per room per night.
- Boat tickets and marine park fee: people x the amount you typed.
- Meals: people x nights x the amount per person per night.
- Transfers and activities: the whole-group amount you typed.
Practical implication: if the total looks wrong, check which line the number went into, because a per-person figure typed into a whole-group line is the most common slip.
How are children and ages handled?
The tool counts every child as one person on the boat, meals and fee lines. It does not know age bands, free-child rules or child bed supplements. Those depend on the resort, so read child policy supplements, age bands and bedding and type the amount your quotation shows.
If adults and children have different rates, run the tool twice and add the totals yourself.
What does the contingency do?
The contingency adds your chosen percentage to the subtotal. It is meant for small extras that are easy to forget, such as a taxi at the jetty or a drink outside the package. We suggest a starting figure of ten percent in the form, and you can change it. Setting it to zero gives the plain sum.
What does a worked check look like?
The prices below are made up. They show how the sum runs, not what any place costs.
A family of four, two adults and two children, stay 2 nights in 1 family room. All amounts below are made up and in ringgit.
- Room at 500 a night: 1 x 2 x 500 = 1,000.
- Boat at 70 per person: 4 x 70 = 280.
- Meals at 50 per person per night: 4 x 2 x 50 = 400.
- Park fees at 10 per person: 4 x 10 = 40.
The subtotal is 1,720. A 10 percent contingency adds 172, giving 1,892. Divided by 4, that is 473 each.
If you left park fees blank, the tool would show a lower total and list “park fees” as unpriced.
What does the calculator never know?
It does not know whether a price is current, a room is free, a fee is already inside your package or a charge is due at the jetty. It also does not know taxes and service charges unless you type them in. Ask each of those in writing, using reading an island quotation line by line.
For fees, see where our island fees and fares come from.
Where does your information go?
The sum happens in your browser. Your numbers only leave your phone if you press the WhatsApp button and send them to us.
A better fit if…
This guide suits you if you have at least one quotation and want to trust the total. It suits you less if you have none yet. In that case, the shortlist matcher is a kinder first step.
Common questions
Does the calculator know any prices?
No. Every amount is one you type in, taken from your own quotation. The tool does the arithmetic and lists anything you left empty as unpriced, so a missing line never looks free.
How are children counted?
Children count as people for the boat, meals and fee lines. If your quotation gives a child a different rate, type an average for that line or run the tool twice, once for adults and once for children.
What is the contingency box for?
It adds a percentage on top of your subtotal for small extras such as a taxi or a drink outside the package. Ten percent is only a starting point, and you can set it to zero to see the plain sum of your quotes.
Is the result a quotation?
No. It is a planning estimate based on the numbers you entered. A resort or agency quotation in writing is the figure that counts, and the calculator is there to help you read and compare quotations.