Booking rules and opening hours

One set of rules, many resources

A booking policy is the set of rules customers book under: how long a booking can be, when it may start, how far ahead they can book and how late they can cancel.

Every resource you take bookings for follows exactly one policy, and one policy can cover as many resources as you like. Most organizations need one. Add a second only when something genuinely books differently, say hour-long courts beside a sauna booked in 30-minute slots.

You’ll find them under Settings › Booking rules › Booking Policies.

How long, and when it can start

Three things decide which bookings a customer can make:

• Shortest and longest booking. A customer can’t book less than the minimum or more than the maximum in one go.
• Slot Step (minutes). Bookings start on these intervals: with 30, at 9:00, 9:30, 10:00. It’s also the unit your slot price is quoted in, so a price “per slot” on a 30-minute step is half the hourly rate.
• Minimum gap. Refuses a booking that would leave a sliver of free time beside it that nobody else could book. Set it to 0 to allow any gap.

How far ahead, and how late to cancel

• Booking Window. The minimum is how much notice you need (0 means they can book today); the maximum is how many days ahead your calendar opens.
• Cancellation Policy (hours before). Customers can cancel their own booking up to this many hours before it starts, and a card payment goes back to them. After that, only you can cancel it. You can always cancel, whatever the deadline.
• Send a reminder. An optional email some hours before the start. It has to come earlier than the cancellation deadline, so there’s still time to cancel when it arrives.
• Phone Number Field. Whether customers are asked for a phone number when they book: not at all, optionally, or always.

Opening hours

Opening hours belong to each resource rather than to the policy, because two courts or two people can keep different hours. Set them on the resource’s own page, under Opening Hours. Customers can only book inside them.

Try it: change a day, or mark one as closed.

For a one-off change, like a closed bank holiday or a court out of use for a morning, leave the hours alone and add a closure instead. The guide on pricing and closures shows how.