# When customers can book
> Set how far ahead customers can book (booking window) and the cutoff before a session starts (lead time or minimum notice), with per-session overrides.
Who can do this: admins only.
Two settings decide when a session is on sale. The **bookable window** is the far edge - how many days ahead customers can book. **Bookings close** is the near edge - when a session stops taking bookings. Both live in the "Booking" section of [Settings → Policies](/go/admin/settings/policies), and each [schedule](/docs/repeat-schedules) or [one-off event](/docs/one-off-schedules) can override them.
## How far ahead customers can book
The **Bookable window** is a rolling number of days ahead - 90 by default, anything from 1 to 365.
A schedule can instead **end on a specific date**. An end date you set replaces the rolling window: every date up to it can be booked as soon as you save, however far away it is, and then bookings stop. To shift times through the year, see [change times from a date forward](/docs/repeat-schedules#change-times-from-a-date-forward) - a schedule ended that way keeps its bookable window as well as its end date, so nothing goes on sale early.
**Keeping the window short so members use their sessions each month?** You don't need to if the membership's [free sessions reset](/docs/membership#when-the-allowance-resets) per **Month**: each one counts in the month the session takes place, so a longer window lets members book ahead without spreading one month's sessions over later months. On **Billing period** a session counts when it's booked, so it can go on any date the window reaches.
## When bookings close
- **When the session starts** - the default. Bookings stay open up to the start time.
- **A set time before it starts** - in hours and minutes (for example 45 minutes, or 1 hour 30 minutes), up to 7 days, giving staff time to prepare.
- **When the session ends** - bookings stay open through the session, so a walk-in can book themselves in after it has started.
This only stops customers booking themselves - staff can still [add a booking](/docs/add-a-booking) after a session has closed or started.
**Only want to prepare when someone has booked?** Close bookings, say, 2 hours before. Each slot closes that far ahead of its own start (the 10am at 8am), so at each cutoff you know whether to light the sauna.
## Set the venue defaults
Open [Settings → Policies](/go/admin/settings/policies) and enter the **Bookable window** in days.
Open **Bookings close**, pick an option (with hours and minutes for **A set time before it starts**), and save.
Changing a default does **not** change schedules or one-off dates you already created. For the bookable window, Settings lists sessions still on a different window under the field, with an **Apply [N] days to all sessions** link. For Bookings close, edit each session's booking window.
## Override per session
**A repeat schedule.** Open the session from [Sessions](/go/admin/sessions), go to **Schedule**, and select **Edit** beside **Booking options** at the bottom of the weekly schedule to set the bookable window and **Bookings close**; choose **Use organisation default** to inherit. The end date is under **Edit** beside the schedule's dates, as **Ends**.
**A one-off date.** A one-off is bookable as soon as it's published, whatever the default window. To hold one back, choose **Open bookings nearer the date** on its **Booking window** line - see [one-off events](/docs/one-off-schedules#choose-when-bookings-open).
**A single date.** Open the occurrence, choose **Edit**, and set **Bookings close** in the **Schedule** section. Save with **This event only** or **This and following events**.
## Give members early access
Your bookable window is what **non-members** get. **Early access** on a [membership](/docs/membership) adds days on top: a 42-day window plus 14 days of early access lets members book 56 days ahead.
Early access only extends a **rolling** window (including a one-off set to open bookings nearer the date, and a schedule that kept its window when its times changed from a date) - a fixed end date is a hard stop for everyone. A customer holds one active membership at a time, so early access never stacks.
## What you and your customers see
Your [Sessions](/go/admin/sessions) calendar shows recurring sessions past the window, marked **Not on sale** in Week and Day view. You can [edit, hide or cancel](/docs/instance-overrides) one before it goes on sale, or close a whole day with [closed dates](/docs/closed-dates).
Customers don't see sessions beyond their window. A closed session shows "Booking is now closed" with a lock, in grey. Your [FAQs page](/docs/faqs-page) states both limits from your live settings.
## Common questions
1. **Is Bookings close the same as my cancellation cutoff?** No. The Rescheduling and Cancelling cutoffs on the same [Booking policy](/go/admin/settings/policies) page control changes to existing bookings - see [how customers manage their bookings](/docs/manage-bookings-customers).
2. **I changed the default bookable window but nothing changed.** Sessions that run to a fixed end date ignore the window. In the session's **Schedule**, select **Edit** beside the schedule's dates and change **Ends** - pick a new date, or **No end date** for a rolling window.
3. **I shortened the window - what happens to dates already on sale?** Dates beyond the new window drop off the calendar for non-members. Bookings already made are not affected.
4. **My booking page seems to stop at a date well inside my window.** The list layout loads sessions in batches as you scroll - at around 13 sessions a day a batch covers only five or six days. The calendar beside the list marks every day across your whole window.
5. **How do I test my settings?** Open your booking page signed out in a private window and check the furthest bookable date, then sign in as a member to confirm you see further ahead.