A group booking is a price that sells several of a session's spaces together as one purchase. It sits between a standard single-space ticket and private hire: a "bring a friend" rate takes a fixed block of spaces, while the rest of the session stays open for other customers.
Like every price in Session, a group price lives on the session itself, next to your communal tickets. It's capped to the session's real capacity, so a group can never overbook a slot. Group hire works on any session, whether it runs on a repeating schedule or as a one-off date.
What you can do
- Sell a block of spaces at one price, like a "bring a friend" or "group of 4" rate
- Leave the rest of the session open so other customers still book the remaining spaces
- Mix group and standard prices on the same session, side by side at checkout
- Cap to real capacity automatically, so a group can't be sold once the spaces aren't there
Group vs standard vs private
Each session carries its own list of prices, and every price has a type that sets how many of the session's spaces it uses:
- Standard - one space per ticket, the usual communal ticket bought one space at a time
- Group - a fixed block of spaces sold together at one price, like a "bring a friend" rate
- Private - reserves the whole session, so no one else can book that slot (see private hire)
A standard ticket takes one space and a customer can stack several. A group ticket takes its whole block in one purchase - buying one "group of 4" takes four spaces at once. A group fills part of a session and leaves the rest bookable; private hire fills all of it.
A group price sells the block as one unit. The customer pays for the unit, not per space - there's no per-space price stored. That's why group spaces can't be added or removed one at a time after booking (see "How customers manage a group booking" below).
Add a group price
Prices live on the session itself, in the Prices section of the session editor. Add one here and it's live on that session straight away.
- 1Go to Sessions and open the session you want to offer a group rate on.
- 2In the Prices section, choose Add a price, then Create new.
- 3Pick the Group type, then set how many spaces the block takes (for example, 4 for a "group of 4").
- 4Give it a name customers will recognise, like Bring a friend, and an optional description.
- 5Set the price for the whole block (use 0 for free), then save.
A group block can be larger than your usual per-booking limit. A "group of 6" still sells as one unit even if standard bookings are capped lower, because the cap only limits how many single tickets one customer stacks - not the spaces inside a single group purchase. You can price shorter parts of a session and add add-ons the same way.
Capacity and capping
A group price only shows at checkout when the session has enough spaces left for the whole block. As bookings come in and capacity drops below the block size, the group price hides for new bookings while smaller prices stay sellable.
For example, on a session with 8 spaces, a "group of 4" can be sold while at least 4 remain. Once 5 are taken, that group price disappears and customers can still book the remaining 3 as standard tickets.
The session editor flags a price that would never fit - like a "group of 10" on a session that only seats 8 - so you can confirm each price behaves as you expect before customers see it.
How customers manage a group booking
A group booking is a single block, so the rules differ slightly from a standard ticket:
- Cancelling - a customer can cancel a group booking themselves for a full refund, under your cancellation and reschedule policy, just like a standard booking.
- Rescheduling - a customer can move a group booking to another date themselves, under the same policy.
- Adding or removing spaces - the +/- spaces control is hidden for a group booking. Because the block is one unit with no per-space price, individual spaces can't be added or removed after booking. To change the group size, cancel and rebook, or adjust it as staff from the booking details panel.
This is the key difference from private hire: a private booking can't be cancelled or rescheduled online at all, while a group "bring a friend" booking follows your normal customer policy for both. Only the +/- spaces stepper is off for groups.
In admin, a group line reads as the block and its price - for example, "Bring a friend (3 spaces) - £20" - rather than a price multiplied across spaces, so your bookings list reflects how it was actually sold.
Override a price for one date
For a one-off change - a cheaper group rate on a single quiet weekday - edit that instance instead of the whole session.
- 1Click the session instance in your admin calendar.
- 2Open its Prices section.
- 3Adjust the group price for that date, then save.
An instance override beats the session's price, which beats the organisation-wide default. Other dates are untouched.
Common questions
What's the difference between a group price and just letting someone book several spaces? A standard ticket lets a customer stack single spaces up to your per-booking limit, each at the standard price. A group price sells a fixed block at one set price as a single unit - handy for a discounted "bring a friend" rate, and it bypasses the per-booking limit on that one purchase.
Will a group booking block other customers? No. A group fills only its block of spaces and leaves the rest of the session open for others. Only private hire reserves the whole session.
Why can't my customer add one more space to their group? A group block is one unit with no per-space price, so spaces can't be added or removed individually. The customer can cancel and rebook a different group size, or you can adjust it as staff.
A group price won't appear at checkout - what's wrong? Check the price is set up on that session and that the session has enough remaining spaces for the whole block. A group needing more spaces than the session has left can't be sold until capacity frees up.