Minimum booking notice

Learn how to set a lead time before each session so customers can't book at the last minute and your team always has notice to get ready.

Minimum booking notice is the near edge of your booking window. It closes bookings a set number of hours before a session starts, giving staff time to prepare - for example, lighting a wood-fired sauna that won't be lit unless someone has booked. Set a sensible default once, then override it per schedule or one-off event where a session needs different rules.

What you can do

• Stop last-minute bookings - require a number of hours' notice so staff can prepare each session.
• Set it once for the whole venue - a default that applies to every new session.
• Vary it per session - give an early-morning schedule more notice than an evening one, or a one-off event its own rule.
• Allow walk-ins - set the notice to 0 so customers can book right up until a session ends.

Set the venue default

Your default applies to every new session unless a schedule or one-off date overrides it. Open Settings → Booking policy and find the "Making a booking" section.

1. 1
   Set Minimum booking notice to the number of hours before a session that bookings should close.
2. 2
   Any whole number from 0 to 168 hours works (168 hours is 7 days).
3. 3
   Save. The new default applies to schedules you create from now on.

Override per session

A schedule or one-off date can carry its own notice that overrides the venue default.

For a recurring schedule, open the session from the Sessions list and select Edit next to the schedule's booking window summary. The end date, bookable window, and minimum notice are edited together under "End date & booking window", and the collapsed summary reads, for example, "No end date · bookable from 90 days until 36 hours before each session". Leave the notice field blank to inherit the venue default.

A one-off event has its own per-event minimum notice. Because you pick the date yourself, one-off dates skip the far-ahead bookable window and only carry a notice.

How 0 hours behaves

A notice of 0 means no lead time at all - the session stays bookable right up until it ends, not just until it starts. So a session that has already begun is still bookable, which is handy for letting walk-ins book themselves in after the start.

What customers see

• Sessions too far ahead aren't shown on the booking page yet - that's the far edge of the booking window.
• Sessions inside the notice window show "Booking is now closed" and render like a sold-out session.
• The calendar skips them when pointing customers to the next available session, so a locked session never gets suggested.

Common questions

1. Where do I set the venue default? Settings → Booking policy, in the "Making a booking" section, under "Minimum booking notice". The field is measured in hours before the session.

2. What's the maximum notice I can require? 168 hours, which is 7 days before the session.

3. Is this the same as my cancellation cutoff? No. Minimum booking notice controls making a new booking. The "Lock changes" and "Lock cancellation" cutoffs on the same Booking policy page control changing or cancelling an existing booking - see how customers manage their bookings. All three are measured in hours before the session, so keep them distinct.

4. Why can a customer still book a session that has already started? A minimum notice of 0 keeps a session bookable until it ends. Set a notice of 1 hour or more to close bookings before the start time.

5. I changed the default but an existing session still uses the old notice. Why? The default only applies to schedules and one-off dates created after the change. Open the existing session and edit its booking window to pick up the new value.

6. Do admins have to respect the notice? No. Staff and admins can still add a booking inside the notice window from the admin side - see add a booking for a customer. The notice only blocks customers booking themselves.

7. How do I test it? Set a minimum notice, open your booking page, and check that soon-to-start sessions show "Booking is now closed" while later ones stay bookable.