When bookings close

Learn how to choose when each session stops taking bookings, so customers can't book at an awkward moment and your team always has the notice it needs.

The Bookings close setting is the near edge of your booking window - it decides the moment a session stops accepting customer bookings. You pick one of three behaviours, set a sensible default once, then override it per schedule or one-off event where a session needs different rules.

The three options

• When the session starts - bookings are accepted right up to the start time, then close the moment the session begins. The customer can't book a session that's already running, so no one books mid-session expecting to carry into the next one. This is the default for new venues.
• A set time before it starts - bookings close a number of hours before the start, giving staff time to prepare - for example, lighting a wood-fired sauna that won't be lit unless someone has booked. Choose any whole number from 1 to 168 hours (168 is 7 days).
• When the session ends - bookings stay open all the way through the session, so a walk-in can book themselves in after it has already started. Handy for drop-in style sessions anyone can join at any point.

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
   Find Bookings close and pick one of the three options.
2. 2
   If you pick A set time before it starts, enter the number of hours (1 to 168).
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 Bookings close choice 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 Bookings close setting are edited together under "End date & booking window", and the collapsed summary reads, for example, "No end date · bookable 90 days ahead · bookings close when each session starts". Choose Use organisation default to inherit the venue setting.

A one-off event has its own Bookings close choice. Because you pick the date yourself, one-off dates skip the far-ahead bookable window and only carry this setting.

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 that have closed 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 closed session never gets suggested.

Common questions

1. Where do I set the venue default? Settings → Booking policy, in the "Making a booking" section, under "Bookings close".

2. We get genuine bookings 5 to 10 minutes before a session - which option do I use? "When the session starts". Bookings stay open right up to the start time, then close the instant the session begins.

3. What's the most notice I can require before the start? 168 hours, which is 7 days. Pick "A set time before it starts" and enter the hours.

4. Is this the same as my cancellation cutoff? No. Bookings close 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. Keep the three distinct.

5. I changed the default but an existing session still uses the old setting. 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 it? No. Staff and admins can still add a booking after a session has closed (or started) from the admin side - see add a booking for a customer. The setting only blocks customers booking themselves, so you can still take a walk-in manually.

7. How do I test it? Set the option you want, open your booking page, and check that a soon-to-start (or already-started) session shows "Booking is now closed" while later ones stay bookable.