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 set amount of time before the start, giving staff time to prepare - for example, lighting a wood-fired sauna that won't be lit unless someone has booked. Set it in hours and minutes (for example 45 minutes before, or 1 hour 30 minutes), up to a maximum of 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 hours and minutes (up to 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 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.

Only prepare when a session is booked

If there's no point lighting the sauna or driving out unless someone has booked, you don't need to touch anything on the day - set a lead time once and let it work down your timetable automatically.

Set the session's Bookings close to A set time before it starts and pick the notice you need - for example 2 hours. Because the cut-off is measured from each session's own start time, it rolls forward slot by slot across the day, so you always have a firm answer that far ahead:

• A 10am session closes at 8am. At 8am its bookings are final - none, so you stay home.
• The 11am closes at 9am, the 12pm at 10am, the 1pm at 11am, and so on.

At each cut-off you know for certain whether that session has a booking, and only warm up the ones that do. Every slot uses the same rule, so there's nothing to edit occurrence by occurrence.

Override a single date

If you do need genuinely different windows on the same day - say walk-in for one slot but a lead time on the next - you can change Bookings close for one occurrence without touching the rest of the series. Open the session from the calendar, choose Edit, and open the Schedule section - the Bookings close control sits under the start time and duration. Leave it on Inherit to keep the schedule or one-off setting (the option shows the inherited behaviour in brackets), or pick a different rule for just this date.

When you save, choose This event only to apply the override to that single occurrence. If you pick This and following events, the new setting becomes the rule for that date onwards.

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? 7 days. Pick "A set time before it starts" and enter the hours and minutes (for example 45 minutes, or 1 hour 30 minutes).

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. I only want to warm up (or drive out) if a session is booked - how do I set that up? Set the session's Bookings close to "A set time before it starts" and enter the notice you need, such as 2 hours. Each slot then closes that far ahead of its own start time, so the cut-off rolls forward down the day - the 10am closes at 8am, the 11am at 9am, and so on. At each cut-off you know for certain whether that session has a booking and only prepare the ones that do, with nothing to edit on the day. See Only prepare when a session is booked above.

7. Can I change Bookings close on just one occurrence of a repeat schedule? Yes. Open that occurrence from the calendar, choose Edit, and set Bookings close in the Schedule section, then save with "This event only" - it joins capacity, price, and time as settings you can override for one date. The rest of the series keeps its own setting. Leave the control on "Inherit" to fall back to the schedule or one-off value.

8. 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.

9. 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.