In BookingCentral, you have the option to set specific booking rules that will assist you when customers book online. We'll explain the most common rules and how to enable below.
Important! When setting rules consider your options carefully as you don't want to deter or miss a booking due to a strict rule that won't allow a customer to book.
Advanced Web Sales Booking Rule
This refers to how much time a booking should be made in advance of the start date/time. In some cases, you may want advanced notice of bookings in order to prepare for the rental or activity. You can set the time to 1 hour (or less) up to days in advance. You can also set the time to "do not stop" which will allow the customer to book up until the start time of the activity or rental.
To set this rule:
- Go to Settings - Rentals (or Tickets for tours)
- Select the Rental/Activity or Edit from Actions column
- On the Overview page, set the stop time from the Until section
- You can choose the common lengths (1 hour, 3 hours, 24 hours before), or select Other to input your own length.
Options:
Minimum Booking Duration
This refers to the minimum time a customer can book a rental. The minimum duration can be set as its own length or included in a variable length in the pricing settings.
To set this rule:
- Go to Settings - Rentals
- Select the Rental/Activity or Edit from Actions column
- On the Price List page, edit or create a new Price
- On the Edit Rental Price page, you'll see the option to set a Minimum Duration
Minimum Rule Action
If you've set a minimum booking duration, as shown above, then you also have the option to select an action that will occur if the customer does not meet the minimum rule. By default, the system will allow a customer to book for less than the minimum duration, but will charge the customer the price for the minimum length.
Using the example in above, the minimum rule is 2 hours. The system will allow the customer to book for 1 hour, but the charge will be the Price x 2 hours or $270. As an option, you can select to reject the booking, and the customer will get the message that they must book at least 2 hours.
To set the rule:
- Go to Settings - Orders
- On the Order Settings page, select the Advanced tab
- Set the Minimum Rule on this page
If set to Reject Booking, the customer will see this message when attempting to book for less than the minimum time: