Set booking cut-offs and the last booking time

A booking cut-off decides how late guests can still book a shift online. The Last Booking Slot Time sets the latest arrival time the widget offers. Both apply per shift and only to online bookings.

Where to find it

Backoffice › Planning › Booking Rules › Service booking rules. There is one card per shift, showing its hours and the weekdays it Applies to.

What it does

Under Online Booking Cut-off, choose one mode per shift:

• Before shift start: online booking for the whole shift stops this long before the shift opens. Choose No cut-off, 5 to 45 minutes, 1 hour, 90 minutes, or 2 to 24 hours. Example: with a 15 min cut-off and a 17:00 shift, online booking stops at 16:45.
• Before each slot: guests must book at least this long before the time they choose. The earliest available time moves forward as the day goes on; later times stay bookable.
• Day before at time: online booking for the shift stops at this time on the day before (default 22:00 when you pick this mode).

Last Booking Slot Time (optional): click Set and choose a time. The widget offers no arrival times after it. Click Clear to remove it.

How to stop same-day bookings an hour before dinner

1. Go to Planning › Booking Rules.
2. In the dinner shift's card, select Before shift start and choose 1 h.
3. Click Save in the "Unsaved booking rules" bar. You see "Booking rules saved successfully".

Good to know

• With No cut-off, a time stays bookable until it starts.
• Before shift start and Day before at time close the whole shift at once, including its later times. Use Before each slot if later times should stay open.
• Once the Last Booking Slot Time has passed, the shift is closed for online booking that day.
• A shift card covers every weekday where a shift has the same name and hours. Changing the hours in Settings › Location hours and shifts creates a separate card.
• The same rules apply when that shift runs on a date with a day override, unless the override has its own rule.
• Your team can still book after the cut-off from the Host App.
• To keep showing a service after its cut-off with a note such as "Call us", add a message after booking cut-off (see "Show a message after a service's booking cut-off").

Troubleshooting

"No shifts configured. Please set up operating hours first." Booking Rules lists shifts from your weekly hours. Add shifts in Settings › Location hours and shifts, then come back.

Tonight's dinner disappeared from the widget in the afternoon A Before shift start cut-off has passed, or Day before at time stopped bookings yesterday. Switch to Before each slot or a shorter cut-off.

The last times of a shift never appear A Last Booking Slot Time is set earlier than you expect, or the shift's closing time cuts them off (the widget never offers the closing time itself). Check the shift card and your shift hours.

Guests can book only a few minutes before arrival No cut-off is set. Choose Before each slot with the notice you need, for example 2 h.