Set booking durations and turnaround time

The duration is how long a booking keeps its table. It decides which times are free: a table is only offered if it is free for the whole duration. You can set durations per shift, per party size and per time of day.

Where to find it

• Backoffice › Planning › Booking Rules › Duration rules.
• The location default: Backoffice › Settings › Location Settings › Booking Settings › Default Reservation Duration (also shown as Default Seating Duration in Planning › Service Calendar › General Settings).

What it does

Duration rules contains:

• Turnaround time (0 to 120 minutes): minutes at the end of every reservation kept free to reset the table. It is part of the duration, not added on top. The table stays blocked for the full duration while guests only see their sitting. Example at a 2-hour default with 30 minutes turnaround: an 18:00 booking holds the table until 20:00 and the guest sees "until 19:30".
• Per shift: a Shift default duration, plus Add party-size range rules (min covers, max covers or No max, and minutes).
• Global party-size fallback: ranges used when no shift rule or shift default matches (Add range).
• Time-of-day duration overrides: force a duration for any booking that starts in a time range (From, Until, Duration). Ranges include the start time and exclude the end time; an end at or before the start runs past midnight.

10Seat picks the first match in this order: squeeze (if active), time-of-day override, shift party-size rule, shift default, global party-size range, the table type's duration, then the location default.

How to give large tables more time at dinner

1. Go to Planning › Booking Rules › Duration rules.
2. In the dinner shift, click Add party-size range.
3. Enter min covers 6, No max, and 150 minutes.
4. Click Save in the "Unsaved booking rules" bar.

Good to know

• Durations can be 15 to 480 minutes.
• Longer durations mean fewer free times: a later booking on the same table blocks earlier start times whose duration would overlap it.
• A booking may run past the shift's closing time; only the start time has to be inside the shift.
• Walk-in sittings can follow these rules too (see "Set up walk-in sittings").
• Changing durations does not change existing bookings; it applies to new ones.

Troubleshooting

"Duration rules for "Dinner" are invalid or overlapping" / "Global duration rules are invalid or overlapping" Two party-size ranges overlap (for example 1–4 and 4–6), a max is below its min, or a duration is outside 15–480 minutes. Make the ranges follow each other (1–4, 5–6, 7+).

"Time-of-day override rules have an invalid time range or duration (15–480 min)" A From or Until time is missing, or the duration is outside 15–480 minutes.

"Turnaround is longer than the location default duration, which leaves no sitting time." Lower the turnaround or raise the default duration. Until then guests are shown the full duration.

Fewer times are offered than before A new or longer duration rule makes bookings overlap more. Check which rule applies to that shift, party size and time.