Classes, rentals, repeating bookings and the waitlist

Not every booking is one customer for one slot. Classes let many people book places in the same session. Rentals let customers hire an item for days or nights. Repeating bookings book a whole series at once, and the waitlist fills times that free up. All of them are set up on the service. You need at least one service (see Set up bookings).

Classes and group sessions

1. Click Services, then Add service (or edit one).
2. Under What customers book, choose Class.
3. Under Session times, add the class's weekly timetable, for example Monday and Wednesday at 6 PM.
4. Set Places per session (how many people fit) and Most places per booking (up to 20, for someone booking for friends or family).
5. Set the Length and the Price (optional). A class's price is per place, and a deposit can be set per place too.
6. Click Save service.

Customers on the booking page and with the AI pick a session and how many places they want. A session stops being offered once it's full.

On the calendar, click a session to see who's booked, change Places in this session, or cancel the whole session. When you cancel, you can add a note under Tell everyone why (optional) for the people booked.

Multi-day rentals

Use a rental for cars, bikes, equipment, holiday rooms or anything hired for days or nights.

1. First add the items in Staff and rooms (use How many to add several identical ones, such as a fleet). See Staff, rooms and locations.
2. Click Services, add a service and choose Rental under What customers book.
3. Under Rental, choose Charged per:
   • Day: charged per started 24 hours from pick-up. Set the Pick-up time and Return time.
   • Night: charged per night between check-in and check-out, like a holiday let. Set the Check-in time and Check-out time.
4. Set Time between rentals if you need turnaround time for cleaning or checks.
5. Under Items it rents out, choose the items. Turn on Let customers choose the item if customers should pick a particular one.
6. Enter the Price per day or Price per night, add any Long-stay discounts, and save.

Customers book a rental for up to 90 days. They get a reminder before the return time, too.

Repeating bookings

Your team can always book a series. On New appointment, use Repeats (Every week, Every 2 weeks, Every 4 weeks or Every month, same weekday) and Ends (After a number of times, from 2 to 26, or On a date up to six months ahead). Aiva Chat lists any dates it can't book, such as a fully booked day, before you confirm.

To let customers book a series themselves:

1. Edit the service and turn on Customers can book it as a repeating series.
2. Click Save service.

On the booking page and with the AI, customers can then repeat it every week, 2 weeks or 4 weeks, up to 12 times. This works for appointment services that don't need your OK first.

When you move or cancel one booking in a series, choose This appointment only, This and the following ones or All upcoming ones.

The waitlist

The waitlist is off until you turn it on. When a day has no times left, customers can leave the dates and times that suit them. If a time frees up from a cancellation or a move, the first few people waiting are offered it, and whoever books it first gets it.

1. On the Appointments page, click Settings.
2. Under Waitlist, tick Keep a waitlist.
3. Choose An offer lasts (1, 2 or 4 hours) and Each opening goes to (The first person waiting, or the first 3 or 5 people).
4. Click Save.

Offers go out by email, and by text if the customer agreed to be texted. The waitlist works for appointments; it isn't available for classes or rentals.

Click Waitlist on the Appointments page to see who's waiting. From there you can Add someone by hand, Offer a time to a person yourself, or Remove them.

Next steps

• Packages and memberships
• Deposits, prices and cancellation policies
• Reminders and the customer's manage link