# Bookings

Section: Guest Management · Page: https://artsvp.com/docs/guest-management/bookings

(Plans: All plans)

A booking is a guest's reservation for an event: a free RSVP or a paid ticket
purchase, for one guest or a whole party. Bookings arrive three ways, guests
book on your public booking page, respond to an invitation, or your team adds
them directly on the guest list. Before guests can book, the event needs to be
created and published with at least one active ticket; paid bookings also need a
connected Stripe account.

## The booking lifecycle

A booking starts **Pending** while it is being made, then becomes **Confirmed**.
From there it can be **Cancelled**, by the guest or your team. A Pending booking
that is never completed **Expires** and releases its held places. On full
events, guests join the **Waitlist**; on register-interest events they are
**Interested** until you accept (Confirmed) or reject them.

## Adding a booking yourself

From the guest list, **Add Guests** creates a confirmed booking directly:

1. Enter the booker's details and any additional guests. The booker's name
   is **Name**, or **First name** and **Last name** if you collect those
   separately under **Settings** → **Info**.
2. Pick a ticket for each guest.
3. Choose **Scheduled** (books a slot) or **Walk-in** (books now and checks the
   party straight in).
4. Optionally suppress the confirmation email, for quiet additions.

When you choose **Scheduled**, pick the slot from **Date & time**. A slot
stays in that list until it ends, so you can still add someone to a timed
entry that's already under way. Guests see the same remaining slots on the
booking page.

If the booker's **Email** is already on the guest list, a **Heads up** note
appears under their details. The note is a warning, never a block. If they
have an open invitation, choose **Confirm their invitation instead** rather
than adding a second booking. See
[Already on the list](https://artsvp.com/docs/guest-management/guest-list#already-on-the-list).

For paid tickets, choose how to take payment: at a card terminal now, later, or
**Mark as paid**.

Check-in only members add walk-ins from
[Check-in Mode](https://artsvp.com/docs/guest-management/check-in#walk-ins-and-invitations-at-the-door)
instead. They cannot choose **Scheduled**, and they cannot **Mark as paid**.

## Payments

Paid bookings run through your connected Stripe account, see
[Settings → Payouts](https://artsvp.com/docs/settings/organisation-settings). The booking records
its line items, including any tax, donation, and the platform booking fee: 7%
on Free, 5% on Pro, 3.5% on Expert. When tax applies, the booking summary shows
ticket lines, then SUBTOTAL, each tax by name, and TOTAL, the same layout
appears in the confirmation email. See
[Tax](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/tickets-and-pricing#tax).

## Changes and cancellations

Guests can change or cancel their own booking only if the event allows it (see
[Booking settings](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/booking-settings)); your team can always manage
a booking from the guest list: edit guests, add extras, resend tickets, cancel.

To move a guest to a different ticket type, open them from the guest list,
click **Edit** next to their name, choose the new **Ticket type**, then
**Save**. The booking and their place stay as they are. Use **Send ticket** if
they need the updated ticket.

To cancel one booking, open it and choose **Actions** → **Cancel booking…**.
Choose **Cancel with an email** or **Cancel silently**. The email is the
event's **Cancellation Email** (see [Event Emails](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/emails)), and
you can add a message, which appears under its text. It looks like the booking
confirmation, with the event's banner, and shows the booking as cancelled. Only
a confirmed booking for an event that hasn't ended can be cancelled. When a
guest cancels their own booking, they are sent the **Cancellation Email** as
written. To cancel several at once, use
**Cancel bookings** in the guest list's bulk actions (see
[Bulk actions](https://artsvp.com/docs/guest-management/guest-list#bulk-actions)).

**Cancel event**, from the event card menu, cancels every live booking on that
event at once, and lets you email your guests a message or cancel silently. See
[Cancelling an event](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/overview#cancelling-an-event).

One thing to be aware of: refunds are never automatic. Cancelling a paid booking
releases the place but does not touch the payment; issue any refund yourself from
your Stripe dashboard.

## Extras

Extras are add-ons sold with a booking: a catalogue, a drinks package, a tote.
Guests pick them on the public booking form. You can also add one after the
booking is made, from the booking page, which is how a programme sold at the
door gets onto the record. Create extras under the event's **Settings** →
**Ticketing** tab; see [Tickets and pricing](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/tickets-and-pricing).

1. Open the guest from the [guest list](https://artsvp.com/docs/guest-management/guest-list) and
   choose **View booking**.
2. On the **Extras** card, choose **Add extra**.
3. Pick the **Extra** and a **Quantity**, then **Add extra**.

The card appears when the event has extras still to sell, or the booking
already has some. It offers the event's extras that still have stock. A
limited extra is capped at what is left. Cancelled and rejected bookings have
no add form.

One thing to be aware of: adding an extra does not email the guest, and it does
not add a guest or take a seat. A priced extra is added to the booking's total
as outstanding; collect it from the **Payment** card with **Take payment** or
**Mark as paid**.

## Reminders

Confirmed bookings receive the event's reminder emails automatically, unless
the event is cancelled. The schedule lives under the event's **Settings** →
**Emails** tab, on **Reminder Schedule**. From the booking page, the
**Reminders** card shows each send, when it is due, and whether it went out.
See [Event emails](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/emails).

## Tickets

Confirmed guests receive their tickets by email. Depending on the event's
settings, tickets carry a QR code for scanning at the door, attach as a
printable PDF, and can be added to Apple and Google Wallet.

When a booking or its event is cancelled, the web ticket stays the same size,
tagged **Cancelled** beside the event name. The QR is greyed out with nothing
to scan, and there is no wallet, share, or print button. A wallet link from
before the cancellation opens that same web ticket. See
[Cancelling an event](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/overview#cancelling-an-event).

---

Keep reading: [Guest List](https://artsvp.com/docs/guest-management/guest-list) ·
[Dates and availability](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/dates-and-availability) ·
[Event emails](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/emails) ·
[Tickets and pricing](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/tickets-and-pricing) ·
[Booking settings](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/booking-settings) ·
[Check-in](https://artsvp.com/docs/guest-management/check-in)

---