# Booking sessions

> How members book a session and pay for it, covering the booking form, payment methods, restrictions, and waiting lists.

Canonical: https://www.clubpal.app/docs/sessions/paying-for-sessions
Section: Sessions

![Session details page showing the Book button, capacity, and session information](https://www.clubpal.app/img/docs/session-details.png)

Members can book on to sessions from the session details page. If a session is free and has no booking form fields, bookings are confirmed in a single click. For paid sessions, or sessions with custom form fields, a booking form appears before the booking is confirmed.

## The booking form

![Booking confirmation dialog showing payment method selection for a paid session](https://www.clubpal.app/img/docs/book-session-dialog.png)

When a member clicks to book, a confirmation dialog appears showing:

- The session name and date
- The booking confirmation message (if configured)
- A warning if the session is in the past (late bookings)
- Any custom form fields configured for the session
- Payment method selection for paid sessions

### Custom form fields

If the session has **Booking Form Fields** configured, these appear in the booking form before the member can confirm. You can collect anything you need, such as lane preference, a vehicle registration, or a specific question. Responses are included in the bookings export.

## Payment methods

For sessions with a cost set, members must choose a payment method before confirming. The options shown depend on what has been enabled in the session settings and what the member has available.

| Payment method | Description |
|---|---|
| **Payment in person** | No online payment is taken. The member confirms the booking and pays at the session (e.g. by cash). A record is created on the platform. |
| **When booking** | Payment is taken by debit or credit card at the time of booking. Digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay are supported where compatible. |
| **Pass** | The booking is deducted from a valid pass the member holds. Only passes that are enabled for the session and still have available uses are shown. |

If the session only has one payment method enabled, it is selected automatically and the member does not need to choose.

For passes that have a usage limit (daily, weekly, or monthly), the remaining availability is shown alongside the pass name so the member can make an informed choice.

## Booking restrictions

A member may not be able to book if any of the following apply:

- The **booking window** has not yet opened or has already closed
- The session has reached capacity (the member will be offered the waiting list instead)
- The session has [eligibility rules](https://www.clubpal.app/docs/general/eligibility-rules) configured and the member does not meet them

## After booking

Booking does two things beyond reserving the place.

- The member gets a **Booking Confirmed** email with the session details.
- If [session chat](https://www.clubpal.app/docs/sessions/overview#session-chat) is on, they are subscribed to that session's conversation, so they hear about a question or a change of plan posted there. This is per session and per date. **Mute notifications** in the chat's header turns one off, and a mute is remembered: rebooking a session whose chat they previously muted does not un-mute it.

Coaches assigned to a session are subscribed the same way.

## Waiting list

If the session is full, members are offered a place on the waiting list instead of a confirmed booking. Members must pay at the point of joining the waiting list if the session has a cost. See [Waiting lists](https://www.clubpal.app/docs/sessions/waiting-lists) for more details.

## Changing your mind

If a member can no longer make a session, they open the session details page, click the **Booked** button and select **Change Booking**. The dialog leads with the sessions they can move to, and **Cancel booking** is the second step if moving isn't right. See [Swapping bookings](https://www.clubpal.app/docs/sessions/swapping-bookings) for the full detail.

Only a booking paid for online, by **Card when booking**, can be moved, and a member can only move a confirmed booking while its refund window is still open. Otherwise the menu shows **Cancel Booking** instead, and the member cancels and books the new session.

Moving is usually the better outcome for both sides: the payment stays where it is, so the club keeps the money and the member avoids paying a second transaction fee to rebook.

Whether a booking can still be cancelled or moved, and whether cancelling it issues a refund, depends on two separate settings:

- The **Cancellation Window** controls how close to the session start time a booking can still be cancelled or moved at all. Once it's passed, the **Booked** button is greyed out.
- The **Refund Window** controls how close to the session start time a cancellation still triggers a refund, and how long a member can still move their booking. After this point a booking can still be cancelled, but no refund is issued and it can't be moved.

To give members a period where they can still cancel but won't be refunded, set the **Refund Window** to more hours than the **Cancellation Window**. For example, a Refund Window of 24 and a Cancellation Window of 6 refunds (or lets members move) anyone who changes their plans more than a day ahead, lets members cancel without a refund until 6 hours before, and then locks the booking so the waiting list has time to fill the place. A Cancellation Window of 0 means members can cancel right up until the session starts. See [Creating sessions](https://www.clubpal.app/docs/sessions/creating-sessions#booking) for how these are configured.

## Setting up payments for sessions

To accept card payments you must first connect a payment provider. See the [Payments overview](https://www.clubpal.app/docs/payments/overview) for setup instructions. If no payment provider is connected, only **Payment in person** will be available.

> **Tip**
>
> You can configure which payment methods are available per session in the **Allowed Payment Methods** section of the session settings. See [Creating sessions](https://www.clubpal.app/docs/sessions/creating-sessions#booking) for details.