# Swapping bookings

> Move a booking to a different session instead of cancelling and rebooking. What the member paid follows the booking, and members can move while their booking can still be refunded.

Canonical: https://www.clubpal.app/docs/sessions/swapping-bookings
Section: Sessions

If a member can no longer make a session they've booked, they can move their booking to a different session instead of cancelling and booking again. This avoids a second card payment (and a second payment provider fee) for sessions paid **when booking**.

Only a booking paid for online, by **Card when booking**, can be moved. A free booking, a [pass](https://www.clubpal.app/docs/sessions/passes) booking, or one paid in person or by invoice has no payment to carry across, so the member cancels it and books the new session instead. For those bookings the menu shows **Cancel Booking** rather than **Change Booking**.

## How to swap a booking

1. Go to the session details page for the booking you want to move.
2. Click the **Booked** button, or **On Waiting List** if the booking is on that session's waiting list.
3. Select **Change Booking** from the menu.
4. Choose a session to move the booking to, then click **Move booking**.

![The Change booking dialog listing sessions grouped by week, each with its date, time and price, one marked as full with a waiting list badge, and a Move booking button](https://www.clubpal.app/img/docs/swap-change-booking.png)

*The dialog says the most the booking can move to, whether a cheaper session refunds the difference, and marks any session that's already full.*

You'll be taken to the session the booking was moved to, so you can confirm it landed in the right place.

Club admins, session leaders, and coaches assigned to a session can swap a booking on a member's behalf from the same session details page, or from the **Bookings** tab in **Admin > Sessions**.

> **Note: Moving and cancelling are one dialog**
>
> **Change Booking** covers both. It opens on the list of sessions the booking can move to, with **Cancel booking** available as a second step if moving isn't what's wanted.

## When a booking can be moved

A member can move a confirmed booking only while it could still be cancelled with a refund. That means both of these must still be open on the session they're moving away from:

- The [refund window](https://www.clubpal.app/docs/sessions/creating-sessions#booking).
- The [cancellation window](https://www.clubpal.app/docs/sessions/creating-sessions#booking).

Once the refund window has passed, cancelling would keep the member's money, so moving would only be a way round the club's refund policy, and the place it freed up would come too late for anyone on the waiting list. From that point the menu shows **Cancel Booking**, and the dialog explains that moving is only possible while a booking can still be refunded.

![The Cancel booking dialog for a booking whose refund window has closed, warning that it won't be refunded and saying moving is only possible while a booking can still be refunded](https://www.clubpal.app/img/docs/swap-cancel-only.png)

*After the refund window closes, a member is offered cancelling only, and told why.*

A booking on the **waiting list** can be moved right up until the session starts. Cancelling a waiting list place is refunded whatever the refund window says, because it isn't holding anyone's place, so moving it is allowed on the same terms.

**Admins and coaches** moving a booking on a member's behalf aren't held to the refund window. They can still move a confirmed booking after it has closed, up until the cancellation window closes.

## What was paid follows the booking

ClubPal records what was actually taken for a booking separately from what the session costs. That amount travels with the booking every time it moves, so moving never loses the member's money.

A member who paid £5.00 and moved to a £2.50 session still has £5.00 attached to their booking. Their next move can be to anything up to £5.00, not to £2.50, and the dialog tells them so: *"You can move to any session costing up to £5.00."*

> **Warning: A late move by an admin gives up the refund**
>
> If an admin or coach moves a confirmed booking after its refund window has closed, the amount stays usable for further moves but can never turn back into cash. That sticks to the booking however far ahead the sessions it later moves to are, and cancelling afterwards returns nothing. Moving a waiting list booking never gives up its refund.

## Which sessions can you swap to

Only sessions that meet all of the following are offered as swap options:

- The session is in the same club and starts in the future.
- Its [booking window](https://www.clubpal.app/docs/sessions/creating-sessions#booking) is currently open.
- It costs no more than the amount already paid for the booking.
- The member doesn't already hold a live booking on it.

You can't move a paid booking to a session that costs more than was paid for it. To move to a pricier session, cancel the original booking and book the new one instead.

## Refunds

If the new session costs less than the original booking, the difference is refunded automatically to the payment method used for the original booking, unless the booking gave up its right to a refund on an earlier move. The dialog promises it before anyone commits: *"Cheaper sessions will refund the difference."*

Only the amount that booking paid is returned, even where one payment covered several bookings at once.

When an admin or coach moves a confirmed booking after its refund window has closed, no money is returned and the full amount stays with the booking as credit towards its next move.

If the sessions cost the same, there's nothing to refund either way.

## Cancelling instead of moving

**Cancel booking** is the second step in the same dialog, and what happens to the money depends on who is cancelling.

**A member** gets their payment back only where the booking still has the right to a refund: a waiting list booking, or a confirmed booking inside the club's refund window, in either case one that hasn't given up its refund on an earlier move. The dialog states which it is, either *"£5.00 will be refunded to the original payment method"* or *"This booking won't be refunded. The £5.00 already paid stays with the club."*

**An admin or coach** cancelling on someone's behalf makes the decision themselves with the **Refund £5.00?** switch. It's off by default, so cancelling without returning the payment is the default and refunding is deliberate.

See [Refunds](https://www.clubpal.app/docs/payments/refunds) for how refunds work generally.

## Swapping to a full session

If the session you're swapping to has reached capacity, the booking is placed on its [waiting list](https://www.clubpal.app/docs/sessions/waiting-lists) instead of being confirmed straight away, the same as a fresh booking would be. It joins the back of that queue. The dialog marks a full session before anyone chooses it, and the email confirming the swap says which of the two happened, so the member knows whether they have a place or a spot in the queue.

If a confirmed booking is swapped away from a session, the place it frees up goes to the next person on that session's waiting list automatically. Swapping a waiting list booking away frees no place, so nobody is promoted.

## Swap history

Once a booking has been swapped, a short history showing where it moved from and when is shown on the booking, both on the member's own [bookings](https://www.clubpal.app/docs/sessions/paying-for-sessions) page and in the admin **Bookings** tab. Any refund issued as part of a move is recorded against it.

## Frequently asked questions

**Can a member swap a booking that's already on the waiting list?**  
Yes, right up until the session starts. Because it isn't holding a place, nobody is promoted on the session it's swapped away from, and any place the member had in that queue is given up.

**Is there a time limit on swapping?**  
Yes. A member can move a confirmed booking until the earlier of the session's **Refund Window** and **Cancellation Window** closes. A waiting list booking can be moved until the session starts. Admins and coaches are held to the cancellation window only. See [When a booking can be moved](#when-a-booking-can-be-moved).

**Why does a member only see Cancel Booking?**  
Either the booking wasn't paid for online by card, or its refund window has closed. In the second case they can still cancel, without a refund, or ask the club to move it for them.

**Can a member swap to a session they're already booked on?**  
No, that session won't be offered as an option.

**A member moved to a cheaper session and got nothing back. Why?**  
The booking gave up its right to a refund earlier, when an admin or coach moved it out of a session whose refund window had already closed. Its full payment is still attached and can be spent on another move, it just can't come back as cash. Where a club wants the money returned, an admin can cancel the booking and turn on the refund switch.