With the Exclusive time slots per booking feature, you can define that an available time slot is treated as sold out for any further bookings after the first booking is made. This means the time slot remains exclusively reserved for one customer group, even if there are still free spots available mathematically.
This is especially helpful for providers who do not want groups to be mixed with other customers.
Who is this feature for?
This feature is suitable for providers of activities with multiple bookings where one booking should remain exclusive within a time slot. Typical examples include:
axe throwing lanes
canoe or boat rentals
group tours
museum tours
other offers with group logic and multiple capacity
The feature is particularly useful when several spots are available per time slot, but they should only be used together by a single booking.
What changes with exclusive time slots?
If the option is activated, the booking behavior of a time slot changes:
After the first booking, the time slot is treated as sold out for other bookings
Admins still see the actual occupancy within the time slot, for example 2 out of 4 spots booked
The time slot is no longer bookable for additional customers
This prevents different groups or customers from being placed into the same time slot.
Important: In this case, “sold out” does not necessarily mean that full capacity has been reached. Instead, the time slot is reserved exclusively for one booking.
Where can you find this feature in anny?
The setting can be found in the admin area under Resource availability.
It is relevant for:
resources that are available multiple times
resources with child resources that are also available multiple times
There, you can use the Exclusive time slots toggle to define whether time slots should be blocked exclusively for one booking after the first booking is made.
Important: This feature can only be used if the Customer may choose options feature is deactivated.
How the logic works
As soon as the first booking is made for a time slot, that time slot is closed for any further bookings. Specifically, this means:
The first booking can still use multiple spots within that time slot
Additional external bookings for the same time slot are no longer allowed
The actual occupancy remains visible in the admin area
This ensures that the group remains private within the time slot, without admins having to block the time slot manually.
How to use exclusive time slots in practice
The Exclusive time slots feature is especially helpful when offers with multiple capacity can accommodate several people, but should not be shared across different bookings. The following examples show how to use the feature in typical setups.
Canoe rental with group tours
Canoe rental with group tours
In this example, canoes are created as individual child resources, and a canoe tour is also made bookable as a separate group offer.
1. Create a resource for the canoes
First, create a resource for the canoes.
Under Availability > Child resources, create child resources such as:
Canoe 1
Canoe 2
Canoe 3
Canoe 4
For each canoe, set a quantity of 4, since up to 4 people can fit into one canoe.
Important for this setup:
The Customer may choose options feature must be deactivated
The Exclusive time slots feature must be activated
This ensures that once a canoe has been booked for the first time, it cannot be shared with another booking.
Then define a booking option, for example:
Rental
price per hour for one canoe
minimum booking quantity: 1
booking type: complete (this setting is required in combination with the active Exclusive time slots feature)
2. Create a resource for the canoe tour
In addition, create a separate resource for the Canoe tour. Under Availability > Multiple available, define:
Available quantity: 16
Allowed bookings per order: 16
This means the tour can be booked for up to 16 people in total.
Then define the appropriate booking options.
Create two booking options:
For individual bookings, create a booking option as follows:
Single rate > Advanced settings > Minimum booking quantity: 1
For group bookings, you can additionally create a group rate:
Group rate (from 4 people) > Advanced settings > Minimum booking quantity: 4
Note: The price applies per person.
Now go to the Resource tab and link the canoes in the Dependencies - All must be available section. This ensures that at least one suitable canoe is available for each group booking and is automatically reserved as well. This creates a connected setup:
The tour can be sold as a group offer
At the same time, a suitable canoe is automatically blocked in the background
Exclusive time slots prevents multiple unrelated groups from sharing the same canoe
Group museum tours
Group museum tours
Another typical example for Exclusive time slots is group museum tours, where a time slot should be reserved for one group.
Create a resource for Group museum tours
Under Availability > Multiple available, define:
Available quantity: 20
Allowed bookings per order: 20
Exclusive time slots: activated
Navigate to the tab booking options and set up the ticket
Open the advanced settings and set the Minimum booking quantity to 10. This ensures that at least 10 tickets must be purchased per booking.
As soon as a group books this time slot, the entire time slot is blocked exclusively for that booking, even if there would still be free spots mathematically. This is especially helpful when group tours should not be mixed with other visitor groups.
FAQ
What does “sold out” mean if there are still spots available?
What does “sold out” mean if there are still spots available?
In this case, “sold out” means that the time slot is already reserved exclusively for one booking. It does not necessarily mean that all available spots are fully occupied.
Can admins still see how many spots are actually occupied?
Can admins still see how many spots are actually occupied?
Yes. In the admin area, the actual occupancy remains visible, for example 2/4 occupied.
For which resources is this feature relevant?
For which resources is this feature relevant?
For resources with multiple capacity as well as for resources with child resources that are available multiple times.
Does this feature prevent mixed groups within one time slot?
Does this feature prevent mixed groups within one time slot?
Yes. That is exactly what it is designed for. As soon as the first booking is made, the time slot is closed for other bookings.
Troubleshooting
“A time slot is shown as sold out even though there are still free spots.”
This is expected behavior if Exclusive time slots per booking is activated. The time slot has already been reserved exclusively by one booking and is therefore no longer bookable for additional customers.
“I can still see free capacity in the admin area, but no further bookings are possible.”
This is also correct. The remaining capacity belongs to the existing booking and is not available for separate additional bookings.
“When should I activate this feature?”
This feature is useful if you want to prevent different customer groups from sharing the same time slot, for example for lanes, boats, or group offers.