When does an unconfirmed booking auto-cancel, and what should the desk do?

Unpaid bookings expire after about 30 minutes. Desk should recreate the booking or seat a walk-in in the freed seat.

What Zettlor does today

Unpaid pending reservations auto-expire on a schedule (about 30 minutes). Capacity returns when the reservation cancels. Desk sees the slot open on Schedule and can book the guest again or take a walk-in.

This behavior is live in Zettlor today for a commercial sauna and cold plunge room. Guest booking, cancel, and credit self-serve steps stay on Help. This page is for operators.

Desk path

Schedule to see cancelled pending rows and rebook; walk-in flow for the freed seat.

Do not invent a settings path beyond what is listed here. If the product does not include a control, the desk workaround is the path.

Failure mode

Guests assume payment stalled means the seat is still held indefinitely. After expiry another guest or walk-in can take the seat.

Operator example

A Rytual guest abandons sauna checkout; after unpaid bookings expire after about 30 minutes, desk books a walk-in into the same slot.

A sauna and cold plunge operator can copy the shape of this example without copying another brand's private pricing or customer lists.

How to do this

1. When checkout stalls, note the pending reservation on Schedule.
2. Wait for auto-expire or confirm unpaid bookings expired after about 30 minutes.
3. Call the guest to complete payment or recreate the reservation if they still want the slot.
4. If the slot is open, seat a walk-in or the next caller.
5. Do not assume pending holds the seat past the unpaid expiry window.

Related questions

How long does pending hold a seat?

About 30 minutes unpaid, then unpaid bookings expire and free capacity.

Can desk extend the hold?

Desk can create a confirmed reservation to hold the seat; pending checkout hold is not extended by default.

Follow-up guides

• Guarantee a seat for someone driving in

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