How do members bring a guest onto a sauna session, and does it burn a second credit?

Published FAQ affirms members can bring guests, but a full operator how-to for guest-pass allotments and automatic second-credit burn on a shared sauna and cold plunge seat is partial. Treat a +1 guest as a second seat on capacity; whether that seat spends another membership credit, a guest-pass balance, a punch, or cash depends on what is actually configured and spendable—not on a self-serve “add guest” flow documented here.

What Zettlor does today

This behavior is partial. FAQ: members can bring guests (yes/no). Product surface language and integration notes describe guest passes as a membership benefit (“bring N guests per period”) and family / guardian links for related people, but live operator guides do not publish a labeled guest-pass settings path or a fixed rule that every +1 always burns exactly one extra Sessions-per-period credit. Included sessions spend membership credits at checkout for seats the member covers; after the period count is used, checkout charges the session product price. Desk can book additional guests, grant complimentary credits, or take payment / walk-in comp for the second seat. Family-dependents covers parents booking linked guests without email at the desk—that is household booking, not the same as a tracked guest-pass perk.

What is not confirmed here: a native self-serve “bring a guest” button that always deducts a second included session, or a Store path with per-period guest-pass counters operators can screenshot today. Until that ships, treat guest cover as a desk policy call—second seat, second credit, drop-in price, or comp.

Guest booking, cancel, and credit self-serve steps stay on Help. This page is for operators.

Desk path

CRM → Customers: confirm the member’s membership status and whether credits (and any guest-pass balance your org actually shows) are active and spendable. Schedule or walk-in: add the member and the guest as separate attendees on the shared session so capacity is correct. Cover the guest seat with a second spendable credit if policy says membership pays, or collect the session price / desk comp if policy says guests pay. Family / Guardian links when the +1 is a dependent without email.

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

Desk books only the member and waves the friend through. Capacity, waiver, and check-in records miss the second body in the room. Or staff assume every guest freebie burns one included session without checking remaining credits—ninth “guest” visit in a period then surprises everyone at renewal. Opposite failure: charging the member twice when a true guest-pass allotment (if present on the customer) should have covered the friend. Family accounts get confused with guest passes: dependents need their own waivers even when linked.

Operator example

A Rytual unlimited member brings a friend to Friday shared sauna and cold plunge. Desk adds both names on the reservation. The member’s own seat is covered by membership. For the friend, ops policy that week is “guests pay drop-in unless a guest-pass balance shows on the member.” Staff check the customer, see no spendable guest-pass credit, collect the shared-session price for the friend, and still collect the friend’s waiver. They do not invent a second included-session burn when the product UI never showed a guest-pass counter.

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. Write the house rule in one sentence: guests always pay; or membership includes N guest visits per period; or desk comps first-timers only.
2. Open the member on CRM → Customers and confirm Active status plus what credits are actually spendable today.
3. Book both people onto the shared session (Schedule or walk-in) so two seats leave inventory—never a silent +1.
4. Cover the guest seat explicitly: second membership/session credit if your live balance supports it; otherwise session price, punch pack, gift card, or complimentary grant / walk-in comp.
5. Collect a waiver for the guest as their own person—even when Family / Guardian linked.
6. If you expected a guest-pass counter and do not see one, check with ops before promising free +1s—do not assume a second included session burns automatically.
7. After checkout, confirm capacity, payment, and credits on the reservation before the pair enters the room.

Related questions

Does a guest always burn a second included session credit?

Not as a documented universal rule. Included sessions spend credits for seats they cover. A guest seat burns another credit only when that is how your spendable balances and desk cover are set up. If no second credit is spendable, expect a price or a comp—not a silent free seat.

Is this the same as family / dependents?

No. Family and Guardian links help book related guests (including without child email at the desk). Guest-as-perk is a membership benefit question. Both still need waivers and seats.

Can the member self-serve the +1 online?

FAQ says members can bring guests at a yes/no level. A full self-serve guest-pass checkout path is not published as an operator how-to here. When in doubt, complete the +1 at the desk so capacity and cover are correct.

Follow-up guides

• How do I set up family accounts so a parent can book dependents without their own email?
• How do included member sessions book without charging, then flip to member price?
• How do I book a complimentary session?
• How do I add session credits without charging — as a comp, a makeup, or a migration?
• How do I reassign unused session credits from one guest profile to another?

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