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Booking confirmation settings

Control when and how customer bookings are confirmed in your system.

Quick links: Pay to confirm • Down payment to confirm • Activate in rental setup

Let's Book offers two confirmation methods:

  • Pay to confirm - Requires full payment upfront (most secure, prevents no-shows)
  • Down payment to confirm - Allows partial payment to secure bookings (lowers booking barrier for expensive or long rentals)

Pay to confirm​

Customers must pay the full amount before their booking is confirmed. This is the most secure method and prevents no-shows.

Setup​

  1. Go to Confirmation Methods
  2. Click Add
  3. Select when fully paid
  4. Give your method a name (e.g., "Direct payment")
  5. Set the draft booking timeout: How long customers have to complete payment after starting their booking (default: 15 minutes)
  6. Click Save

How it works​

Customer completes booking → pays full amount → booking confirmed → confirmation email sent.

Draft booking timeout​

When customers start entering their details in the booking form, the system temporarily reserves the boat. The timeout determines how long this reservation lasts.

  • 15 minutes (recommended) - Gives customers time to complete payment without holding boats too long
  • Choose Minutes/Hours/Days based on your needs

After this period, the slot becomes available again if payment wasn't completed. This prevents boats from being unnecessarily blocked.

Down payment to confirm​

Customers make a partial payment to secure their booking, with the remainder due later. Use this for expensive rentals or to capture early bookings while giving customers payment flexibility.

Setup​

  1. Go to Confirmation Methods
  2. Click Add
  3. Select when a down payment is made
  4. Give your method a name (e.g., "Down payment confirmation" or "Partial payment")
  5. Choose your down payment type:
    • Percentage: Enter a percentage of the total amount (e.g., 20%)
    • Fixed amount: Enter a specific amount in your currency (e.g., €50)
  6. Set the draft booking timeout (same as pay to confirm)
  7. Click Save

How it works​

Customer completes booking → pays down payment → booking confirmed → you collect remaining balance before the trip.

Collecting the remaining balance: Open the booking in your dashboard, go to the Finance tab, and send a payment request link. The customer receives an email with a secure payment link to complete their payment. Learn more about managing booking finances.

Payment options explained​

Percentage: Calculated over the total rental amount excluding any separate deposit charges. For example, 20% of a €200 rental = €40 down payment.

Fixed amount: Same amount regardless of rental price. Useful for consistent booking fees across all rentals.

Activate in rental setup​

After creating a confirmation method, you need to activate it for specific dock-boat combinations:

  1. Go to Rental Setup
  2. Find the dock-boat combination you want to configure
  3. Click on the combination to open its settings
  4. In the Confirmation method dropdown, select your confirmation method
  5. Click Save

Your confirmation method is now active for that specific dock-boat combination. You can use different confirmation methods for different combinations - for example, require full payment for premium boats but allow down payments for standard boats.

Learn more about how all these settings work together in Understanding rental setup.