Your pricing rules set your prices and also determine which slots players see and can book in the Playtomic app. This article explains how bookable slots are created, which rule type to choose, and how to avoid common setup issues.
How bookable slots are created
Three settings decide which slots players can book:
- Booking duration: how long a booking lasts. You can offer one duration or several. The most common are 60, 90 and 120 minutes.
- Time range: when the pricing rule starts and ends, for example 8:00 to 14:00. Slots are counted from the start time.
- Rule type: Fixed, Flexible – Avoid Unbookable Time, or Flexible – Allow Unbookable Time. This decides how often a new slot opens.
⚠️Unbookable time: is a gap in your calendar that is too short for any booking to fit. An example is a 30-minute gap between two 90-minute reservations.
The three rule types
Fixed – Avoid Unbookable Time
Slots open back to back, each one a full booking duration after the previous one, so there are never gaps.
Example: 90-minute bookings from 8:00 to 14:00 give these slots: 8:00, 9:30, 11:00 and 12:30 (the last booking ends at 14:00).
Use Fixed only when you offer one booking duration.
Flexible – Avoid Unbookable Time
Slots only open at times where a booking can start exactly when another one ends, so no gaps are left in the calendar. This rule works with several durations.
- With one duration, it works like Fixed. For example, 90-minute bookings from 8:00 open slots at 8:00, 9:30, 11:00 and so on.
- With several durations, the start times follow the booking lengths. For example, if your club opens at 9:00 and offers 60- and 90-minute bookings, the first slots are 9:00, 10:00 (after a 60-minute booking) and 10:30 (after a 90-minute booking). A booking can't start at 9:30, because the 30 minutes before it couldn't be booked.
This rule works well for peak hours, when you want to fill every minute of your courts.
Flexible – Allow Unbookable Time
Slots open every 30 minutes for any duration. This gives players the most flexibility, but it can leave gaps.
Example: 90-minute bookings from 8:00 to 14:00 give slots at 8:00, 8:30, 9:00, 9:30 and so on. Suppose one player books 8:30–10:00 and another books 11:00–12:30. Then 8:00–8:30 and 10:00–11:00 stay empty, and no one can book them.
This rule works well for quieter hours, when giving players more start times matters more than filling every minute.
Which rule should I choose?
You offer… | And you want… | Use |
|---|---|---|
One duration (e.g. only 90 min) | No gaps and maximum occupancy | Fixed |
One duration | More start times for players | Flexible – Allow Unbookable Time |
Several durations (e.g. 60 and 90 min) | No gaps | Flexible – Avoid Unbookable Time |
Several durations | Maximum flexibility | Flexible – Allow Unbookable Time |
⚠️ Never use Fixed with more than one duration. If you do, the available slots may not show as expected.
Make sure your time range fits full bookings
With Fixed and Flexible – Avoid Unbookable Time, a slot only appears in the app if the whole booking fits before the pricing rule ends.
Example: You set 90-minute bookings from 8:00 to 13:30. The 12:30 slot won't appear, because only 60 minutes are left before the rule ends. Set the rule from 8:00 to 14:00 instead.
💡 Tip: Make the total length of your time range a multiple of your booking duration. For example, 8:00 to 14:00 is 6 hours, which fits exactly four 90-minute bookings.
How to offer bookings on the hour only (9:00, 10:00, 11:00…)
You may want every booking to start and end on the hour. To set this up:
- Set the booking duration to 60 minutes only.
- Choose the Fixed rule type.
- Make sure your opening hours, calendar and pricing rule all start at the top of the hour (:00).
Slots are counted from the start time, so the start time decides everything:
- ✅ 8:00 to 23:00: slots at 8:00, 9:00, 10:00… up to 22:00.
- ❌ 8:30 to 23:30: slots at 8:30, 9:30, 10:30…
- ❌ 8:30 to 23:00: slots at 8:30, 9:30… up to 21:30. The last 30 minutes (22:30–23:00) are too short for a booking, so they stay empty.
Recommended setup for higher occupancy
To balance player flexibility and occupancy, you can combine rules by time of day:
- Quieter hours (e.g. 10:00 to 15:00): Flexible – Allow Unbookable Time, with 60, 90 and 120 minutes.
- Peak hours (e.g. 15:00 to 22:30): Flexible – Avoid Unbookable Time, with the same durations.
💬 Need Help?
If you have any questions or need further assistance, don't worry! 😊 You can always contact us. We're here to help!
Comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.