What is a booking request?
Also called: Request to book, Approve-first booking
A booking request is a booking that waits for the owner to accept or decline it before it is confirmed, usually with a deadline for the owner to respond.
Requests suit spaces where the owner wants to check the customer, the purpose or the number of guests first, for example an event hall or a space used for unusual shoots.
The risk is speed. A request that sits unanswered loses the customer, so good systems put a deadline on it and release the customer if it passes.
Payment can be taken when the request is made and returned if it is declined, or taken after it is accepted. Taking it up front shows the customer is serious; returning it automatically keeps that fair.
How Superspace handles it
In Superspace a booking request is paid when it is made and waits under Requests with a countdown. If you decline it, or it expires before you answer, the customer is refunded in full automatically. Guests cannot request a slot that starts less than 15 minutes away. See Understand booking request deadlines.
Common questions
How long should I take to respond to a booking request?
As little as possible. Customers often ask several venues at once. In Superspace the deadline depends on how soon the booking starts: the sooner the start, the shorter the time to respond.
What happens if I miss a booking request?
In Superspace it expires, moves to History, and the customer's payment is refunded in full automatically.