---
title: Booking Options Guide
description: Booking options
---
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# Booking Options Guide
## Booking options let you charge for things like set menus, packages, and offer optional extras for guests to add to their booking.
This guide covers:
- [Creating a booking option](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base/booking-options-guide#Create)
- [Adding it to a service in your schedule](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base/booking-options-guide#Add)
- [Setting up temporary booking options](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base/booking-options-guide#Temporary)
- [Removing or archiving options you no longer need](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base/booking-options-guide#Remove)
### Create a booking option
1. **Open Settings.** In the Diary, go to **Settings**.
2. **Go to Booking Options.** In the side panel, open the **Diary** drop-down and select **Booking Options**.
3. **Add a new option.** Select **+ New booking option**.
4. **Enter the details:**
- **Payment Type:** how the guest is charged (free, pre-authorisation, deposit, or full payment).
- **Price:** what the guest pays when they book.
- **Name:** for your team only. Guests won’t see it.
- **Widget Label:** the name guests see in the booking widget.
- **Widget Description:** the description guests see in the booking widget.
5. **Save.**
> **Note:** The price is what the guest pays at the time of booking. It doesn’t have to match what the item costs on the night. For example, a set menu might be $70 per person, but you could set the booking option price to $25 as a pre-authorisation.
### Add a booking option to a service
Once you’ve created your booking options, add them to the service they belong to.
1. **Open the service.** In **Settings**, under **Bookings**, select **Schedule**, then click into the service (for example, Lunch or Dinner).
2. **Go to the Payments & Booking Options tab.**
3. **Set the payment type.** Under **Payment Type**, select **Booking Options**.
4. **Choose a format:**
- **Whole Booking on One Option:** every guest selects the same option, priced per person.
- **Quantities Per Option:** each guest chooses their own option, and the total must equal the number of guests.
- **Booking Option Per Booking:** one option for the whole booking, priced per booking rather than per person.
5. **Add your options.**
- Use **Search for Booking Options** for options guests *must* choose to complete their booking.
- Use **Additional Upsell Booking Options** for optional extras. You can add a heading and description to explain them.
6. **Set the minimum booking size.** This is the smallest group the options apply to. Set it to 1 to apply them to every booking.
7. **Save.**
> **Note:** If you’re only adding optional extras (no mandatory booking options), select **Add Additional Upsell Items** instead of following the steps above.
### Temporary booking options
Temporary booking options let you offer a **different set of options** to certain bookings, based on the date, the group size, or both. For example:
- A Christmas menu from 1 to 31 December
- A set menu for groups of eight or more, all year round
- A set menu for groups of eight or more on New Year’s Eve only
Despite the name, they don’t have to be temporary. Leave the end date blank and the rule runs on an ongoing basis.
#### How they work
A temporary booking option applies when a booking matches **both** of these:
- **Group size:** the booking has **at least** the number of guests you set. Set it to 8 and it applies to groups of eight, nine, 10, and so on.
- **Dates:** the booking falls between your start and end dates, including both days. A blank end date means it never ends.
When a booking matches, the temporary booking option **replaces** the service’s usual booking options and settings (including payment type, upsells, and any max pax override). It doesn’t add to them. When a booking doesn’t match, the usual booking options apply.
If more than one temporary booking option matches a booking, the first one in the list is used.
> **Tip:** Put what applies to *most* guests on the service’s usual booking options. Use temporary booking options only for the bookings that need something different. If you set it up the other way round, guests may see options, prices, or pax limits you didn’t expect.
#### Set up a temporary booking option
1. **Open the tab.** In the same **Payments & Booking Options** tab, select **Add Temporary Booking Options**.
2. **Set up the options.** Choose the format and booking options, the same as for a regular service. Then enter the minimum booking size.
3. **Set the dates.** Enter a start date in **Show booking options from** and an end date in **Show booking options to**. Leave **Show booking options to** blank to run it ongoing.
4. **Save.**
> **Note:** Temporary booking options are set per service, per day of the week. If your date range covers several days, add the option to each day in your schedule within that range.
### Remove a booking option
Booking options stay on a service until you remove them. The exception is temporary booking options with an end date, which finish on their own.
Archiving a booking option in **Settings** only hides it from your booking options list. It **doesn’t** remove it from services it’s already on.
1. **Open the service.** Go to **Settings \> Schedule**, click into the service, then select the **Payments & Booking Options** tab.
2. **Remove the options.**
- To remove individual options, select the **x** next to each one.
- To stop using booking options on this service entirely, change **Payment Type** to **No Payment**, **Pre-Authorisation**, **Full Payment**, or **Deposit**.
3. **Save.**
> **Note:** If you see an **Edit Upsell Items** button, select it to check which upsell options are still applied.
### Troubleshooting
- **Guests are seeing the wrong options or a different max pax:** check for a temporary booking option on that day. If the booking matches its group size and dates, it replaces the service’s usual setup.
- **An archived option is still showing in the widget:** archiving doesn’t remove it from services. Remove it from each service as shown above.
- **A temporary option isn’t showing:** check that it’s added to the right day of the week, the booking is on or after the start date, and the group is at least the minimum size.
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