Booking Rules – Automate Conditions and Actions
Booking rules automate what you otherwise do by hand every time: "parties of eight or more must always leave a card", "Fridays and Saturdays I want to approve myself", "guests with a no-show history must confirm".
A rule is one sentence: IF the conditions match, DO this.
Where to find them
Booking → Regler (Rules). The tab is only visible to users with the booking.manage_rules capability.
Conditions – when the rule applies
| Condition | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Booking type | Table booking, seated event, standing event or resource |
| Specific event | Only one particular event |
| Minimum party size | From this many guests |
| Maximum party size | Up to this many guests |
| Weekday | Selected days only |
| Question answer | The guest gave a specific answer to one of your own questions |
| No-show history | The guest has failed to show up before |
Every condition in a rule must match at the same time. Setting "Minimum party 8" and "Weekday: Friday, Saturday" makes the rule apply only to large parties on weekends – not to large parties on Tuesdays.
For two independent rules, create two rules.
Actions – what happens
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Require card guarantee | The guest must register a card. The booking is held until the card is in place |
| Require confirmation | The guest must actively confirm they are coming |
| Require manual handling | The booking is marked provisional so you approve the table choice yourself |
| Tag guest | Automatically applies a tag to the guest |
| Send message | Runs one of your existing automations |
If several rules match the same booking, all their actions run.
Worth knowing
Require card guarantee only applies to online bookings. If the guest calls and you enter the booking yourself it does not trigger – you already have the guest on the phone.
Tag guest can only apply manual tags. Automatic tags are recalculated nightly and would overwrite whatever the rule set.
Send message points at an automation you already built, not at free text. That is why the field is a list and not a text box – the message should look like all your others.
A broken rule never blocks a booking. If evaluation fails, the booking goes through without the rule's effects. Better a booking without a tag than a guest meeting an error message.
Examples
| What you want | Condition | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Large parties leave a card | Minimum party: 8 | Require card guarantee |
| I approve weekends myself | Weekday: Fri, Sat | Require manual handling |
| Past no-shows must confirm | No-show history | Require confirmation |
| Flag guests with allergies | Question answer: "Allergies = Yes" | Tag guest |
Order and switching off
Each rule has a priority and can be switched off without being deleted. Prefer switching a rule off for a season over removing it – then it is still there when the season turns.
Related: Mark no-show, Configure booking settings, Manage a booking
This feature is part of Vendion Booking.
Curious how it looks in practice? Read more about the product or book a short demo.
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