What a restriction actually is

A Booking Restriction is a reusable policy -- built once in your Booking Restrictions library and applied wherever it fits, instead of set up separately on every activity. Each restriction carries its own party-size and cutoff details, and it is not one rule but three, one for each real state a timeslot can be in: what happens when it has no bookings yet, what happens once it already has at least one booking, and what happens once it is completely full.

Auto-close: two reference points

Each rule's auto-close cutoff counts backward from one of two reference points -- Midnight on the Event Day, the same clock time every slot that day shares, or Event Start Time, which moves with each slot. A boat operator who decides the day's departures by noon might close the "no bookings yet" rule right at that fixed daily cutoff, no matter what time each trip actually leaves. But once a trip already has one booking, it is going out regardless, so that rule can switch to counting backward from its own start time instead -- the way a museum or timed-entry attraction, with no single daily go/no-go call, would set it.

What guests see on the calendar

Beyond the booking rules themselves, a restriction controls what guests actually see on your calendar. Hide unavailable slots completely instead of showing them as sold out. Cap how far in advance anyone can book -- say, thirty days out. And turn on "Only X seats left" to create real urgency -- set a threshold, like five or fewer, and guests see exactly how close a slot is to selling out, with your own message once it actually does.

One rule, reused everywhere it is assigned

Because a restriction is reusable, one edit can update every activity that uses it. Tighten the party size or the auto-close window on a single restriction, and every activity assigned to it updates at once, instead of editing each one separately.

Next steps

Open your own Booking Restrictions library to see what is already in use, or book a demo if you want a walkthrough on your own account.