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How Instant Booking Works in WPRentals

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Instant Booking allows guests to confirm a booking without waiting for the owner to manually approve the booking request.

Instant Booking is enabled per listing. This means it can be active for some properties and disabled for others.

When Instant Booking is enabled for a listing, the booking flow depends on the payment setup selected by the site admin:

  • Instant Booking with deposit or service fee required
  • Instant Booking with WooCommerce payments
  • Instant Booking with deposit set to 0
Important:
Instant Booking is managed from the front-end User Dashboard, inside the property edit form. Site admins who manage properties themselves and owners who register from the front end use the same dashboard flow to add or edit listings.

CONTENT

Video Tutorials

Before reading the full article, you can watch these video tutorials for a step-by-step explanation.

In this video, you will learn how to enable the Instant Booking option per listing, how to manage bookings with no deposit fee required, how to manage bookings with deposit or service fees bigger than 0, and how to manage bookings if you use WooCommerce for payments. Watch Video on Youtube
In this video, you will learn how to manage Instant Booking with WooCommerce payments. Watch Video on Youtube

Who Can Manage Instant Booking

Instant Booking is managed from the front-end User Dashboard.

Important:
Instant Booking is not enabled globally from Theme Options. It is enabled individually for each property from the Add Property or Edit Property form.

This applies to:

  • site admins who manage listings from the front-end dashboard, for example a single admin managing all properties
  • owners who register from the front end and manage their own listings

Both admins and owners manage listings the same way:

User Dashboard > My Listings > Add New Listing or User Dashboard > My Listings > Edit Listing

The User Dashboard is accessed from the User Dashboard icon on the front end, after the user logs in.

Then open the Description Settings section.

By default, the Instant Booking option is unchecked.

To enable Instant Booking, check the Instant Booking option and save the property.





Scenario 1: Instant Booking With Deposit or Service Fee Required

If the site admin has set a deposit fee or service fee, the guest must pay the required amount before the booking is confirmed.

The deposit is set by the site admin only.

The deposit can be:

  • a fixed value
  • a percentage value

Read more about deposit fee and service fee



Booking Flow

  • The guest selects the booking dates and sends the booking request.
  • The guest is prompted to log in or register before sending the booking request.
  • The guest pays the deposit through the enabled payment method.
  • The payment can be processed through theme payment merchants or WooCommerce merchants, if WooCommerce payments are enabled.
  • After the payment is completed, the booking is confirmed.
  • The guest can view the confirmed booking in My Reservations.



https://help.wprentals.org/article/what-payment-platforms-are-supported-in-wprentals/





Scenario 2: Instant Booking With WooCommerce Payments

If WooCommerce payments are enabled, the deposit payment can be processed through WooCommerce checkout.

With this setup, the guest can complete the booking payment through WooCommerce. WooCommerce handles the order process and the customer account flow during checkout, depending on your WooCommerce account settings.

Help – Install WooCommerce and Use WooCommerce Payments

How to Use Booking Without Login First

This option works with properties that have Instant Booking enabled and use WooCommerce for payment processing.

With this setup, the user does not need to log in before starting the booking from the property page.

The guest can select the dates, click Book Now, and continue through WooCommerce checkout. WooCommerce can create the user account during checkout and send the account/password setup email automatically, depending on your WooCommerce configuration.

Live demo:

https://demo1.wprentals.org/properties/condo-in-liberty-state-park/

Help:

https://help.wprentals.org/article/install-woocommerce-and-use-woocommerce-payments/#booking_without_login

Required Setup

  • The property must have Instant Booking enabled.
  • WooCommerce payments must be enabled in WPRentals.
  • WooCommerce must allow account creation during checkout.
  • The WooCommerce new account/password setup email must be enabled.

Scenario 3: Instant Booking With Deposit Set to 0

If the site admin sets the deposit fee to 0, the booking can be confirmed without a deposit payment.



Booking Flow

  • The guest selects the booking dates.
  • The guest logs in or registers, if not already logged in.
  • The guest sends the booking request.
  • The booking is confirmed instantly without requiring a deposit payment.



How to Hide Instant Booking From the Submit Form

If you do not want owners to use Instant Booking, you can hide the Instant Booking option from the submit listing form with CSS.

.col-md-12 #instant_booking {
    margin-left: 15px;
    display: none;
}

[for="instant_booking"] {
    display: none !important;
}

Summary

  • Instant Booking is enabled per listing.
  • Site admins and registered owners manage listings from the front-end User Dashboard.
  • The User Dashboard is accessed from the User Dashboard icon after login.
  • To enable Instant Booking, go to User Dashboard > My Properties > Add Property or Edit Property.
  • The Instant Booking option is found in the property Description Settings.
  • The booking flow depends on the site payment setup.
  • WooCommerce with Instant Booking can allow booking without login first.