Guide
Keeping room for walk-ins and bookings
Most pubs want both. Online bookings fill the diary, and the walk-ins fill the gaps and keep the bar busy. If you let the booking page take every table, the walk-ins get turned away. Here is how to leave room.
Watch: Walk-ins and Bookings Together
Use a covers cap, notice and group limits to keep room for walk-ins. 60 sec
Read the transcript
Pubs live on walk-ins. If the booking page takes every table, they get turned away. Here's how to leave room for both. Open Reports and look at Where bookings come from, to see your real share of walk-ins. Be honest about the number. Go to Tablez and set Max covers per service. If you seat sixty, a cap of forty five stops online bookings early, and leaves fifteen seats for walk-ins. Press Save changes. In Booking rules, set Minimum notice, so nobody books a table for 10 minutes time. Back on Tablez, lower Largest party online, so a big group has to ring you. When someone walks in, tap a free table on the Floor plan to seat them. Or press Add booking, and set Taken by to Walk in. On the Free plan, walk ins count towards your booking limit. On Standard and Pro, they are free and do not count. There's no setting to reserve named tables for walk-ins, so the covers cap does the job. Start free at tablez.co.uk.
Leave headroom with a covers cap
Go to Tables. Under Party sizes and capacity, set Max covers per service. If you seat 60, a cap of 45 means online bookings stop at 45 covers for that service and the last 15 seats are there for walk-ins. The cap counts every booking in that service, including ones you add by hand.
Be honest with yourself about the number. Look at your Reports first (Standard and above) to see how many walk-ins you really get.
Stop last minute online bookings
In Booking rules, set Minimum notice so people cannot book a table for ten minutes time. That keeps tables free for people standing at the bar. You can also lower How far ahead can people book? on quiet weekdays.
Keep big groups out of the walk-in space
Lower Largest party online under Tables so a big group has to ring you. That stops one booking taking over your busiest area.
Log your walk-ins
When someone walks in, add them. On the Floor plan (Standard and above) tap a table to seat a walk-in. Or use Bookings, Add booking, and set Taken by to Walk in. On the Free plan, walk-ins you add yourself count towards your monthly booking limit. On Standard and Pro they do not. If the room is full, use Add a walk in to the waitlist on the Waitlist page.
Step by step
- Check your numbers. Open Reports and look at Where bookings come from for your walk-in share.
- Set the cap. Go to Tables, find Max covers per service, enter your number and press Save.
- Set minimum notice. Go to Booking rules and set Minimum notice.
- Limit group size online. On Tables, set Largest party online.
- Seat walk-ins on the floor plan. Open Floor plan and tap a free table.
- Or log them from Bookings. Press Add booking and set Taken by to Walk in.
Watch it and read more
Prefer to watch? The matching video is on the video guides page. More reading: floor plan and waitlist and guest notes. See the plans and prices if you are not sure which plan you need.
FAQ
Common questions
Can I reserve specific tables for walk-ins?
No, there is no setting for that. Use the covers cap to leave seats free, and use your judgement on the night.
Do walk-ins count towards my monthly booking limit?
On the Free plan, yes: every booking counts, including ones you add yourself. On Standard and Pro, no: only bookings made online through your booking page count.
What if I need to squeeze one more booking in?
When you add a booking yourself, you can tick Book anyway, even if no table is free.
Is the floor plan on every plan?
The live floor plan is on Standard and above.