INTRODUCTION
Feature Summary: Create unique rules and booking permissions for each membership type to control how and when members can make reservations, invite players, access resources, and cancel bookings. This is important because it allows clubs to tailor access levels, enforce policies, and ensure a fair and consistent booking experience across different member tiers.
Use Cases: System users can:
Build tiered membership structures with varying booking privileges.
Offer exclusive access for premium members (e.g., priority booking or resource use).
Set fair play limits for standard memberships (e.g., daily court limits or time restrictions).
Configure guest policies and approval requirements to align with club rules.
Control resource access, such as allowing certain members to book a ball machines or specific reservation types.
OVERVIEW
The Reservation Rules feature allows system users to create custom booking rules and restrictions for each membership type. These rules define how members can reserve courts, access resources, and interact with other players through the Member Portal or mobile app.
By tailoring reservation permissions, time limits, and restrictions at the membership level, clubs can design flexible membership tiers that match the unique needs of their players — from casual participants to premium members.
For example, a Junior Membership might only allow weekday bookings during limited hours, while a Premium Membership could permit advanced reservations, guest bookings, and unrestricted access to all court types.
PREREQUISITES
Reservation rules are one part of creating a membership. Click here to understand the basics of creating a membership type.
SETUP REQUIREMENTS
The first step is to open the Reservation Rules tab. Follow these steps to edit an existing membership type or create a new one.
Log in to the admin dashboard.
Go to the side menu and click MEMBERSHIPS. A new page displays.
To edit rules for an existing membership type:
Click the Individual or Family tab.
Select a membership type.
Click the pencil icon.
Click the Reservation Rules tab.
To create rules for a new membership type:
Click the Individual or Family tab.
Click the green create button.
Click the Reservation Rules tab.
Fill in the Form
Permissions
Allow Members to Book Courts Online - Check this box to let members book a court on the member portal. The default setting is not checked. If enabled, the page displays the Consolidated Scheduler option.
Allow a member to select a court from Consolidated Scheduler - If enabled, the member can choose a court on a drop-down menu if this type of scheduler is used.
Hide Court Scheduler - If this box is checked, CourtReserve removes the court scheduler link from the member portal menu for members/players with this membership type. Note: The Hide Court Scheduler checkbox does not display on the page if the system user enables the Allow Members to Book Courts Online feature.
A Member Reservation through the Portal must be Approved - If this box is checked, a system user must approve the booking. CourtReserve displays a Pending Approval note on the reservation page until approved. If a member reservation requires approval, a system user must go to the TO DO page and approve or decline the request. Click here to learn more.
Example: Based on these settings, a member with this membership type is allowed to book courts, so the available Reserve options are displayed according to the club’s configured availability.
Resources
There are two ways members can book resources, like ball machines, depending on how these settings are configured:
Allow Members To Book Resources - When this box is checked (and the option below is not selected), members can book resources—such as a ball machine—directly from a dedicated booking page. This creates a Resources option in the navigation menu and provides a separate scheduler specifically for resource reservations. If this setting is not enabled, members will not be able to book resources.
Restrict Resource Bookings Just From Courts Scheduler - When this box is checked, members can only book resources while making a court reservation. They will first select a court time on the scheduler, then choose a resource from the Reservation Type dropdown. In this setup, there is no separate Resources booking page.
Other Players
Allow Member To Pick Other Members To Play With - Check this box to display a field on the member portal reservation form. Users can select a member or registered guest on the list. If the box is not checked, the member can book a court time but cannot choose a player.
Allowed Number of Guest(s) - Optionally, enter the number of allowed guests that this membership type can bring and set the period (e.g. per day, week, etc.).
Time and Availability
Time in Advance a Court can be Booked -Set how far in advance members can book a court by entering a number of days and, optionally, hours.
Example: If set to 7 days, members can book courts up to one week in advance. If set to 7 days and 2 hours, they can book slightly earlier based on the exact time.
Time to Open Next Available Reservation Day - Optionally set a specific time of day when the next booking day becomes available on the member portal.
Example: If booking opens 7 days in advance and this is set to 7:00 AM, the next available day will unlock at 7:00 AM each day instead of at midnight.
Availability
Exclude Past Reservations from Reservation Restrictions - Check this box to apply reservation restrictions to future bookings only, and to not include past reservations as part of the daily/weekly restrictions under a membership.
Example: If a member has a 3-booking-per-week limit and already completed 2 bookings earlier in the week, those past bookings won’t count toward the limit—allowing them to still book 3 upcoming reservations.
Days in Advance to Show Courts Availability - Set how many days in advance the court scheduler becomes visible on the member portal.
Example: If set to 5 days, members will only see court availability starting 5 days ahead, even if booking is allowed further out.
Booking Buffer Minutes - Prevent last-minute bookings by setting how many minutes before a court time bookings will close.
Example: If set to 60 minutes, members will no longer be able to book a court within one hour of the start time.
Restrictions
System users can add specific rules in the Restrictions tabs to control how members book courts. These rules can include limits on booking time, number of courts, or court types, and are defined at the membership type level.
Restrictions set here will override any applicable configurations found under Settings > Booking Settings > Restrictions, ensuring that membership-specific rules take priority.
Click a link to open a new page and read about each Restrictions tab or review the full article here.
Cancellation Policies
The next group of fields relates to the cancellation policies for this membership type. These settings are pulled from Booking Settings > General. If you make changes here, those updates will automatically be reflected in Booking Settings > General. To understand each field, see the cancellation policy article here.
Reservations
Allowed Reservation Types: Use this field to specify which reservation types members under this membership can book.
Selecting All allows members to book any active reservation type configured in your system.
To limit access, choose only specific reservation types to control what members can reserve.
Example:
A junior membership might only allow “Court – Tennis (Junior)” reservations, while a full membership could have access to all reservation types.
Default Reservation Type: Select the default reservation type that appears when members make a booking. This helps streamline the reservation process by pre-filling the most common option for that membership type.
Example:
If most players in this membership book Doubles – Pickleball, set that as the default so it appears automatically when they go to make a reservation.
Example default from mobile app:
