Auto-Expire Rules
Stop leaving no-show tables blocked until closing
Every busy night ends the same way: two or three tables are still marked "Confirmed" but the guests never showed. Someone has to walk the floor and close them manually. Reservation.Tools does it for you.
Set a single interval — in minutes after the reservation start time — and any booking that hasn't been seated by then flips to Expired automatically. The table becomes available for walk-ins, reports count it as a no-show, and the CRM updates the customer's history.
Why it matters
A 15-minute auto-expire means a missed 7pm booking frees the table at 7:15pm instead of sitting there empty until closing. That's one more cover per shift, every shift. Multiply across a busy week and the lost revenue adds up fast.
How it runs
The rule lives on the venue settings and runs in the background on a schedule. You set the interval once and forget it. If a guest does arrive late, staff can still seat them manually — auto-expire is a cleanup, not a lockout.
Key benefits
Free tables automatically
Unseated bookings flip to Expired after your set interval. Tables open up for walk-ins without staff intervention.
Cleaner no-show reports
Every expired booking is logged as a no-show. Your no-show report reflects reality, not just what staff remembered to close.
One setting per venue
Set the interval once in <strong>Venue Settings</strong> (minutes after reservation start). 0 disables the feature.
Manual seating still works
Late guests can still be seated — the system lets staff reopen the reservation if needed.
Runs in the background
A scheduled task handles the cleanup. No one needs to watch the list or hit refresh.
How it works
- 01
Open venue settings
In the admin panel go to <strong>Venues</strong> and edit the venue you want to configure.
- 02
Find the auto-expire field
Scroll to <strong>Reservation auto expire</strong> — the help text reads "Interval in minutes after reservation start (0 to disable)".
- 03
Set an interval
15 minutes is a common choice for dinner service. 10 minutes for short-table cafes. 30+ for long seatings.
- 04
Save and let it run
A background job scans all confirmed reservations past their start time and flips anything older than your interval to Expired.
- 05
Check the report
Your no-show stats now include every expired reservation — a truer picture of the cost of no-shows.
Stop losing tables to no-shows you forgot to close
One setting, and every expired booking frees its table automatically.
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