How do I take deposits only on busy days or special dates?

Restrict deposits to certain days and times, or give a date like New Year's Eve a deposit of its own on Special dates.

Use the Deposit: when you ask for one section on Settings → Payments and deposits → What guests pay — its two rows are Days and times and Event deposits. The page spells out how the pieces fit: Require deposits applies every day; day and time rules restrict it to just those times; a date's own deposit always applies on its date — even when Require deposits is off. "A special date beats your day-and-time rules, which beat your everyday rules." (Pay in full and pre-orders follow exactly the same model.)

Both come with deposits: Available on Plus plan and above. On a plan without deposits, the add buttons are replaced by a padlock chip; rules you already have stay listed — read-only, and not used — and can always be removed. Only Owners and Admins can open the page.

Deposits on certain days and times only

• In Days and times, click Add day/time rule.
• Pick the day, leave All day on, or switch it off and set a start and end time (e.g. Friday 18:00 to 23:00).
• Add as many rules as you like, then click Save changes.

Once any rule exists, deposits are only required on those days and times. With no rules, deposits apply to every eligible booking. Rules work alongside your party-size threshold — a deposit is taken only when both the time/day and the party size match.

Deposits on specific dates

A date's own deposit — Valentine's Day, Hogmanay, a set-menu night — is set with the date's other rules on Settings → Bookings → Special dates:

• Add the date (or open it with Change).
• On its Deposit, choose Custom and set the amount — per person or per booking, following your deposit's own choice — and, if you like, a party size it starts from.
• Click Save changes.

Event deposits, on What guests pay, then lists every date with a deposit of its own (the date, its name and its amount), with a link to Special dates — it's where you see them, not where you change them.

A date's own deposit overrides your standard amount on that date — and applies even if "Require deposits" is switched off, so you can run deposit-free normally but still protect your biggest nights. Your refund rules (What guests pay → Cancellations and refunds) cover it too — and a date can also have its own refund cut-off (Money back if they cancel) — and it appears in your customers' terms. See What's different about Christmas Day? (Special dates).

Pay-in-full bookings have their own matching day and time rules and dates of their own — and where pay in full applies, it takes priority over your deposit rules for that booking.

Related: How do I take booking deposits? · When do customers get their deposit back? · What can customers pay when they book? (What guests pay) · How do pay-in-full bookings work?