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How to Activate Instant Booking

What Instant Booking is, how it lets customers pay and confirm reservations instantly, how to turn it on, and what to set up first.

Written by Nicholas

What Instant Booking Is

Instant Booking lets your customers book and pay for a reservation in one step, without waiting for you to review and confirm the quote. When it's turned on, a customer who requests a quote through your plugin gets an available price automatically, pays right there on the same page, and confirms their trip instantly. It's a faster path from interest to a paid, confirmed booking.

How It Works

When a customer fills out your quote form, Ride Sync calculates a price from your configured rates. If a valid price is available, the customer can immediately pay and confirm the reservation on the spot — the quote is automatically approved rather than sitting in your dashboard for manual review. The confirmed reservation then appears in your Reservations dashboard, already paid, so you can assign a driver and manage it like any other booking.

Turning Instant Booking On

Go to Settings → Quote Request Plugin and toggle on Activate Instant Booking in the Customizations section. Once enabled, the instant pay-and-confirm experience is live for customers using your plugin.

Set These Up First (Recommended)

Because Instant Booking confirms trips automatically, it's worth putting a couple of guardrails in place before you turn it on:

  • Minimum pricing — Set a minimum rate on your service types so every instant booking is priced accurately and stays profitable, even on short trips.

  • Availability blocks — Use Minimum Booking Notice and Blocked Periods (also on the Quote Request Plugin page) to make sure customers can only instantly book times you're actually able to cover. A minimum booking notice prevents last-minute bookings you can't staff, and blocked periods keep customers from booking during hours you're closed.

Why Use It

Instant Booking removes the back-and-forth for straightforward trips. Customers get an immediate confirmation and you get a paid reservation without lifting a finger, which is especially useful for standard routes with clear pricing. For trips that need a closer look, you can leave Instant Booking off and continue reviewing quotes manually before confirming.

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