How do I ask a customer to save a card after they've booked?
Send a booking a secure "save a card" link by email, text or QR code — nothing is charged; the customer agrees to your no-show fee, and a no-show can then be charged just like a card saved when booking.
A card link asks one customer to save a card for a booking they've already made — a phone booking, a booking taken by your team, or a customer who didn't turn up last time. Nothing is charged. The customer opens the link on their own phone, saves a card (card, Apple Pay or Google Pay) and agrees to your no-show fee. From then on the booking is protected exactly like a booking that saved a card online: if your team mark a no-show and choose to charge, the fee is taken after your safety delay.
It uses the no-show protection you already set in the Card to hold section of Settings → Payments and deposits → What guests pay — see How do I charge no-show fees?. It's Available on Plus plan and above and needs Stripe connected. You don't need Card required to complete booking switched on: the link is for the customers you choose to ask.
What the customer agrees to
The link names your no-show fee for that booking — the same figure your booking page would ask for on that date: per booking or per guest, and a special date's own fee where it has one. The fee is fixed when the link is sent, so the customer sees exactly what they agree to, even if you change your fee later. Where you charge late cancellations, the link says so too, with your cancellation deadline. If they come as booked, nothing is ever charged.
Sending a link
- Open the booking.
- On the booking's Money tab, click Ask for a card. You'll find it in the No-shows section — on the no-show heads-up (a customer with past no-shows), or on its own when no card is saved. It only shows while a card can really be asked for: no-show protection on, on a plan that includes it, Stripe connected and a no-show fee for the booking's date.
- Choose how to send it: by email (ticked when the booking has an email address), by text (where the booking has a mobile number and your venue sends texts), or neither — then show the customer the QR code or copy the link.
- Click Send the link (or Create link to share it yourself), then Done.
Anyone who can edit bookings can send a link — no password or PIN, because nothing moves when you ask. Charging a fee later keeps its own confirmation step.
A link works for 72 hours, or until the booking starts if that's sooner. Each booking has one link at a time: sending a new one stops the old one.
What you'll see on the booking
- Card asked for — not saved yet — the link is open. Click Send a new link to send it again, or Cancel the link to stop it.
- Card saved — the guest agreed to a £20 no-show fee (your fee) — the card is on file. The customer gets an email with what they agreed to.
- Card asked for — the link ran out before a card was saved — nothing happens automatically; the booking stands. Click Ask again, give the customer a call, or decide under your own policy.
The no-show heads-up
When a customer who didn't turn up to an earlier booking books again, the booking's Money tab shows a No-shows section with a chip such as "2 past no-shows", and Ask for a card beside it. It only appears where your team mark customers as arrived — a venue that just takes bookings never records no-shows.
When a card can't be asked for, the heads-up still shows, without the button. With no-show protection switched off, people who can change your settings also see "No-show protection is off, so a card can't be asked for." and a Set up no-show protection link; with Stripe not connected, a Connect Stripe link instead. Everyone else sees the heads-up alone, and a plan without no-show protection shows the heads-up only.
The same chip shows on New booking, under the customer's name, as your team take the booking. The booking has to exist before a link can go, so there the last step offers Ask for a card for no-shows instead: the link goes as soon as the booking is saved — by email, or by text when there's no email — and never alongside a payment link. See How do I create a booking for a customer?.
Which bookings can be asked
An upcoming booking that isn't cancelled, doesn't already have a saved card, and hasn't paid a deposit or paid in full — a deposit or full payment already covers a no-show. A booking waiting on the waitlist can't be asked. If you'd rather take money up front, send a deposit instead from the booking's Payments card (Take a payment → Send a payment link) — see How do I take booking deposits?.
If a customer moves their booking online
When a customer moves their booking onto a date and time that asks for a card, the manage-booking page asks them to save one right there — nothing is charged — and the change goes through once it's saved. If they close it, nothing changes.
A party's organiser
If you charge the organiser for guests' unpaid shares on a party pre-order, the organiser can save a card for that in the same way — from their own party page, or from a link your team sends them. That card only ever covers guests' shares still unpaid when choices close; it's never used for a no-show fee (so you can still ask the same booking for a card for no-shows), and it's removed once the charge has run. See How do guests choose their own food by link for a big party?.
Good to know
- The card is saved securely by Stripe on your venue's own Stripe account — you never see the card details.
- A charge can still fail later (an expired or declined card). You're told on the booking, and the fee is never retried automatically.
- As with every saved card, it's released when the booking is completed, cleared or cancelled.
Related: How do I charge no-show fees? · How do I mark a no-show (and charge the fee)? · What does the customer see when paying a deposit or saving a card? · How do I take booking deposits? · How do guests choose their own food by link for a big party?