Retreats: lodging options, a deposit now and the balance later

What a retreat is in elastudio

A retreat is an event that lasts several days, such as a weekend away or a week of yoga by the sea. You create it like any other event (see Create an event or workshop), and three extras make it work for a retreat:

• Lodging options: a ticket type per kind of room, each with its own price and number of places.
• Deposit and balance: members pay part now to hold their place, and the rest by a date you choose.
• Cancellation tiers: how much goes back depends on how early someone cancels.

Each one is optional, and you can use them on any event, not only retreats. Events are on every plan, including Free. The owner and admins set them up.

Members see an event over several days with its start and its end, for example “Friday, 4 December, 18:00 to Sunday, 6 December, 14:00”, on the event page, in their account and in every e-mail.

Lodging options

Make one ticket type per lodging option:

1. Open Events, open the retreat and, under Tickets, select Add ticket type.
2. Give it a name and a price, for example “Single room”.
3. Under Lodging, choose Single room, Shared room or No lodging. A plain ticket stays Not a lodging option.
4. Turn on Limit how many of this type and set How many: the number of beds of that kind.
5. Select Save, then repeat for the other options.

Each option sells on its own: when the single rooms are gone, that type shows as sold out while shared rooms and no lodging still sell. The event’s Total places still caps everything together, and the event’s waiting list works as usual. Members see the lodging under the ticket’s name.

Deposit now, balance later

In the event editor, under Deposit and balance:

1. Turn on Take a deposit, the rest later.
2. Under Deposit per ticket, choose A percent of the price (1 to 99) or A fixed amount. A fixed deposit is never more than a ticket’s price: a cheaper ticket is simply paid in full.
3. Set Balance due on: the day the rest is due, before the event starts. The balance falls due at noon, your studio’s time.
4. Choose whether The deposit can be refunded. Off (the default), you keep the deposit when a member cancels.
5. Select Save.

Members can then choose, until the balance date:

• Pay in full now.
• Deposit now, the rest charged to my card: the card they pay the deposit with is kept and charged for the balance on the due date.
• Deposit now, I pay the rest later: they get an e-mail with a link to pay the balance online before the date.

After the balance date, tickets are paid in full only. A promo code cannot be used together with a deposit.

Once the deposit is paid, the place is the member’s and they get the Retreat deposit paid, place confirmed e-mail with the balance, its date and how it is paid. In their account, under Tickets, they see the balance and can pay it at any time.

Reminders and what happens on the due date

• The Retreat balance reminder e-mail goes 7 days and 1 day before the due date, with the link to pay.
• On the due date, a balance by card is charged to the kept card. Paid, the member gets Retreat balance paid.
• If the card is refused or the bank asks the member to confirm, or a balance by link is still open on the date, the member gets Retreat balance not paid with the link to pay.

You can edit these e-mails in Settings, Messages.

When a balance is not paid

Open Settings, Booking rules, Events, and choose under When a balance is not paid by its date:

• Keep the place (the default): the member stays booked and the balance shows as not paid. You follow up.
• Release the place: after the number of Days after the due date you set (7 by default), the tickets are cancelled, the places go to the waiting list or back on sale, and the deposit is kept. The member gets Retreat place released (balance not paid).

Cancellation tiers

In the event editor, under Cancellation tiers, turn on Refund by how early members cancel and add up to 6 tiers with Add a tier. Each tier has Days before and Refund %. For example:

• 100% until 60 days before;
• 50% until 30 days before;
• nothing after.

With tiers, members can cancel online until the event starts, and their account shows what goes back if they cancel now. After the last tier nothing goes back, but they can still cancel.

When the deposit cannot be refunded, the tiers apply only to what was paid above it. While a booking’s balance is still open, cancelling one of its tickets cancels all the tickets of that booking, and no balance is charged or asked for.

More on member and staff cancellation: Let members cancel event tickets.

Follow the balances

The event shows a Balances summary: how many are open, not paid, paid in full or released, and what is still owed. In Who is coming, each booking shows its balance and its due date. From a person’s menu you can Copy the balance link or E-mail the balance link.

Selling at the desk

When you sell tickets at the desk with Sell tickets, turn on Take the deposit now and record the deposit like any desk payment. The place is confirmed. The member pays the balance from the link (copy or e-mail it from their menu), or you record the balance at the desk later. A balance charged to a kept card is only for members who buy online.

Cancelling the whole retreat

Cancel event with refunds sends back everything paid, deposits included.