Cut-Off Time

Keep last-minute bookings out of your schedule

Cut-Off Time hides the dates closest to today. Customers cannot book a trip that starts before you are ready.

For example, if you need two days to confirm guides, transport, or permits, set a cut-off of 2 days. The next two days then disappear from the booking calendar.

You set the cut-off separately for each trip. It works with standard trips and with trips that use the Fixed Starting Dates add-on.

What you'll need before you start

Turn on the cut-off

Turning on the setting makes the cut-off controls available for this trip. You need to repeat these steps for every trip that needs a booking window.

The setting is now ready. Next, choose how much preparation time you need.

Enter the cut-off value

The value controls how far ahead customers must book. A value of 5 means customers cannot choose dates inside the five-day window.

Your trip now has a preparation window. You can turn it off later without changing any existing bookings.

Turn off the cut-off

Turning off the setting makes the previously hidden dates available again.

The cut-off is now off for that trip.

How the cut-off is calculated

WP Travel Engine adds your cut-off value to today's date. That result becomes the first date a customer can book. Every earlier date is hidden.

The table uses Thursday as an example of today:

The window moves forward every day. On Friday, a 2-day cut-off makes Sunday the first bookable date.

Say you run a 3-day trek and need two days to arrange transport and gear. A 2-day cut-off prevents bookings for today and tomorrow. You get the preparation time you need before the trek starts.

You can check the rule by looking at whether your trip uses days or hours.

Use hours for trips with set start times

Hours are useful when customers choose a specific start time. WP Travel Engine adds the number of hours to the current time.

• A 6-hour cut-off at 10:00 hides start times earlier than 16:00 today.
• A 12-hour cut-off at 15:00 pushes the first bookable date to tomorrow because the 12-hour window reaches into the next day.

Picture a half-day city tour with time slots every two hours. If it is 10:00 in the morning and you set a 6-hour cut-off, customers cannot book a slot before 16:00 today. Your guide has time to get ready.

The exact time matters for these trips. The next section explains which time WP Travel Engine uses.

Check your site's time zone

WP Travel Engine decides what "today" means from the time zone set in your WordPress site.

If the first available date looks one day early or late around midnight, check this setting. On the left sidebar of your WordPress dashboard, click Settings, then General, and find Timezone.

Choose the time zone where your tour business operates. Your cut-off will then follow your local time.

Use the cut-off with fixed starting dates

The Fixed Starting Dates add-on is an optional plugin that lets you set specific departure dates for a trip. If your trip uses this add-on, the cut-off also applies to those departure dates.

• Departures inside the cut-off window no longer appear for booking.
• The next available departure date skips those dates.
• Departures you add later are checked against the cut-off too. You do not need to edit them separately.

Imagine you run a fixed-departure trek that leaves on the 15th of every month. If today is the 13th and your cut-off is 3 days, the 15th disappears from the booking calendar because it falls inside the preparation window.

Your future departure dates will continue to follow the cut-off as the calendar moves forward.

Use the cut-off with time slots

For trips with weekly time slots, the cut-off checks the exact time, not only the date. WP Travel Engine adds your cut-off to the current time. Any start time before that result is hidden. Later times on the same day remain available.

For example, with a 2-day cut-off on Thursday at 10:00, Saturday slots before 10:00 are hidden. Saturday slots from 10:00 onward can still be booked.

With Hours, a 3-hour cut-off at 10:00 hides any slot starting before 13:00 today.

Customers will now see only the dates and times that you can prepare for.

What your customers see

The cut-off changes the choices available to customers. It does not change the trip information they can read.

• Booking calendar: Dates inside the window appear unavailable, so customers cannot select them.
• Start times: Times inside the window do not appear on the day they fall.
• Trip lists: The next available date starts after the cut-off window.

Bookings customers already made are not changed. The cut-off only controls which dates customers can choose from now on.

Ways to use the cut-off

Choose a window that matches the work you need to do before each type of trip.

• Guide and vehicle planning: Set 2 days when your team needs time to assign a guide and book transport.
• Permit-based trips: Set 7 days for treks that need permits. This helps prevent bookings after the permit application window has closed.
• Same-day activities: Set 3 hours on a half-day tour with time slots. Customers cannot book a slot that starts before your guide can arrive.
• Weekend-only departures: Set 3 days on a Thursday to make Sunday the first bookable date.

The right value gives your team breathing room without closing bookings for longer than necessary.

Troubleshooting

The blocked dates are still showing on my site

Save the trip again, then clear your site cache. A cache is a stored copy of your page that helps it load faster, but it can show an older version until you clear it. Reload the trip page after clearing the cache.

I set a cut-off, but today is still bookable

Open the trip's General tab. Check that Enable Cut-Off Time is turned on and that the Cut-Off Time field contains a number greater than 0.

The first available date is one day later than I expected

The cut-off counts whole days from today. Today plus 2 days makes the day after tomorrow the first bookable date. Lower the value by 1 if you want an earlier start.

I can't find the Hours option

Some trip editors list Days only. Use Days and enter the number of days instead.

The cut-off works on one trip but not another

The setting belongs to each trip. Open the other trip, go to the General tab, and turn on Enable Cut-Off Time there.

Common questions

Does the cut-off cancel bookings that already exist?

No. The cut-off only changes which dates customers can choose going forward. Bookings that are already placed are not affected.