Auto-assigning seats to customers

To enable auto-assignment in a resource’s settings:

1. Go to Items > Shared resources.
2. Select the resource being used for seating.
3. From the sidebar, select Settings.
4. Below the Seat map dropdown, check the “Auto-assign seating while booking” box.
5. Save changes.

Seats will be automatically assigned to all future customers using that resource.

When auto-assignment is enabled, seats will automatically be assigned by default when:

• Customers are added/removed on a booking using the customer type dropdowns (this includes bookings made by online customers)
• Using the Auto-assign button when making a booking
• Using the Auto-assign button for a single booking or multiple bookings at once

How seats are prioritized

The order in which seats are auto-assigned is based on several factors:

• The order of seats and groups (if applicable) in the seat map. The first available seat in the first available group will be assigned. Learn more about ordering seats and groups.

• Resource requirement rules, including:

  • Allow split parties (only applicable when there are multiple resource requirement options): If this box is checked, auto-assignment will attempt to seat the whole party in the first available resource that can fit the entire party. If no resource can accommodate the party, then the party will be split across resources as needed.
  • Don’t allow split parties across seat groups: If this box is checked, seats will be assigned in the first available group on the seat map that can fit the entire party. Customers booking online will never be able to book a party greater than the maximum number of seats in the largest group.
  • Make seat groups exclusive: If this box is checked, seats will be assigned in the first available empty group on the seat map.

  Learn more about resource requirements.

How auto-assignment works with online seat selection

When auto-assignment is on and customers are allowed to choose their own seats, customers will see their automatically assigned seats and given an option to change them, if desired:

When auto-assignment is off, customers will be prompted to choose their seats, which will bring them to your seat map. When all seats have been selected, the customer can return to the checkout process to complete their booking.

Once a booking has been made, customers’ seats can be viewed on their booking or by clicking the Seating button.

To auto-assign seats when making a new booking in your Dashboard:

1. Add customers to the booking.
2. Open the Seating section at the top of the page.
3. Click the Auto-assign button.

You can also do this when rebooking or adding/removing customers for an existing booking.

To auto-assign seats from a customer’s booking:

1. Open the booking.
2. Under Booking actions, select Seating.
3. Click the Auto-assign button.

All seats on the booking (including any that were previously assigned) will be automatically assigned.

There are two ways you can auto-assign seats for multiple bookings at once: from an availability or from the Manifest section of your Dashboard.

Auto-assigning seats from an availability

To auto-assign seats from an availability:

1. Open the availability.
2. Under Availability actions, select Seating.
3. Under Seating actions, select Auto-assign.

All seats on all bookings (including any that were previously assigned) will be automatically assigned in the order that the bookings are currently sorted.

Auto-assigning seats from the manifest

To auto-assign seats from the manifest:

1. Click the Seating button (located on the manifest next to Actions & Settings).
2. Under Seating actions, select Auto-assign.

All seats on all visible bookings (including any that were previously assigned) will be automatically assigned in the order they are currently sorted.

Important notes

• Actions you take from the manifest will take into account any filters that have been applied on the manifest. So, for example, if you’re filtering to only show checked in customers, then only the seat assignments for checked-in customers will be auto-assigned.

• You can change the order in which bookings are auto-assigned by clicking the name of a column in the manifest table. Bookings will be sorted in ascending or descending order based on that column. Learn more about sorting.

Why are seats being auto-assigned in an unexpected location on the map?

There are several possible reasons for this:

• When making a booking, if a user manually chooses one or more seats from the seat map, then adds additional customers using the dropdowns, the additional customers will be auto-assigned while the originally selected seats remain in place. You can use the Auto-assign button to re-auto-assign the whole party together.

• When certain restrictions are in place, like exclusive groups or other resource requirements, auto-assignment will attempt to assign the first seats that meet all requirements. If this can’t be done, seats will either be left unassigned (so that you can manually assign them) or you will see a warning message that your seat resource will be overused. If you end up overusing resources, one or more restrictions may be overridden.

• If seats are still getting auto-assigned in unexpected locations, you may want to check that seats and groups in your seat map are ordered correctly. Learn more about ordering seats and groups.

Why aren’t seats being auto-assigned even when auto-assignment is enabled?

When certain restrictions are in place, like exclusive groups or other resource requirements, auto-assignment will attempt to assign the first seats that meet all requirements. If this can’t be done, seats will be left unassigned so that you can manually assign them as you see fit.

Why do I see the message ‘(Resource name) does not have enough available seats’?

You’ll see this message if completing your current action will result in one of the following:

• The resource’s capacity being exceeded
• The number of bookable seats on the seat map being exceeded
• Customers being placed in exclusive groups that are already in use

In most cases, seats will be left unassigned so that you can manually assign them as you see fit. If you complete your action and seats are auto-assigned, we recommend reviewing the assigned seats to ensure they are acceptable. You can always unassign or assign seats manually as needed.

Why are multiple seats getting auto-assigned when I choose a seat from the map?

If you have a customer type that uses more than 1 seat per customer (for example, a Family Pass that seats 4) and you’re selecting a seat directly from your map, the rest of the seats for that customer type will be auto-assigned into the first available seats in the same group as the seat you selected.

Keep in mind: the rest of the seats may not always be assigned immediately next to the manually selected seat. For these customer types, it may be easiest to select from the dropdown menus instead of the map.