# Booking statuses explained

Updated 2026-10-05 by the TicketPa team. Source: https://ticketpa.com/help/booking-statuses

Every booking has a status that shows where it is, from the moment a guest starts booking to the day of the visit. You see it next to each booking in **Bookings**, at the top of a booking and on the guest list.

## The statuses

| Status               | What it means                                                                                                                                                                                             | Keeps its places? |
| -------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------- |
| **On hold**          | The booking is being made and its places are held for the guest. It usually lasts only a moment before the booking is confirmed or waits for payment.                                                     | Yes               |
| **Awaiting payment** | The guest chose to pay online and hasn't finished paying. Their places are held while they pay, for about 30 minutes.                                                                                     | Yes               |
| **Confirmed**        | The booking is made and the guest has their ticket. Bookings paid on arrival, and bookings your team adds, are confirmed straight away. Bookings paid online are confirmed once the payment goes through. | Yes               |
| **Checked in**       | The guest has arrived. When only part of a group is in, the guest list shows how many, like "2 of 4 in".                                                                                                  | Yes               |
| **No-show**          | The guest didn't come. Your team marks it once the time slot has started, or TicketPa does it when the time slot ends if you turned on **Mark no-shows automatically**.                                   | Yes               |
| **Cancelled**        | Your team or the guest cancelled the booking.                                                                                                                                                             | No                |
| **Expired**          | The guest didn't finish paying online in time, so the hold ran out.                                                                                                                                       | No                |

## How bookings change status

- **On hold** moves on to **Awaiting payment** when the guest pays online, or to **Confirmed** when they pay on arrival.
- **Awaiting payment** becomes **Confirmed** once the payment goes through, or **Expired** when the time runs out. Halfway through, the guest gets one reminder email to finish paying.
- **Confirmed** becomes **Checked in** or **No-show** on the day.
- A check-in or a no-show can be undone, and a guest marked as a no-show who arrives late can still be checked in.
- Any booking that keeps its places can be cancelled. **Cancelled** is final.

> **Note:** If a payment for an expired booking arrives late, TicketPa confirms the booking when its places are still free. Otherwise it refunds the payment in full.

## Status and payment are separate

A booking's status doesn't tell you whether it is paid. A confirmed booking can be paid online, partly paid, or due on arrival. Open the booking and look under **Tickets and payment** for **Paid**, **Still to pay** and **Refunded**.

## Which bookings count in your numbers

Reports, and today's guest numbers on the dashboard, count only bookings that are confirmed, checked in or marked as no-shows. Bookings on hold, awaiting payment, cancelled or expired are left out.

To stop a booking, see [Cancel a booking](https://ticketpa.com/help/cancel-a-booking). For the day itself, see [Check guests in](https://ticketpa.com/help/check-in-guests) and [Mark no-shows](https://ticketpa.com/help/no-shows).