# Cancel a booking

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

Cancel a booking when a guest can't come or you can't run their time. Its places go back on sale straight away, anything paid online goes back to the guest's card, and the guest can get an email about it.

## Steps to cancel a booking

1. Go to **Bookings** in the sidebar and open the booking. You can also find it with **Search** at the top of the page.
2. Select **Cancel booking** at the top of the booking.
3. If the guest has paid, choose what to give back under **Refund**:
    - **Everything paid**: the whole amount paid so far. Use it when you call the booking off.
    - **What the policy allows**: what the activity's cancellation policy gives back right now, with its percentage. It is what the guest would get if they cancelled themselves.
4. Add a **Reason** if you like. It stays on the booking's timeline for your team, and the guest doesn't see it.
5. Leave **Email the guest** ticked to send them the cancellation by email, or untick it.
6. Select **Cancel booking**.

In the bookings list, you can also open the menu at the end of a booking's row and select **Cancel booking**. The booking opens with the same window.

> **Note:** **Email the guest** only shows for confirmed bookings with an email address. A booking that was still on hold or awaiting payment is cancelled without an email.

## What happens next

- The booking's status changes to **Cancelled**. This can't be undone.
- Its places go back on sale at once. A private group's time slot opens to other guests again.
- The part paid online goes back to the guest's card through Stripe. The booking's timeline shows **Refund started**, then **Refunded** once Stripe confirms it. The guest then gets an email with the amount, even when **Email the guest** was unticked.
- Money taken in person, in cash, by card on site or by bank transfer, is yours to give back. The window tells you how much that is.
- If the guest was still paying online, their payment page closes, so they can't pay for a cancelled booking.

## Which bookings you can cancel

You can cancel a booking that is on hold, awaiting payment, confirmed, checked in or marked as a no-show. Cancelled and expired bookings have nothing left to cancel. See [Booking statuses explained](https://ticketpa.com/help/booking-statuses) for what each status means.

Guests can also cancel their own booking from their ticket until the start time. They get back what the activity's cancellation policy allows at that moment. See [How guests cancel or move a booking](https://ticketpa.com/help/guests-cancel-or-move).

> **Note:** To cancel every booking on a time slot at once, for example because of the weather, [cancel the whole time slot](https://ticketpa.com/help/cancel-a-time-slot) from its guest list instead of each booking.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can I undo a cancellation?

No. A cancelled booking stays cancelled. If the guest still wants to come, [add a new booking](https://ticketpa.com/help/add-a-booking) for them with **New booking**.

### Does the guest get their money back automatically?

Only the part they paid online. TicketPa refunds it to their card through Stripe. Money they paid in person is given back by you.

### Can I give back a different amount?

When you cancel, you choose between everything paid and what the policy allows. To refund part of an online payment without cancelling, use **Refund** on the booking. See [Refund a booking](https://ticketpa.com/help/refund-a-booking).