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Last updated:
September 5, 2025

Bookings

In this article, we'll explain how bookings are managed in Oniva, including the various booking and payment statuses, as well as the steps for creating, canceling, and exporting bookings for events.

Screenshot of a booking in Oniva.

Bookings

In the bookings section, all booking transactions related to an event are clearly listed. Each booking is identified by a unique booking number and has a specific booking status that reflects the current state of the booking. These bookings are each associated with an individual contact entry within the event, and it's possible for a single contact to make multiple bookings for the same or different events.

Booking status

In Oniva there are confirmed and unconfirmed bookings. When a contact initiates a booking, a booking is automatically created with the status "reserved". If the contact completes the booking, it is marked as "confirmed" and the guest receives a booking confirmation. If the contact does not complete or discards the booking, the booking receives an unconfirmed status, such as " abandoned" or "expired". However, unconfirmed bookings are still displayed under bookings to better track contact activity.

Here are all booking statuses:

  • Discarded: The contact initiated the booking process and then discarded it.
  • Expired: The booking process was automatically canceled because the contact did not complete it within 15 minutes.
  • Canceled: The booking was either canceled by the admin or by the guest themselves.
  • Confirmed: The booking was successfully completed.
  • Reserved: The booking process was initiated but not yet completed.
  • Tentative: During the payment process, the booking was canceled and now needs to be manually reviewed.
  • Requested: The booking with reservation process was requested by the guest and still needs to be confirmed by the admin.
  • Pending: The booking with reservation process was confirmed or requested and still needs to be approved by the admin.
  • Waiting: The booking has been placed on the waiting list.
  • Invited: The contact on the waiting list has been invited to confirm or decline definitively.
  • Declined: The booking with a reservation process was declined by the admin or the ticket coordinator.
  • Invalid: An issue occurred during the booking process, and the booking requires review by the admin.

In addition to the booking status, bookings with payment also have a payment status. If a booking is created via the admin, no direct payment is made. In this case, the booking is assigned the payment status "open" and the booking status "confirmed". The following are possible payment statuses:

  • Open: The payment has not been made yet.
  • Paid: The payment has been successfully completed (credit card) or the payment has been marked as paid by the admin (invoice, cash).
  • Abandoned: The payment process was initiated but not completed by the user. The user may have abandoned the payment process before finalising the transaction.
  • Failed: The payment attempt was unsuccessful. It could be due to various reasons such as insufficient funds, an expired card, or technical issues during the transaction process.
  • Refunded: The payment amount has been returned to the payer's account.

Status of the booking option

Each booking option has its own status in addition to the overall booking status. For example, the booking may be confirmed and valid, while a single option is on the waiting list. The status of each option is displayed directly with the option, while the overall booking status is shown at the top next to the booking number.

Illustration showing the relationship between contacts, bookings, and booked options Each booking is linked to a contact and can include multiple booking options.

Booking tables

Oniva provides two separate tables:

  1. "Bookings" Table – This table gives you an overview of all bookings. Here, only the most important information about the entire booking is shown per contact, without details on individual booking options. If you have enabled accompanying persons for your event, they will be displayed as a column in the booking of the main contact, rather than being listed in a separate row.
  2. "Booked Options" Table – Here, each booked option is listed individually for each contact, including all details and additional queries for each option. If you need specific information about individual booking options, you’ll find it in this table, and you can filter by specific options if needed. If you have enabled accompanying persons for your event, the guest list will be displayed, with accompanying persons listed in a separate row.

Summary: The "Bookings" table offers a compact overview of all bookings, while the "Booked Options" table provides detailed information for each individual option.

Screenshot of navigating to the table of booked options

Edit or export bookings

Bookings can be created and canceled by contacts themselves or by the admin.

Create bookings as admin

  1. Go to your event and open the bookings.
  2. Select "Create booking".
  3. Decide whether it's a new or existing contact.
  4. Enter the contact details.
  5. Assign contact groups for campaigns if needed.
  6. Choose the booking options.
  7. Verify and confirm the booking.
  8. Decide whether to send a booking confirmation.
  9. Decide whether the guest should be automatically checked in.
Note: Payment status
If there are paid booking options, the payment status remains "open" after the booking is completed by an admin, even if the booking is confirmed. The admin can then send a payment request or adjust the payment status independently.

Cancel bookings

You can cancel a booking by opening it through Contacts or Bookings. Below the booking, you'll find a button to cancel the booking. If you only want to cancel a part of a booking (partial booking), you can do so through the link under the "Cancel item" option. Here, you can also add an item to an existing booking. The entire booking can be deleted by clicking the cross at the top right of the booking. It will then disappear completely, and it won't be possible to track when and by whom it was created.

Tip: Cancel or delete?
We distinguish between cancellations, deletions, and unsubscriptions. Cancellations are confirmed bookings that are reversed. Deletions involve deleting the entire record, making it no longer visible later on. Unsubscriptions refer to contacts who have declined an invitation, meaning they never accepted it in the first place.

The following graphic shows a contact with an existing booking. In this booking, the booking option "Physical Participation" has been selected. Using the navigation on the left, you can access the contact details and edit the information from the registration form. Additional queries linked to a booking option – such as the lunch selection in this case – can be found under the booking and directly within the relevant booking option.

Update payment status

For bookings with the payment status "open," the admin can update the status.

Through the payment history, payment attempts can also be viewed. Here, you can check how many times a guest attempted to make a payment. Failed payments will also have the reason specified.

Note: Payment history only available for payment attempts
If the option for payment history does not appear, it means no online payment attempt has been made yet.

Through the "Complete payment" button at the bottom of the booking, the payment can be completed. If "Invoice" or "Cash" is selected, the payment status changes directly to "Paid". If "Online payment" is chosen, the guest receives a payment request with a link for online payment (via credit card, PostFinance Card, or TWINT).

Screenshot of admin options for a booking

If a payment request for an online payment (via credit card, PostFinance Card, or TWINT) has been sent, the payment status can be updated by using "Match status". Use this option also if there is suspicion that a payment has been made but the corresponding status is not displayed in Oniva. Generally, the status update occurs automatically.

Screenshot of the payment status of a booking

Export bookings

Bookings can be exported as a list via the "Download" option. The list will be exported with the currently applied filters. If all canceled and expired bookings are also to be exported, the "All" filter can be selected. Choosing "Confirmed" will download only the valid bookings. If only the bookings of a specific booking option are to be exported, the desired booking option can be selected in the filter options.

Download

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