Making a booking

The full booking flow (picking a package, the booking fee and remaining balance, booking several swims, 3D Secure) and what to expect after you pay the booking fee.

This page covers the booking itself, that is, the screens you click through from "I want this lake" to "booking confirmed". For what to do before (finding a lake) and after (arriving), see the sibling pages.

The booking model in one sentence

You pay a 10% booking fee online now to secure your booking; you pay the remaining balance to the host, in person, at the lake. The fee counts toward the total. It isn't extra. That's it. Everything below is detail on top of that.

The flow, screen by screen

Screen 1: Pick a package

On the lake page, under Choose your package, browse the packages the host has set up. A package bundles one or more swims with everything that comes with them, such as accommodation (if any), equipment rentals, rules for extra anglers and guests, and the session lengths you can book it for. Each package card shows:

Photos (often the swim, sometimes the cabin or the boat).
Chips with the essentials, such as "Catch & keep" or "Catch & release", how many anglers and rods it includes, the fishing type and, where offered, accommodation and "Night fishing".
View details, with the full description, the fish species the package is for, its amenities & features and, on a catch-and-keep package, the host's fish retention policy.
The session's check-in and check-out times, and Who is coming (more on both below).
The price for your search, with taxes and fees included.

Press Select package on the one you want. A simple lake might have one package per swim ("Day Ticket, Swim 1"); a richer setup might have packages like "Weekend Carp Retreat", "Catfish Week", or "Family Stay with Cabin".

Screen 2: Pick a session length and date

Your dates come from your search, or from the date picker above the packages (press Update after changing them). The picker only greys out days that have passed. Each package card then tells you whether it fits, with "Not available for the selected dates", "Not available for your group size" or the date it's next available. How far ahead you can book is up to the host (12 months unless they change it).

Each card shows when its session starts and ends. Customize opens Session length, with every length the package sells and its price. Lengths run from 6 hours to a week (6, 12, 24, 36, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144 or 168 hours), whichever the host offers. Where the package has more than one check-in time, you pick it there too, under Check-in. The end time is always the start plus the session length, so you can sanity-check before you go on.

Screen 3: Add party details and extras

Most of this happens on the lake page too:

Who is coming, on the package card. Set how many swims, anglers and guests (non-fishing companions) you need, within the package's limits. The card shows how many are included and what each extra angler or guest costs, and the price updates as you go.
Choose your swims. Pick the swim (or swims) the booking will hold. Each swim card opens the swim's own window, with its spot on the map, the host's description and its photos.
Optional extras the package allows, such as an additional rod, equipment rentals and additional services (rod hire, boat hire, catering, etc.). Each extra has its own price and rolls up into the total.

Book now then takes you to checkout. There, Who's fishing? asks who the booking is for. It's you by default, with the details from your account. Tick I'm booking for someone else to give the angler's name, phone and (optionally) email, so the host contacts the person who'll actually turn up. We don't ask for the other anglers' names. That's between you and your friends.

Before you pay, Rules & regulations shows the package's rules and the lake's rules. Read them to the end and tick that you accept them.

Screen 4: Payment

Here's the screen where the booking-fee / remaining-balance split makes itself visible. The fee counts toward the total, so you're not paying anything extra. The Price details beside the payment form break it down:

Line	Amount	When
Total	€X	Split into the two payments below
Pay today (the booking fee, 10% of the total)	€Y	Paid now, online, by card
Due at the lake	€(X − Y)	Paid to the host on arrival

The booking fee is always a flat 10% of the total; the exact amount for your booking is on the line, never hidden.

Card payment uses Stripe. We don't see card numbers, because they go straight to Stripe in encrypted form. The Pay booking fee button unlocks once you've accepted the rules. Your bank may ask you to confirm the payment with 3D Secure (its app or an SMS code). Whether it asks is up to Stripe and your card issuer, not us.

Your swims are held for you while you pay. If the hold runs out before you finish, the booking expires and you start again from the lake page.

Screen 5: Confirmation

Booking is confirmed instantly on a lake set to accept bookings automatically. On a lake with manual approval (the default), the booking shows as waiting for the host, who gets a notification and confirms or declines it. There is no automatic timeout, and a declined request refunds the booking fee. The lake page tells you which kind of lake it is before you book.

Once the booking is confirmed, we email you a short note with an Open messages button and the invoice for the booking fee attached as a PDF. The note also lists the lake's contact details, which appear on your ticket from the confirmation. Your ticket, with a QR code to show at check-in, is on the booking's page and in My bookings, where you can also download it as a PDF.

Things you can do after confirming

Reschedule. To change dates, cancel and rebook. More than 48 hours before check-in the booking fee is refunded in full, so a reschedule costs nothing; within 48 hours the fee is not refunded (see Refund Policy).

Add a note to the host. Message the host, on your booking or in My bookings, opens your conversation with the host in Messages. Use this for "we'll be in two cars" or "we'd like to bring a small dog", not for changes that need approval.

Cancel. Cancel booking in My bookings shows on screen, before you confirm, whether your booking fee is refunded and how much. See Refund Policy for the schedule.

Party size. The number of anglers and guests can't be changed once you've booked. If your party grows, cancel and book again with the new numbers (the fee comes back in full more than 48 hours before check-in), or make a second booking for another swim.

Booking for a group

One booking can hold several swims of the same package, where the package allows it. Set the number of swims under Who is coming, then pick them under Choose your swims. The person booking pays the booking fee for the whole booking, and the balance is paid at the lake as usual.

If your group wants separate bookings (different packages, or each angler paying their own fee), each angler books their own swim, and you can tell the host in Messages that you're together.

What the host sees

For transparency, here's what we tell the host about you:

Your name from the moment you book. Your email and, if you've added one to your profile, your phone number once the booking is confirmed. If you booked for someone else, the host sees the angler's name at once and their phone and email from the confirmation.
The package, swims, dates and party size (anglers and guests).
The payment status (usually "booking fee paid") and the booking's total price.

The host does not see your address or any payment details.

Things that look like bugs but aren't

The total sometimes differs from the price on the search card. The card shows the cheapest session the lake has for your search; the package, session length, party and extras you choose can add up to a different total. The breakdown at checkout always wins.
A 48h session starts at the package's check-in time, not whenever you'd like to arrive. Hosts set each package's check-in times, and the session runs from there. If you want different hours, look under Check-in or try another session length.
Cancelling close to arrival keeps the booking fee. Cancelling still works right up to the start, but within 48 hours of check-in the booking fee is not refunded. The cancel dialog states the outcome before you confirm. See Refund Policy.