Card hold or prepaid deposit?

Every deposit rule picks one of these under Protection type. They feel similar to set up and land very differently with a guest.

The difference

• Booking deposit (paid up front). The guest pays now. The money is yours, and if they turn up you either refund it or put it towards the bill.
• No-show protection. The guest's card is saved and nothing is taken. If they do not arrive and you mark them a no-show, you can charge the fee then.

Choosing between them

No-show protection is the gentler one, and the right default for most venues. The guest is not out of pocket, the friction at booking is smaller, and you still have the deterrent — people behave differently once a card is on file.

Prepaid suits money you have already spent. A set menu, a function, a New Year's Eve sitting where the stock is bought and the staff are rostered. Here you are not deterring a no-show so much as pre-selling the seat.

What the guest sees

Either way, the card step comes after they have chosen a time and entered their details, and your terms are shown before they pay. Nobody is surprised by a charge — the amount and the cancellation window are on screen while they decide.

With no-show protection they are told a card is being saved and that nothing is being charged now. Saying so plainly is worth more than any wording you could put around it.