Configure checkout holds and unpaid order deadlines

Use checkout holds when capacity should be held only while a customer is actively building a cart, completing checkout, or retrying an online payment. Use reservation deadlines when an order has already been reserved or left unpaid and staff need a follow-up deadline.

Before you start

Decide:

how long a cart should hold capacity in the online shop, POS, self-checkout, and back office
whether events that start soon need a shorter customer checkout timer
the minimum time customers should get when retrying an online payment
whether a hold must end before the event starts
which reserved or unpaid order states should keep capacity after checkout
what customer follow-up process follows an expired reservation deadline

New accounts include checkout-hold defaults for the standard order channels: the online shop uses a shorter Time to start policy for near-term events, POS uses a shorter fixed hold, self-checkout uses a medium fixed hold, and back-office orders use a longer fixed hold. Older accounts that do not yet have checkout-hold policies configured keep their existing auto-cancel behavior until a policy is saved.

Understand checkout holds

A checkout hold is the temporary capacity hold behind an active cart or unpaid checkout attempt. When a hold is active, the online shop shows a Time left countdown during checkout and eligible payment steps. If the timer reaches zero, KORONA Event releases the tickets and sends the customer back to the cart with an expiry message.

Checkout holds can be configured at several levels:

Level	Where to set it	When to use it
Account	Admin > Account > Reservations and checkout holds	Set the fallback for the account.
Order channel	Settings > Order channels	Give the online shop, POS, self-checkout, or back-office flow a different default.
Offer	Services > Events, Event templates, or Admissions	Override the channel default for one offer, such as a high-demand event or timed admission.

If a cart contains more than one dated item, KORONA Event uses the checkout hold that expires first. This prevents one long-running item from keeping near-term tickets blocked.

Choose a checkout-hold mode

Use Fixed when every eligible checkout should get the same amount of time.

Use Time to start when customers should get less time for events that start soon and more time for events farther in the future. Each rule has two parts:

Field	What it controls
Event starts within	The event-start window that triggers the rule.
Hold for	The checkout time customers get when the selected event starts inside that window.
Default hold	The normal hold when no Time to start rule matches.
Minimum hold	The shortest hold KORONA Event may apply.
Minimum payment retry hold	The shortest hold used when an online payment attempt can still be retried. If the resolved checkout hold is longer, KORONA Event keeps the longer hold.
Release held capacity before event start	A buffer that releases held capacity before the event begins, even when the normal checkout timer would run longer.

Duration fields use separate Hour(s) and Minute(s) inputs. For a hold longer than one day, enter the total number of hours, such as 48 hours for two days. Leave unused units at zero.

Keep Time to start rules increasing as the event moves farther away. For example, a shop policy might give customers 5 minutes when an event starts within 1 hour, 10 minutes when it starts within 6 hours, 15 minutes when it starts within 24 hours, and 30 minutes otherwise.

Set the account-wide checkout hold

Open Admin > Account.
Open Reservations and checkout holds.
Find Checkout hold.
Select Override checkout hold.
Choose Fixed or Time to start.
Enter each hold value using Hour(s) and Minute(s).
Review Preview to confirm the resulting customer time for near-term and future events.
Save the account settings.

Checkout hold settings on the account reservations page — The account-level checkout hold sets the fallback policy, including Time to start rules and the preview for near-term and future events.

Set an order-channel checkout hold

Use order-channel checkout holds when the online shop, POS, self-checkout, or back-office flow should use a different timeout.

Open Settings > Order channels.
Open the order channel.
Find Channel checkout hold.
Select Override checkout hold.
Choose Fixed or Time to start.
Enter the required values for the selected mode: duration or rules, Minimum hold, Minimum payment retry hold, and Release held capacity before event start.
Save the order channel.

Order channel checkout hold override in the back office — Use order-channel overrides when the online shop, POS, self-checkout, or back-office flow needs a different checkout timer.

Override checkout holds for one offer

Use an offer override when one event, event template, or admission should behave differently from the channel default.

Open Services > Events, Event templates, or Admissions.
Open the offer and select Edit or the detail form.
Find Checkout hold.
Select Override checkout hold.
Choose Fixed or Time to start.
Enter the required values for the selected mode: duration or rules, Minimum hold, Minimum payment retry hold, and Release held capacity before event start.
Save the offer.

Configure reservation deadlines

Reservation deadlines control how long an already reserved or unpaid order keeps capacity before staff follow up, cancel, or let it expire. They are separate from checkout holds, which happen before or during checkout.

Set the account-wide reservation default

Open Admin > Account and open Reservations and checkout holds. Use Reservation deadlines to define the default expiration for reservations across your account. This default applies whenever an offer or order does not set its own deadline.

Configure an offer reservation deadline

Open Services > Events, Event templates, or Admissions.
Open the offer and select Edit or the detail form.
Find Reservation deadline.
Choose the deadline rule, such as after reservation or before event start, where available.
Enter the time amount.
Save the offer.

Configure one order

Open the order and select Overview. Where available, use Reservation deadline to adjust the deadline for that order, then save.

Expected result

Active carts and eligible checkout attempts hold capacity only until their checkout-hold timer expires. Reserved or unpaid capacity is held until the configured reservation deadline, and staff can see the deadline on the order before deciding whether to extend, cancel, or follow up.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to check
Checkout hold fields are missing	Permissions, whether you are editing Admin > Account, an order channel, or an offer type that supports checkout holds, and whether an older account still needs defaults saved.
Countdown does not appear	Whether a checkout-hold policy is configured, whether the cart has active items, and whether the order is still eligible for a customer checkout hold.
Timer is shorter than expected	Offer override, order-channel default, account default, Time to start rules, Minimum hold, and Release held capacity before event start.
Capacity remains blocked	Order state, checkout-hold expiry, reservation deadline, whether expiration processing has run, and manual staff holds.
Customer paid after deadline	Check order state, payment state, capacity, and whether a new order was created.