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1club supports the three industry-standard ways members enter a gym. An owner or admin picks the model that matches how the front desk runs and configures a small set of booking-policy settings to enforce it; the front desk then works to that model at every check-in. The model is not a single switch - it is the combination of when you enforce payment and whether people can be checked in without a booking.

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Why the model matters

Every gym has its own front-desk culture. Some require members to book and pay before they set foot in the building. Others welcome walk-ins as long as the member has a paid membership or pays at the door. A third group - community gyms, martial-arts schools, kids’ programs - log attendance on the spot and trust staff to handle payment separately. The model decides whether someone can check in without a booking, and whether a membership, an external program, or a direct payment must be confirmed first. How members identify themselves at the door (QR code, access card, PIN) is a separate question, covered by Access control.

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The three check-in models

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The two settings that define a model

A check-in model is the combination of two things, and both live on the booking policy that matches the booking or visit. See Booking policies for how to create and scope policies.
  • Enforce payment - a single dropdown with three options: At booking, At check-in, or None. This decides when payment is required.
  • Allow walk-ins and Allow anonymous check-ins - two toggles that decide whether someone can be checked in without an underlying booking.
    • Allow walk-ins (Settings > Bookings > Booking and cancellation policies) - “Check in a contact who has no booking.” Use this for members who arrive without reserving.
    • Allow anonymous check-ins - “Check in a visitor with no contact record.” Use this for guests and trial visitors who have no profile yet. It is independent of walk-ins.
These two toggles live on the booking policy, alongside Enforce payment. They replace the older Flexible (Anonymous) Check-in toggle that used to live in Access control settings. Access control now covers only physical identification - member enrollment and which credentials (QR code, access card, PIN) the scanner accepts - not whether walk-ins are allowed.

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Book and pay

Members must book in advance and pay before the booking is confirmed. No booking, no entry. The schedule is the source of truth. To configure:
  • Set Enforce payment to At booking on the matching booking policy.
  • Turn Check-in required on so unclaimed bookings auto-mark as no-shows.
  • Leave Allow walk-ins and Allow anonymous check-ins off.

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Walk-in with payment check

Members can show up without a booking, but the front desk must confirm an active membership, an external program, or collect a direct payment before letting them in. To configure:
  • Set Enforce payment to At check-in.
  • Turn Allow walk-ins on so staff can check in a member who has no booking.
  • Turn Allow anonymous check-ins on as well if you also want to admit trial visitors who have no profile yet.
When the front desk checks someone in, they pick an entrance method (membership, external program, or direct payment) - see below.

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Flexible check-in

Staff log attendance as members arrive. Payment status is visible but does not block entry. The front desk uses judgment to follow up on overdue accounts. To configure:
  • Set Enforce payment to None.
  • Turn Allow walk-ins on so staff can log attendance without a booking.
  • Turn Allow anonymous check-ins on if you want to record guests and trial visitors who have no profile.

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At the front desk

Enforce payment and Allow walk-ins are rules for members checking themselves in - at the kiosk, in the check-in app, or at a scanner. They don’t refuse staff. When an admin, manager, front desk, or instructor checks someone in from the admin dashboard or the instructor portal:
  • Payment - the dialog says when the gym asks for payment at check-in. Staff can still let the member in; without a payment, the amount stays owed.
  • Walk-ins - staff can check in a known contact who has no booking even when Allow walk-ins is off. The dialog notes that walk-ins are turned off for members. Allow anonymous check-ins is different. Only staff can check in someone with no contact at all, so it stays enforced for them: with it off, the check-in needs a contact.
The check-in window binds staff too. Members and staff alike can check in from one hour before the booking starts until the end of the booking’s day. Only users holding Check-ins: Create at Organization scope (Admins and owners by default) can check someone in for a later day or a day that has already closed. See Roles and permissions.

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Entrance methods at check-in

When the front desk checks a member in, they pick how the member is entering. Three entrance methods exist:
  • Membership - the check-in counts against the member’s active membership. If the plan has a session limit, usage is decremented automatically, using the same rule as a booking.
  • External program - the member enters via a third-party program (a partner curriculum, a corporate-wellness benefit, a federation pass), optionally with an extra per-visit fee. See External programs.
  • Direct payment - the member pays for this single visit at the front desk.
A booking that was made without an entrance method needs one picked before check-in, whatever the policy says - otherwise there is nothing to record the visit against. Beyond that, the matching booking policy decides how hard payment is asked for. If Enforce payment is set to At check-in (or to At booking with an outstanding balance on the booking), members can’t check themselves in until it’s paid, and the front desk is reminded to collect but can still admit them. If Enforce payment is None, payment is never asked for. Free classes never require a payment method. Because check-in reuses the booking pipeline, membership consumption, external-program accounting, and direct-payment charges are recorded identically whether the member booked ahead or walked in.

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Repeat scans

A membership check-in with no booking and no class is idempotent for a short window. If the same member is scanned again within about five minutes on the same membership, 1club treats it as the same entry rather than creating a second attendance row or debiting a second session. Beyond that window, a genuine second visit the same day is allowed - there is no daily cap.

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Picking your model

Most gyms settle on one model per location, sometimes with a different policy for personal training, a wellness area, or special programs. If you run multiple locations under one organization, scope different booking policies to each - see the Scope section in Booking policies. If you’re not sure where to start:
  • A studio that sells classes online and runs a tight schedule wants Book and pay.
  • A neighborhood gym with lots of drop-ins wants Walk-in with payment check.
  • A martial-arts school or community gym where members come and go wants Flexible check-in.
You can change settings at any time. The new policy applies from the moment you save it. Existing bookings are not retroactively re-validated.

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Worked examples

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Padel and tennis club - book and pay

You sell court time online and want guaranteed revenue per reservation.
  • Enforce payment: At booking.
  • Check-in required: on (no-shows are marked automatically at end of day).
  • Allow walk-ins / Allow anonymous check-ins: off.
  • Scope the policy to your court area types so the whole racket-sports schedule follows the same rule.

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Drop-in yoga or Pilates studio - walk-in with payment check

You want walk-ins welcome, but reception must collect payment or confirm a pass first.
  • Enforce payment: At check-in.
  • Allow walk-ins: on (members without a booking can be checked in).
  • Allow anonymous check-ins: on if you also run trial classes for visitors with no profile.
  • At the door, staff pick Membership for pass holders or Direct payment for a single class.

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Jiu-jitsu or muay-thai academy - flexible check-in

Students come and go around open-mat and class times; you handle billing on monthly memberships, not per visit.
  • Enforce payment: None.
  • Allow walk-ins: on so coaches can tap students in as they arrive.
  • Allow anonymous check-ins: on for prospective students trying a first session.
  • Payment status still shows on each check-in, so staff can follow up on overdue accounts without blocking the mats.

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Climbing gym with day passes and members - mixed

Members enter freely; day-pass visitors pay at the desk.
  • Enforce payment: At check-in.
  • Allow walk-ins: on for members without a reservation.
  • Allow anonymous check-ins: on for day-pass visitors with no account.
  • Add a Day pass as an external program or use Direct payment for the single visit.

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Corporate-wellness partner - external program entry

A local employer sponsors sessions for its staff.
  • Create an external program for the employer, with an optional per-visit fee billed to the partner.
  • At check-in, staff pick External program so the visit is accounted to the partner, not the individual.

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Tips and best practices

  • Model your front desk, not your ambitions. Set Enforce payment to what reception actually does today. If staff always collect at the door, use At check-in.
  • Walk-ins and anonymous check-ins are different. A walk-in is a known contact without a booking; an anonymous check-in has no profile at all. Turn on only what you need.
  • Keep Check-in required for the book-and-pay model. It is what turns unclaimed bookings into no-shows and keeps attendance reports accurate.
  • Use scope instead of many policies. One org-wide policy plus a scoped exception (for example, personal training) is easier to reason about than several overlapping policies.
  • Test end to end. After changing a policy, make a real booking or walk-in and check someone in before going live.

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Troubleshooting

Issue: Front desk can’t check a member in - the system asks for an entrance method. Cause: The booking was made without an entrance method, so there is nothing yet to record the visit against. Fix: Have reception pick an entrance method - confirm the member’s Membership, apply an External program, or take a Direct payment - then complete the check-in. Issue: A member can’t check themselves in without a booking. Cause: Allow walk-ins is off on the matching booking policy. It binds members checking themselves in; the front desk can still check them in from the admin dashboard. Fix: Turn Allow walk-ins on in Settings > Bookings > Booking and cancellation policies for the policy that applies to that gym or class. Issue: The front desk can’t check a member in for tomorrow’s class, or for a session on a day that has passed. Cause: Staff check-ins follow the check-in window: from one hour before the booking starts until the end of its day. Only Check-ins: Create at Organization scope reaches past it. Fix: Check the member in on the day, or ask an Admin to record it. An Admin can also grant Check-ins: Create (Organization) to the role in Settings > Organization > Permissions. Issue: Can’t check in a trial visitor who has no profile. Cause: Allow anonymous check-ins is off. Walk-ins cover known contacts only. Fix: Turn Allow anonymous check-ins on. It is independent of Allow walk-ins, so enable both if you want either kind of no-booking entry. Issue: I looked for a “Check-in mode” or “Flexible” switch in Access control and couldn’t find it. Cause: That toggle was replaced. Walk-in and anonymous check-in are now booking-policy settings. Fix: Use Allow walk-ins and Allow anonymous check-ins on the booking policy. Access control now only configures physical identification (QR code, access card, PIN). Issue: Scanning a member twice created only one attendance record. Cause: A repeat scan of the same membership within about five minutes is treated as the same entry, so it never double-counts or debits a second session. Fix: This is expected. A genuine second visit later the same day is recorded normally.
  • Booking policies - Configure Enforce payment, Allow walk-ins, and Allow anonymous check-ins.
  • Access control - Physical identification at the door: enrollment and QR/card/PIN methods.
  • External programs - Add partner offerings and corporate-wellness benefits as an entrance method.
  • Attendance - Record and review check-ins. Attendance and Check-ins live under Schedule in the admin.