Check-in models

1club supports the three industry-standard ways members enter a gym. You pick the model that matches how your front desk runs and configure a small set of booking-policy settings to enforce it. The model is not a single switch - it is the combination of when you enforce payment and whether staff can check in people without a booking.

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Overview

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.

• Book and pay - members reserve and pay in advance; the schedule is the source of truth.
• Walk-in with payment check - members can arrive without a booking, but the front desk confirms a membership, an external program, or a direct payment before letting them in.
• Flexible check-in - staff log attendance as members arrive; payment status is visible but does not block entry.
• Entrance methods - at check-in, staff record how the member is entering: membership, external program, or direct payment.
• Physical identification - separately, Access control governs how members identify themselves at the door (QR code, access card, PIN).

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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 staff can check someone in without an underlying booking.
  • Allow walk-ins (Settings > Booking Policies) - “When enabled, staff can check in a contact without an existing booking.” Use this for members who arrive without reserving.
  • Allow anonymous check-ins - “When enabled, staff can check in visitors with no contact at all.” Use this for guests and trial visitors who have no profile yet. It is independent of walk-ins.

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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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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.

Which entrance methods are required at check-in depends on the matching booking policy. If Enforce payment is set to At check-in (or to At booking with an outstanding balance on the booking), staff must select one of the three before the system records the check-in. If Enforce payment is None, the front desk can record the check-in without selecting a method. Free classes never require a payment method. Because check-in reuses the booking pipeline, membership consumption, external-program accounting, and direct-payment transactions 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 a payment method. Cause: The matching policy has Enforce payment set to At check-in, or to At booking with an outstanding balance on the booking. 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: Staff can’t check in a member who has no booking. Cause: Allow walk-ins is off on the matching booking policy. Fix: Turn Allow walk-ins on in Settings > Booking Policies for the policy that applies to that club or class. 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.

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Related

• 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.