Member Benefits and Mixed Groups: Who Pays What on the Court?

"Let me see... court hire is 30 euros. You two are members, so that's free. But you're playing as a foursome. Do I charge the other two 15 euros each? Or 7.50 per person? And how do I put that through the till?" Before you know it, five minutes have passed. The queue behind the group is growing, the coffee is going cold, and the debate about what's "fair" is heating up.

Sound familiar? Almost certainly. Mixing members (with playing rights) and guests (who pay) is an administrative headache for many tennis, squash, and padel centres. You want to be flexible and welcome guest players — after all, they're your potential new members — but you don't want to lose revenue or create hassle at the front desk.

Fortunately, there's a smarter way. A much smarter way. In this article, we explain how i-Reserve takes over the calculations and automatically determines the correct price for every group combination on the court.

The Fair Pricing Formula

The root of the problem is straightforward: a membership is tied to a person, but court hire is tied to a facility. How do you reconcile the two?

Many systems take the easy route: the person who books pays. If the booker is a member, the court is free — even if they bring along three non-members. If the booker isn't a member, they pay the full rate — even if they're playing with three members. Either way, someone feels hard done by, whether that's you as the operator (lost revenue!) or the player themselves.

i-Reserve takes a different approach. We believe in a dynamic calculation based on who is actually on the court. The system follows a logical step-by-step process to arrive at the right price, without you having to lift a finger.

How does the calculation work?

It may sound like advanced mathematics, but the logic is actually quite straightforward. The system looks at the ratio between the total number of players and the number of registered members.

It works in three steps:

1. The Base Price: The system first retrieves the standard rate for the court at that specific time (for example, €20.00 on a Tuesday evening).
2. The Count: The system tallies how many players have been registered and how many of them hold a valid membership.
3. The Discount: The percentage of members determines the percentage discount applied to the total price.

Concrete examples

Let's make this tangible with two real-world examples. Suppose the base hire rate for a court is €10.

• Scenario A: The Fair Mix
  There are 4 players in the booking. 2 players are members, 2 players are guests.
  Calculation: 2 out of 4 players are members. That's 50%.
  Result: The group receives a 50% discount on the court hire. The price therefore becomes €5. The guests pay their share, and the members play 'for free'.
• Scenario B: Full House
  There are 2 players in the booking (for example, in squash). Both are members.
  Calculation: 2 out of 2 players are members. That's 100%.
  Result: The discount is 100%. The total price becomes €0.

A small note: We generally apply this smart calculation only to court hire. If the group also hires four rackets, they simply pay for those as normal.

No Names, No Discount: The Invitation Process

Now you're probably thinking: "That's a neat calculation, but how does the system know who the other players are?" This is precisely where the process tends to break down in basic scheduling tools. In i-Reserve, we flip this around: transparency is the key to unlocking a discount.

The ball is in the booker's court

The process starts with the lead booker. When a member makes a reservation, i-Reserve asks them: "Who are you playing with?" The booker has two options:

• Search for a known player (fellow member).
• Add a guest (non-member).

The smart trick: Confirm = Save

To prevent members from claiming discounts they're not entitled to, i-Reserve uses a watertight invitation system:

1. The booker adds a fellow member.
2. The system immediately sends an email to that member containing an acceptance link.
3. Until the member clicks the link, the system counts them as a 'guest'. The price therefore remains higher.
4. Only once the member confirms does the system recognise their membership and apply the discount definitively.

What do you gain from this?

• No more disputes: The system is objective and removes the emotion from transactions at the front desk.
• Control over your revenue: You never give away undeserved discounts; non-members always pay their share.
• A clean membership database: Your database gets used more actively, and you gain insight into who is actually on the court.
• Scalability: The formula works for every racket sport and every group size.

You focus on the experience, we handle the maths

Running a sports venue is all about hospitality. Let i-Reserve take on the role of the calculator. We do the maths in the background, ensure invitations are sent out, and make sure the pricing is always correct.

Try i-Reserve free for 30 days

Are you ready to stop doing sums at the front desk? Experience for yourself how much peace of mind it brings when your system takes the logic off your hands. Try i-Reserve free for 30 days. No obligations and no hassle. Simply get hands-on and see how your administration takes care of itself.