Booking a meet-up

Everything that’s coming up is on the schedule, newest first. Open any meet-up to see its time, how long it runs, where it is, and how many places are left.

Yes — you book with an account so your bookings, passes and any gift balance stay in one place, and so Chocka Club knows who’s coming. You can create one as you book; it only takes an email address and a password.

Press Book and you’ll be offered whichever ways of paying apply to that meet-up: your card, a pass credit, your gift balance, or a membership you already hold. Not every meet-up accepts every one of those — Chocka Club chooses per meet-up, so you only ever see the options that actually work.

A free meet-up takes no payment at all. Press Book as you would for any other, and the total simply reads Free — you can add anyone else you are booking for on the same screen.

Name a person for each place on the same checkout screen and pay once — a friend, your children, or a group. See Booking for other people.

Your place is held from the moment you reach checkout, and the countdown shows how long is left. Nobody else can take it while it is running, and you are given more time when you go through to pay.

When it runs out the place goes back on sale. You can still complete the booking if it is free at that moment.

Only once payment has gone through — never at the moment you press the button. Places are re-checked as the payment completes, so a meet-up can never be overbooked: nobody is ever squeezed into a full session.

Very occasionally the last place goes while you are part-way through paying. Your payment will already have been taken, so you don’t lose the place and the money: Chocka Club is alerted immediately and refunds you. The refund is theirs to issue rather than something that happens automatically, so allow a little time for it to reach you — and do chase them if it doesn’t. There’s more on this in Paying for a booking.

You’ll see Join waitlist instead of a booking button. It’s free, takes no payment, and you’re offered the spot automatically if one frees up — how waitlists work.

If Chocka Club requires a waiver, terms, or a privacy notice, booking pauses once to show it to you. Accept it and you carry straight on to where you were — you won’t be asked again until that document changes. See Agreements & policies.

On the Bookings tab of your account, with the next one first. Each booking can be added to your own calendar, and you’ll get an email confirming it.

Cancel from your Bookings tab up to 12 hours before the meet-up starts. A pass credit returns to your pass, a gift balance returns to your balance and a membership booking is released — those three happen straight away. A card payment is flagged to Chocka Club to refund: that one isn’t automatic, so allow a little time for it to arrive. Cancelling also frees your place for anyone waiting.

Inside that 12-hour window the online button stops working and you’ll need to contact Chocka Club directly — it’s their call at that point, not an automatic one.

You’re emailed as soon as it happens, and you’re put back where you started without having to ask: pass credits and gift balance are returned automatically, and a card payment is flagged to Chocka Club to refund.