Guide
Event cancellation policy tiers: how they work
How venues set cancellation fees by notice period, how AirPlate AI writes them into the contract, and a worked example with made-up numbers.
Basics
How cancellation tiers work
A cancellation policy in tiers sets the fee a client owes if it cancels, by how much notice it gives. Each tier is a number of days before the event and a fee as a percentage of the booking. The later the cancellation, the higher the fee.
The fee is a charge for cancelling, not a refund rule: the contract says how money already paid, such as a deposit, is set against it. Some contracts also set a fee for a partial cancellation, for example when part of the booking is dropped.
In AirPlate AI
How AirPlate AI writes them into the contract
You set your tiers once: for each one, cancelling more than a number of days before the event, and the fee as a percentage of the booking. The days are whole numbers and each is used once; a fee never falls as the event comes nearer.
The contract prints one clause per band: “More than N days before the event” for the furthest tier, “Between N and M days before the event” for each next one, and “Less than N days before the event” for the final period, which carries the last tier's fee.
A fee for a partial cancellation is optional, and a partial fee of zero is left out of the contract. AirPlate AI writes the policy into the contract; it does not calculate a fee when a client cancels.
Worked example
A worked example
Example
Made-up numbers, to show how the tiers apply. A venue sets three tiers: more than 90 days before the event, a fee of 25%; more than 30 days, 50%; more than 7 days, 100%. The booking total is 10,000 EUR.
The contract then prints four clauses. The last tier's fee, 100%, also applies in the final period, less than 7 days before the event. The amounts in the last column are worked out by hand for this example.
| When the client cancels | Cancellation fee | Fee on this booking |
|---|---|---|
| More than 90 days before the event | 25% | 2,500 EUR |
| Between 30 and 90 days before the event | 50% | 5,000 EUR |
| Between 7 and 30 days before the event | 100% | 10,000 EUR |
| Less than 7 days before the event | 100% | 10,000 EUR |