Online booking means students can book a driving lesson at 10 pm without calling you, while you keep full control of who can book what and when. Setting it up takes an afternoon if you make a few decisions first. Here is the order that works.
1. Decide what students can book online
Start simple. Most schools put their standard lesson and one or two lesson packages online. Special programs or road-test appointments can stay phone-only at first. You can always add more later.
2. Set your lesson length and prices
Pick a standard lesson length, such as 60 or 90 minutes, and set the price for a single lesson and for each package. Clear, published prices save you a lot of “how much is it?” calls.
3. Enter each instructor’s real hours
Online booking is only as good as the hours behind it. For every instructor, enter the hours they work on each day of the week and block the days they’re off. If an instructor only teaches Saturdays, the booking page should only show Saturdays for them.
4. Add your cars
If you have fewer cars than instructors, the booking system needs to know, or it will offer lessons you can’t run. Add each car and, if you work this way, each instructor’s usual car.
5. Choose your booking rules
- Minimum notice: how close to the lesson someone can still book. Twelve or 24 hours is common.
- How far ahead: how many days into the future students can book. Two to four weeks keeps your calendar flexible.
- Free cancel window: how many hours before a lesson students can cancel or move it themselves.
- Late cancels: whether a late cancel loses the lesson.
6. Decide on payment
The strongest setup is “pay for a package, then book.” Students pay once by card and book lessons from their package. If many of your families prefer cash, you can also allow booking now and paying later. Decide which you want before you announce online booking.
7. Bring in your current students
Don’t make existing students start over. Import them from your spreadsheet or student list, and invite them to sign in so they can see their lessons and book the next one.
8. Test it as a student
Before you tell anyone, open your booking link on your phone as if you were a student. Create an account, buy a package, book a lesson, move it and cancel it. Check that the times shown are correct and the confirmation email looks right. Ten minutes of testing saves embarrassing mistakes.
9. Put the link everywhere students look
- a big “Book a lesson” button on your website,
- your Google Business Profile, as your booking link,
- your social media profiles,
- the bottom of your emails and your voicemail message.
10. Keep the phone for those who want it
Online booking adds a way to book; it doesn’t replace calls. Keep booking students by phone from the office, using the same schedule, so both kinds of booking follow the same rules and never clash.
How Drivloop handles this
- Every school gets its own booking page with its logo, packages, prices and instructors.
- You set lesson length, instructor hours and days off, cars, minimum notice, how far ahead students can book, the free cancel window and the late cancel rule. Students only see times that fit.
- Students buy a package by card when they book (with Stripe connected), or you allow pay later.
- Import current students from a spreadsheet using a ready-made template, and invite them by email.
- Students get a confirmation email when they book and a reminder before each lesson.
- Staff can still book, move and cancel lessons from the office calendar, with the same clash checks.
See Drivloop’s online booking app, or start a 30-day free trial.