To remember a time when we didn’t book everything

[labamba007]

Did you prefer it when we didn’t have to book everything in advance? I feel like since Covid everything has to be booked - restaurants, cafes, softplay, museums, bowling, any sports, swimming etc. I just remember turning up to stuff and it being fine. Now you can’t go anywhere without booking and nothing is spontaneous. Maybe it’s because there’s more people so you need to book to guarantee but I do miss it!

It’s even worse when you are having to deal with a website in a foreign language which also crashes continually! Yes, Colosseum and the Last Supper Gallery, I’m looking at you.

It’s still possible to not book stuff and just turn up where I live. I can’t be arsed pre-booking. We like to do stuff as a family if we fancy doing it on the day. I wouldn’t even bother going to the gym if I had to book.

I don’t book everything. Don’t book soft plays, some restaurants, museums, cafes. Loads of places don’t need booking.

I remember in the "olden days" you would turn up at tge swimming pool, wait fir up to an hour in a queue, get a coloured wristband, and they would announce when your colours time was up. So you still got a limited time, but no guarantee when that time was.

I call it pre-booking if you just have to indicate your intention to attend, and booking if you have to pay there and then.

But I'm increasingly thinking it's a money maker for the locations, because if you have to pay when you book (as is the case with a lot of attractions) then they've got your money, even if you don't turn up.

I never remember queuing for swimming baths. Unless it was a Saturday afternoon during a heatwave.

Yes cafes around here unfortunately. Although they are small with good food so people ring up in advance to book and it means you can’t just pop in. If I’ve tried to pop in without a booking they look at me like I’ve grown a second head 😂

We don't have booking for most of those. We usually book for restaurants (we get a babysitter once a month and usually go to other restaurants with the DCs about the same) but I can't remember booking any of the others except bowling - and sometimes that's full, sometimes so we've prepaid and the DCs can't moan for one more game.
We have been known to book a restaurant when we're half an hour away on the motorway, but I think we have always booked restaurants.

Agree I totally hate it. It won't go back though because the companies benefit from it. They get your money upfront and they also know how many people they are going to have at what time etc. They also get to create a sense of competition, people will book something if they think it's popular because it's hard to book!
For me it takes all of the spontaneity out of everything and it's really stressful always having to plan ahead for every little thing. Going on holiday now means booking flights and hotel up to a year in advance and then having to decide what activities to do each day and book those months in advance plus deciding where we might want to eat on holiday, at what time and booking those weeks ahead. It's bloody ridiculous, by the time we get there I'm already over it!

Yes travelling round the world in the late 80s, you’d fly, ferry, bus or train in And there’d be a bunch of people waiting with albums of pictures of their homesstays or hotels. You’d choose and then get in a taxi or tuck tuck or car and get transferred off . Very rare
y the lonely planet book would say great hostel, , best book, and you’d send off a booking form or letter in advance. But we were only left once or twice with nowhere to stay…

That sounds wonderful!

It does appear to be different where people live. Where I moved to it was originally very quiet but they’ve built more and more houses over the years and that might have something to do with it.

Our LA set up a booking system to use the tip during Covid. It’s still in place. Slots released a week at a time & unless you’re free during the short opening hours during the week there’s no hope of trying to get a weekend slot during the busy months, also only open for short days.
Before we do any work at home eg cutting trees, that requires the tip we make sure to book a slot first then do the work otherwise we’re left with piles of stuff hanging around for weeks.
so annoying as we know the council are using it to gather info on who uses it

that's exactly it. Now the attraction controls the narrative in the same way restaurants now put a hold on your booking via a deposit or a card number. It's their business.

Come to think of it my husband doesn’t book anything in advance with his friends (he does with our family) but when he goes on a rare night out or activity with friends he never has an issue. I would love it if we all adopted a more relaxed attitude 😂

I dont go anywhere that needs booking, the odd restaurant perhaps when its very popular but other than that, if it needs booking in advance Im not bothered.

Backpackers in India still often just turn up and find a room. Friend’s kid just went to Thailand and did similar. Booked the first night and then winged it.

I lean a bit the other way. There's a brilliant farm shop about ten minutes drive away that does breakfasts and they don't do bookings, so unless you get there bang on 8.30am you wait up to an hour for a table.

I do remember booking the Natural History Museum once and we still had to stand in the same queue as everyone with no booking to get to the door to show the tickets, which rendered the whole thing a bit pointless!

I’m on the fence. The anxious, over-planner part of me loves the certainty of knowing I have a date and time booked but it does make changes difficult. For big things you have to book so far in advance that it can make it harder to plan - you don’t know if you will be well or what else may have come up in the meantime. There’s something to be said for the spontinaity of thinking on a Thursday “let’s do x this weekend” without having needed to book it last March.

What I do hate is the booking process for 99.9% of activities. You need to set up an account giving an excessive amount of detail and then sit in queues with lots of other people or plan it like a military operation to have a chance. Sucks the joy out of it.

Sorry pressed YABU By mistake. It truly is madness having to book. I took my Granddaughter to soft play during the simmer, i hadn't booked and the young member of staff on reception told me i had to book, i asked if they had a space for there and then and he said yes, i said great how much do i owe you ? But that wasn't possible i still had to book, i said ok just book me in, nope can't do that you have to go online or call. I asked for the manager, out she came and insisted you had to pre book, so i pulled out my phone called the number, the lad answered and we went through the farcical routine of me booking a place. I hope it was just to make them feel important and not because they didn't have a brain cell between them.

I much prefer it - our local swimming used to have a 1 hour queue for swimming now it’s easy.

That is a good point!

I slept outside a football stadium in the mid 90s to get tickets for a big game!

I went to Park Guell last week. Booked 2 days ahead, and there were people buying tickets on the day.
If you want to go during peak holiday season and at the last minute, you end up in a horribly overcrowded park where no one can enjoy or appreciate it.
If you limit the number of visitors, you keep the park an enjoyable and safe experience.

What I do hate is the booking process for 99.9% of activities. You need to set up an account giving an excessive amount of detail and then sit in queues with lots of other people or plan it like a military operation to have a chance. Sucks the joy out of it.

Yep. And everything needs another app and another fricking password which needs to be remembered or securely stored.

We're constantly being urged to spend less time on screens/phones but the basic day to day admin of life requires you to do it endlessly.

No-shows for restaurant reservations were part of why so many hospitality businesses struggled to survive. Some people would even make reservations at several places for the same night and see what they fancied.

If your reservation is subject to a £25 penalty for not showing up, you're far more likely to turn up.

Advance booking helps businesses with staff planning, amount of ingredients to prepare and cash flow. In an economic climate that has most restaurants on a knife edge, a bit of forward planning is a small price to pay.

That's only for the most popular places - there are always tables at less busy restaurants who those on a whim.