How do booking requests work, from calendar status colors through approval to the payment link being sent?

Booking requests typically follow this flow:

Your calendar uses colors/statuses to help you quickly understand what’s happening on each date. Common statuses include:

• Available — customers can request or book that date.
• Pending / requested — someone has submitted interest or a booking request, but it has not been finalized yet.
• Booked / confirmed — the date has an approved booking tied to it.
• Blocked / unavailable — you or an external calendar feed has marked the date unavailable.

The exact color labels can vary by setup, but the idea is: available dates are open, pending/requested dates need review, and booked/blocked dates should not be double-booked.

A customer selects a listing, date, party size, and any required information/forms. Depending on your setup, this may create a booking request, quote request, or lead.

From your dashboard, you review details like:

• Requested dates
• Listing or package
• Guest count
• Customer contact info
• Notes or questions
• Required form responses, if collected

If the request looks good, you can approve it or create/send a quote. If you need more information, you can message the customer before approving.

Once approved or quoted, Mallard Bay can send the customer a secure payment link for the deposit, balance, or required amount.

The customer pays through that link, and the booking/payment status updates in your dashboard.

After approval/payment, the date moves from a requested/pending state to a confirmed booking state, and your availability updates so you can avoid double-booking.

So in short: calendar color shows availability/status → customer submits request → you review/approve → Mallard Bay sends or lets you send the payment link → payment confirms the booking and updates the calendar.

Watch the 30–60 second walkthrough