Booking and managing a session as a customer

Creatures lets providers offer tours, classes, lessons, and appointments you can book and pay for in one place. This guide covers finding an offering, holding and paying for a time, and then managing your booking afterward.

Finding an offering

There is no single "browse all bookings" page to scroll. Instead, offerings are found two ways:

• Search: search Creatures for what you want, and bookable offerings show up alongside other results.
• A provider's profile: every provider and organization has a bookings tab on their profile (for example their /u/{name}/bookings or /org/{handle}/bookings page) listing what they offer. If you already know the breeder, farm, or trainer, go to their profile and open that tab.

The implication: you reach offerings through the people and search, not a marketplace landing page, so following providers you like is the best way to see what they offer.

The offering page

An offering page (/booking/offerings/...) shows you everything you need before you book:

• The basics: the title, description, photos, and a badge telling you whether it is a group experience (you join a session with others) or a 1:1 appointment (the slot is yours alone).
• The provider and their rating: who runs it, linked to their profile, with their star rating from verified reviews across Creatures.
• Good to know: the duration in minutes, the price, the party-size range for group experiences, and the cancellation policy in plain words.
• Animals you'll meet: for offerings that feature them, the animals included in the experience.
• Location: shown to the level the provider chose (full city and state, a broader region, or hidden until you book).
• The session picker: the calendar of available times. Pick a date and a time to start a booking.

Holding a time

When you choose a time and the number of guests, Creatures places a temporary hold on those seats so no one books them out from under you while you finish.

• What it is: a short reservation of your seats, lasting about half an hour. It is not a payment and not a confirmed booking; it is a window to complete checkout.
• The implication: finish checkout within that window. If the hold lapses, the seats are released and you simply pick a time again. You are never charged just for holding.

Applying a promo code

If you have a promo code from the provider, enter it during checkout.

• What it does: it reduces your subtotal before the service fee is calculated, so the discount also slightly lowers the fee.
• The implication: the price you see update is the real price, fee included. If a code is invalid or below its minimum, Creatures tells you and the price stays as it was.

Checking out

Checkout adapts to the offering. A few things can happen depending on its setup:

• Sign a waiver (if required): some offerings need a signed agreement before payment. If so, checkout pauses for you to sign (with your name and email), then continues. You cannot pay until it is signed. See Signing an agreement, and requiring one before a booking.
• Free bookings confirm instantly: if nothing is charged now (a free experience, or a provider who collects on arrival), there is no payment step. Your booking is confirmed immediately.
• Paid bookings go through secure checkout: if there is an amount to pay now, you pay through Creatures' secure payment (Stripe). What you pay now depends on the provider's deposit policy: the full price, a set deposit with the balance due later, and always plus the buyer service fee of 5% or $1.50, whichever is greater.
• Signed-in extras: if you are signed in and have a balance, you can apply your Creatures Credit and Creatures Wallet toward the cost at checkout.

After you check out, a confirmation goes to your email, and your booking appears on its own page.

Managing your booking

Your booking lives at its own page (/booking/b/...), and it is where you handle everything after the fact.

• The price breakdown: exactly what you paid, line by line, including the price, any discount, the service fee, and anything still due.
• Reschedule: move your booking to a different available time, allowed up until the cancellation window before the start. After that cutoff, the time is locked in.
• Cancel: cancel the booking. Your refund follows the policy that was frozen onto your booking when you made it, not whatever the offering says now. If the policy is full-refund and you cancel before the window, you are refunded, but the buyer service fee is kept (the fee is not part of the refund). If the policy is non-refundable, cancelling does not return your payment. The page tells you which applies, in plain words, before you act.
• Add to your calendar: download the booking as a calendar file (ICS) or add it straight to Google Calendar, so the time and place are saved wherever you keep your schedule.

A note for guests (booking without an account)

You do not need a Creatures account to book. If you check out as a guest, your confirmation email contains a private link to your booking page. That link is how you view, reschedule, cancel, or add the booking to your calendar later, so keep the email. (Credit and Wallet are account features, so those only apply to signed-in customers.)

Had a good (or not so good) experience? You can leave the provider a review afterward. See Leaving a review. To offer your own bookable experiences, see Creating a bookable offering: tours, classes, and appointments.

Related information

• Creating a bookable offering: tours, classes, and appointments

Updated on: 23/06/2026