Configure Dynamic Duration
How to set up flexible rental durations with hourly pricing for Dynamic Duration Equipment Rental activities.
Use this guide when you have a Dynamic Duration Equipment Rental activity and want to let customers choose exactly how long they want to rent. Instead of offering fixed durations (e.g., 1 hour or 2 hours), dynamic duration lets customers select any duration within a range you define, with pricing calculated automatically based on an hourly rate.
Prerequisites
Dynamic duration settings are only available for activities created with the Dynamic Duration Equipment Rental type. If your activity was created as a standard Equipment Rental or Tour, you cannot add dynamic duration to it. You would need to create a new activity with the Dynamic Duration type.
Access Dynamic Duration Settings
- Go to Activities > [Activity Name] > Settings > Dynamic Duration.
This tab only appears in the sidebar for Dynamic Duration Equipment Rental activities.
Configure Duration Range
Minimum Rental Duration
The shortest period a customer can rent the equipment. Must be at least 1 hour.
For example, if you rent jet skis and the minimum worthwhile rental is 1 hour, set this to 1.
Maximum Rental Duration
The longest period a customer can rent the equipment. Must be greater than the minimum.
For example, set to 8 for a full-day rental or 168 for a week-long rental.
Time Increment
The interval between selectable duration options. This determines the granularity of choices available to the customer. Available increments:
| Increment | Customer Sees |
|---|---|
| 15 minutes | 1h, 1h15m, 1h30m, 1h45m, 2h, ... |
| 30 minutes | 1h, 1h30m, 2h, 2h30m, 3h, ... |
| 1 hour | 1h, 2h, 3h, 4h, ... |
| 2 hours | 2h, 4h, 6h, 8h, ... |
| 3 hours | 3h, 6h, 9h, 12h, ... |
| 4 hours | 4h, 8h, 12h, ... |
| 6 hours | 6h, 12h, 18h, 24h, ... |
| 8 hours | 8h, 16h, 24h, ... |
| 12 hours | 12h, 24h, ... |
| 24 hours | 24h, 48h, 72h, ... |
Choose an increment that makes sense for your business. For short-duration rentals like jet skis, 15 or 30 minutes is appropriate. For multi-day rentals like campsite equipment, 24 hours makes more sense.
Base Hourly Rate
The price per hour. The total price shown to the customer is this rate multiplied by the number of hours they select.
For example, if the hourly rate is $50 and the customer selects 3 hours, the price is $150.
Customer Selection Preview
As you configure the settings, a Customer Selection Preview appears at the bottom of the form showing the exact duration options customers will see. Verify this list to make sure the options look right before saving.
For example, with a minimum of 1 hour, maximum of 4 hours, and 30-minute increment, the preview shows: 1 hour, 1 hour 30 minutes, 2 hours, 2 hours 30 minutes, 3 hours, 3 hours 30 minutes, 4 hours.
If the combination of settings produces more than 10 options, the preview truncates with a count of remaining options.
Save Changes
Click Save Changes to persist your configuration.
Validation Rules
The system enforces these rules:
- Minimum hours must be at least 1.
- Maximum hours must be greater than minimum hours.
- Increment must be at least 15 minutes.
- Increment must not exceed the total range (max - min).
- Base hourly rate cannot be negative.
How Pricing Works with Dynamic Duration
The base hourly rate provides the foundation. You can still use pricing modifiers to adjust prices by date, time, day of week, etc. The modifiers apply on top of the calculated duration price.
Tips
- Start with a round-number hourly rate to keep pricing simple for customers. $25/hour is easier to understand than $23.50/hour.
- If you want to incentivize longer rentals, use a duration pricing modifier to give discounts at longer durations.
- The scheduling settings (time slots, cutoffs, etc.) still apply to dynamic duration activities. Make sure your time slot window is wide enough to accommodate the maximum duration.
- Review the customer selection preview every time you change settings. A small increment with a large range can generate dozens of options, which may overwhelm customers.