Automatic ticket delivery for recurring events, and exactly when each email goes

The short answer

Automatic ticket delivery means nobody, organiser or attendee, has to do anything for a ticket to reach the person who needs it. For a one-off booking, the ticket arrives by email straight away. For a regular on a subscription, each session’s ticket is made for them before it runs and lands in their inbox with the reminder, so they never book again.

The details matter, because “automatic” can mean very different things. Here’s what to expect, and exactly when each email goes on One Ticket.

What good ticket delivery looks like

Whatever tool you use, check it does these:

• The ticket arrives at once after booking, with a scannable QR code
• It works without an account or an app: the email is the ticket
• A calendar file comes with it, so the date lands in their diary
• Reminders go before the event, with the ticket attached, so nobody digs through old emails at the door
• Each person in a group gets their own ticket, at their own email address where possible
• Lost tickets are easy to resend, by you or by the attendee

For a recurring event, add one more: regulars' tickets are made without them booking.

The timeline for a one-off booking

Each reminder carries the ticket’s QR code, so the most recent email is always the one to show at the door.

The timeline for a subscriber

A subscriber doesn’t book each session. Their tickets follow the subscription:

So someone who subscribes the day before a class gets that ticket at once. Otherwise each session’s ticket arrives in the reminder the day before, and it’s already on their plan page from about a week out if they want it early. The plan page always shows their next ticket.

Who gets which ticket

When one booking or one subscription covers several people, each person has their own ticket and QR code. Where the booking has each person’s email, their ticket and reminders go to them; otherwise they go to the buyer. A subscription for two or more asks for each person’s name and email, so everyone gets their own.

When tickets don’t arrive

Most “I never got my ticket” moments are a typo in the email address, a spam folder, or an inbox rule. Give people three ways back:

• Resend. You can email an order’s tickets again in a couple of taps.
• Find it themselves. Signing in with their email shows every ticket booked with it, even if the email never arrived.
• Search at the door. The guest list finds them by name, so a missing email never stops someone getting in.

What if someone loses their ticket at the door? and How do I know a ticket confirmation email is real? cover the rest.

When something changes

If you change a session’s time or place, everyone booked should be told the new details, and their tickets should keep working. You shouldn’t have to reissue anything. If a subscriber pauses, falls behind on a payment or cancels, tickets for sessions they haven’t paid for shouldn’t be issued, and the ones they have paid for should stay theirs.

Email limits and timing

Every platform has sending limits to protect deliverability. What matters is that the important emails always go. On One Ticket, each plan has a daily email limit; at the limit, tickets, receipts, refunds and change notices still go, and reminders wait for the next day. See Daily limits.

On One Ticket

Ticket emails for an in-person event carry a QR code per ticket and a calendar file, and buyers need no account. Reminders go to every ticket holder the day before (20 to 24 hours ahead) and on the morning of (from 7 am where the event is), each with the ticket attached. See Email tickets and reminders.

For a subscription, the welcome email brings the manage link, and a session within the week has its ticket emailed straight away. Every other session’s ticket is made about a week before it, shows on the subscriber’s plan, and comes with that session’s reminders. If a subscriber’s payment fails, new tickets wait until it goes through; sessions they’ve paid for keep theirs. See Manage a subscription and the Subscriptions page.

You can resend an order’s tickets or send a reminder by hand from Orders. Attendees find every ticket under My tickets by signing in with their email. All of this is on every plan, including Free, which has no monthly cost. See pricing and the Events page.

Back to the complete guide to recurring events. Related: How recurring ticket sales work, How do I send event reminders? and How to sell tickets for a weekly event.