# Book your own flight or lesson

> Pick Solo, choose the aircraft, then pick a start time from the list. Only times when you and the aircraft are both free are offered.

Source: https://www.aerscheduler.com/docs/scheduling/book-a-solo-flight
Section: Scheduling and dispatch. For: Students, Instructors.

Go to `You → Book` (web console), or click an empty slot on the school
calendar. On the web you are already on the booking, so there is no title to write.
On iPhone, Create Reservation has a **Title** field; if you leave it blank the board
shows Solo Flight (or Rental, Dual, and so on).

**Who can do this:** Instructors, Students, Renters, Technicians

## Before you start

You need a role that puts you in a booking: instructor, student, renter or technician.
Owner, admin and dispatcher are not booking roles, so an admin who is also an instructor
books as the instructor.

If your school has turned on **Require payment method before self-book**, save a card
under `You → Profile → Payments` (web console) first.

## Where to book

Two doors, one form.

- `You → Book` (web console) opens the form as a page. After you book you land on your own schedule.
- `Calendar` (web console) then a click on empty space opens the same form in a modal titled **Book yourself in**, with that slot and that lane already filled in. The modal closes back onto the board.

The Type dropdown only offers the kinds of booking your roles allow. A student sees Dual,
Solo, Shared flight, Ground and Sim. A renter sees Rental and Shared flight. A technician
sees Maintenance only. If the type you wanted is missing, ask your school to add the
matching role to your account.

## Book a solo

1. **Set the type to Solo**

   It is already the default for a student.

2. **Pick the aircraft**

   Grounded tails are flagged in the picker and again in a notice underneath it.

   ![Book a reservation, Solo](https://www.aerscheduler.com/docs/me-book-solo.png)

3. **Pick the date, then the start time**

   Only 15-minute marks where you and the aircraft are both free are listed. Picking a
   start fills in an end an hour later, shortened if the free window is shorter.

   ![Book a reservation, Start dropdown open](https://www.aerscheduler.com/docs/me-book-start-times.png)

4. **Add a rating and notes if you want**

   Both optional. Notes are limited to 200 characters.

5. **Press Book reservation**

   You land on `You → Schedule` (web console) with the booking on it.

## What the aircraft notices mean

The picker reports what the aircraft's record says right now, which for you is whether it
is grounded and why. A grounding is a stop: the server refuses every type except
Maintenance on a grounded aircraft.

Open squawks are not shown to students, renters or instructors. They are a staff and
technician view, so the front desk sees them on the dispatch form and you do not.

## A solo carries one pilot

Solo means sole occupant, so the booking holds exactly one person. If you want an
instructor with you, that is a dual, and the server says so:

> A solo has one pilot. Book a dual if an instructor is flying with a student.

## Booking a dual, a rental, or a room

The rest of the form works the same way. What changes is the counterpart picker.

**Dual.** Pick your instructor. Instructors you are assigned to are sorted to the top and
marked `Your instructor`, but every instructor at the school stays selectable, so check
with them first if they are not one of yours. The times offered narrow again, because now
the aircraft, you and the instructor all have to be free at once.

**Rental.** Renters see the aircraft they are checked out on. With none at all, the page
says you are not checked out on any aircraft and asks you to speak to your school.

**Ground and Sim.** The resource field relabels itself to Room or Simulator. The
counterpart picker is optional here, labelled Instructor or Student depending on which
seat you are in.

> **Note:** If your school has turned on **Members can only book approved resources**, students and
> renters can book only the aircraft they have been checked out on. Instructors are not
> restricted by it. Classrooms are not affected, but simulators are, and the front desk can
> still put you on any aircraft when they book for you.

## If you hold both instructor and student roles

On a Dual, Ground or Sim booking a **Your seat** toggle appears: _I'm instructing_ or
_I'm the student_. Picking one flips the counterpart picker to the other side and clears
anyone you had already chosen.

![Book a reservation, Your seat toggle](https://www.aerscheduler.com/docs/me-book-your-seat.png)

> **Careful:** Solo has no counterpart, so it has no seat toggle, and a member holding both roles is
> recorded as the **instructor** on a solo. If you are flying a training solo as a student,
> ask your school to book it for you so it is recorded in the right seat. The seat changes
> what is billed.

## What the Book page cannot do

The self-serve form seats one person: you. There is no _Add another student_ or
_Add another renter_ control on it, so two renters splitting a cross-country cannot book
themselves in together. Ask the front desk, or book it and then edit it, since editing
opens the full dispatch form.

## After you book

- The booking appears on your schedule and on the school's board straight away.
- It is titled automatically from the aircraft and the type, for example `N172TS · Solo`. Members never get a title field.
- Anyone else on the booking is notified.

> **Careful:** You will not get a confirmation email or push for a booking you made yourself. That is
> deliberate: only the other people on a booking are notified. There is also no reminder
> before a flight, so put it in your own calendar if you want one. Connecting Google Calendar
> under `You → Profile → Calendar` (web console) does that automatically.

## If you cannot book yet

| What you see                                       | What to do                                                                                                    |
| -------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `Nothing to book yet`                              | Your account has no booking role. Ask an admin to add student, renter, instructor or technician under People. |
| `You're not checked out on any aircraft`           | Ask your school to approve you on the fleet you can fly.                                                      |
| `Add a payment method before booking`              | Save a card under You, then Profile, then Payments.                                                           |
| `No open times on this date for everyone selected` | Use the **Next available** link, try another aircraft, or take somebody off the booking.                      |

More refusal messages, and the shortest way past each, in
[Why was my booking refused?](https://www.aerscheduler.com/docs/scheduling/why-was-my-booking-refused)