Renting hours

Hey ​@Delphine_Rocher,

I guess you could have only one record with Start Date and Time and End Date and Time fields. 
Then calculate date time difference in days, multiply by 8, and then substract difference in hours if first or last day was rented for less than 8 hs. 
For sure you should set what business hours are (esrliest/latest).  
 

Would smth like that work?  

Couple questions…

• Are multiple people renting these materials per day (Client A is paying for 2 hours on 6/23 and Client B for 3 hours on 6/23)?
• Do the rental timeframes change or are they always 8 hours per day?
• Are Clients renting these materials for 2-3 days or for like 15 days? 

Depending on the answers here there are some easy solutions, especially integrated with Fillout. I’d make two tables, one for rentals and one for checkout dates, and then each rental can have multiple dates with different durations assigned to it. That would work if the materials are mostly checked out over 2-5 days by clients (if it’s week+ that format would get unwieldy). 

I’ve built an event calendar that works this way, and the only thing that’d need to be added really would be blackout dating times already checked out. 

Hi ​@Mike_AutomaticN ,

thank you very much, I got the idea. But :

• the renting starts with 1 hour rent only.
• One person can rent more than one device at the time.
• One device can only be rented Once

Imagine you have 10 paddle and 2 kayaks to rent by a lovely icecream shop and a clear lake… Yes it’s hot here !

Hi ​@DisraeliGears01 

• Are multiple people renting these materials per day (Client A is paying for 2 hours on 6/23 and Client B for 3 hours on 6/23)? => YES EXACTLY
• Do the rental timeframes change or are they always 8 hours per day? => Idealy it could change but maybe I start simple ?
• Are Clients renting these materials for 2-3 days or for like 15 days? => Only hourly rent

Really I want to help the local nautical association with the rental part that is really important but very time-consuming.

But they have 20 paddles, 15 Kayaks and about 20 dinghies to rent… 

I will check Fillout as I do not know this App.

Instead of manually creating 984 rows, we can automate the generation of hourly time slots across multiple days using a few smart Airtable techniques:

Script or automation to generate records

We can use Airtable’s scripting (or an external automation tool like Make.com or Zapier) to auto-generate those time slots—e.g., “June 1st, 9:00–10:00”, “June 1st, 10:00–11:00”, all the way through to the end of the summer—without lifting a finger.

 Dynamic calendar view

Once the time slots are set up, we can make it super visual using calendar view, so you can easily track what’s rented and what’s free.

Availability logic

We can even include logic to show availability, prevent double bookings, and simplify reservations with forms or buttons.

Google Calendar integration

Once we lock the structure, we’ll set up a two-way or one-way sync with Google Calendar, depending on your workflow needs.

Would you like me to put together a quick demo or proposal based on your current setup? I’d love to help you go from idea to automation without the manual pain.

Let me know what works for you!

I will set it up in this way:

Devices
Device Name | (more fields)

Clients
Client Name | Email | Phone | (more fields)

Rentals
Client (linked to Clients) | Device (linked to Devices) | Start Date&Time | End Date&Time | Duration ( formula - Based on how you want to track)

Taha, Airtable Advisor


 

Yes I would love to. Would you do that ? What input do you need ?

that is really clear, going forward with that.

Thank you very much

Awesome! I’d be happy to help you set it up. To get started, here are a few quick inputs I’ll need to build something that fits your exact needs:

1. List of items available for rent (e.g., tents, chairs, equipment).

2. Rental hours per day (e.g., 8am–5pm? Are weekends included?).

3. Rental duration rules (Can people book 1 hour? 2 hours max? Any buffer time between bookings?).

4. Start and end dates for the summer rental period.

5. Do you have a Google Calendar you’d like the bookings to sync with already?

6. Optional: Any form or method you’d like people to use to make bookings?

Once I have that info, I can put together a smart, flexible Airtable system tailored to your workflow. I’ll include:

• Automatic time slot generation

• Availability tracking

• Easy calendar view

• Google Calendar integration plan

Let me know if you'd also like me to handle the Google Calendar setup end-to-end.

Looking forward to your reply!