Paid 1:1 sessions: booking, payment and video call in the same platform

A video course scales, but there are moments when the learner needs a person: to review her case, to unblock a doubt the syllabus does not cover, to decide what to do next. That hour of attention is the most valuable thing you have, and it is almost always sold badly: a message thread to agree a time, a video link from another service, a bank transfer or a separate payment link, and a reminder somebody forgets.

LearnSuite's 1:1 sessions put that whole circuit inside the platform. Here is how it works step by step, what the instructor decides, what the learner decides and what it does not do yet. The product page is 1:1 sessions.

Who it makes sense for

For the instructor who already sells a method and wants to offer individual attention without becoming their own secretary. It is the natural way out of a problem we describe in how to give personal support without burning out: if you give support away, you burn out; if you charge for it with an orderly diary, it is a service with limits and a price.

How the instructor sets it up

In the sessions panel you define:

• Weekly schedule, by day and time slot, in your time zone. You can add manual slots for specific dates.
• Durations and the price of each: 30, 45 or 60 minutes, and whatever amount you decide for each. The platform imposes no price.
• Minimum notice to book (24 hours by default, adjustable) and maximum horizon (60 days by default).
• Buffer between sessions (15 minutes by default), so you do not chain three in a row without a breath.
• Cancellation window (24 hours by default).

A hypothetical example: an instructor offers 30-minute sessions at one price and 60-minute ones at another, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 16:00 to 19:00. With a 15-minute buffer, an afternoon fits three 60-minute sessions or five 30-minute ones, and the diary works itself out.

How the learner books and pays

1. She opens the sessions page and sees free times already converted to her time zone. No more "what time is that in Sydney?".
2. She picks a duration and a time.
3. She pays by card as part of the booking. The slot is held for 30 minutes while she pays; if she does not complete payment, it is released. There is no session without payment: the charge is what confirms the booking.
4. She receives a confirmation email with a link to manage it. The instructor receives theirs.

Emails are written in the recipient's language: their saved preference, otherwise the language they used, and only lastly the academy's.

Reminders

The system sends two automatic reminders, 24 hours and 1 hour before. It sounds minor, but no-shows are usually forgetfulness, not disinterest, and every empty slot is money that does not arrive.

Rescheduling and cancelling

• Rescheduling: the learner can move a paid session up to the notice deadline, at no cost.
• Learner cancels: 100% refund if she cancels within the window (24 hours by default); after it, no refund.
• Instructor cancels: 100% refund, always.

The refund goes back through the same payment method and is protected against duplicates, so a double click does not refund twice. If the refund fails, the platform flags it instead of quietly treating the cancellation as done.

The video call, inside the platform

The session takes place in a room on the platform itself, with a room page for each booking. Learner and instructor enter from the link in their email or from the site, without creating accounts on another service or installing anything.

Google Calendar

Google Calendar sync works like this: the instructor connects their account once, whatever they already have busy is subtracted from their availability, and each paid session appears in a calendar called "LearnSuite", which moves if the session is rescheduled and is deleted if cancelled.

The connection is live on the platform and you make it yourself from the sessions panel. Until you connect it, the diary works with the weekly schedule you defined and you have to avoid clashes with your other commitments yourself.

What it does not do

• No mobile app for sessions: it runs in the browser.
• No group sessions and no recurring mentoring subscriptions in this module: it is a single booking, one person, one hour.
• The learner's profile during the session (history, purchases, progress) is announced but not available yet. For now you will look up her profile separately.
• No automatic payout to each instructor on a team: automatic revenue splitting among several instructors does not exist yet.

What it costs

1:1 sessions are included in all plans. Professional costs €297 a month billed annually (€356.40 month to month); what you charge for each session is up to you. Everything on pricing, with a 14-day trial.

When it is not the best option

If your mentoring is very informal (three acquaintances who message you), a diary with payment is more structure than you need. If you need group sessions or a monthly coaching subscription, this module does not cover it. And if your learners only use a phone and want a dedicated app, for now they will go through the browser.

The combination that tends to work best is a recorded course as the base, a tutor for the repeated questions (see an AI tutor for each academy) and paid 1:1 sessions for what truly needs a person. It also helps with a deeper issue: many learners quit when they feel alone with the material, as we see in why learners drop out before finishing.