- strtotime: documentation ( source)
<?php
$now = new DateTime('2016-01-10 23:30:59');
$start = new DateTime('saturday this week 15:00');
$end = new DateTime('monday next week 08:00');
$departure = new DateTime('2016-01-11 23:30:59');
$diff = (strtotime($departure->format('Y-m-d H:i:s')) - strtotime($now->format('Y-m-d H:i:s')))/3600;
echo $diff . PHP_EOL;;
echo $now->format('Y-m-d H:i:s'). PHP_EOL;
echo $start->format('Y-m-d H:i:s'). PHP_EOL;
echo $end->format('Y-m-d H:i:s'). PHP_EOL;
if ($now > $start && $now < $end && $diff <= 72) {
echo 'Error! Please contact administrator!';
}