Bookings · Waitlist

How the waitlist works

When there is no availability, clients can join a waitlist. When a cancellation creates a gap, Beautay automatically holds the slot and contacts the right person — so your calendar fills itself.

8 min read Bookings Waitlist

Slot holds

When someone is invited, the slot is reserved exclusively for them until the invitation expires.

Email invitations

Clients receive a personal booking link with a time-limited invitation to claim the slot.

Auto cascade

If an invitation expires unclaimed, the next eligible person on the list is contacted automatically.

What the waitlist is

The waitlist is a queue of clients who want to book a service but found no availability at the time they checked. When a booking is cancelled or rescheduled and creates a free slot, Beautay processes the waitlist automatically — no manual follow-up needed from the business.

The waitlist feature must be enabled in your account settings and can also be toggled per service, so you can run it selectively.

Good to know Clients can only join the waitlist for services where waitlist is enabled. If you do not see a waitlist option on your booking page, the business has not turned it on for that service.

How clients join the waitlist

Clients visit the business booking page and select a service. If all available slots are taken, a Join Waitlist option appears. Clicking it opens a short form.

Preferred date ranges

Clients must specify at least one date range when they would like to be seen — for example, "15 May to 31 May". Multiple ranges can be added. All dates must be in the future. This ensures Beautay only contacts clients for slots they are actually available for, and means entries can be automatically removed once all preferred dates have passed.

Entries expire automatically Once all of a client's preferred date ranges have passed, their waitlist entry is removed automatically overnight. This keeps the queue relevant and prevents old entries accumulating.
Availability already exists? If Beautay detects that the service already has open slots during the client's preferred date range, joining the waitlist is blocked. A message will direct the client to book directly instead — there is no reason to queue when a slot is free.

Time of day preference

Clients can indicate a rough time-of-day preference (morning, afternoon, evening). This is used as a signal — not a guarantee — when matching slots.

Notification method

Invitations are sent by email only.

The "no availability" banner

Clients can only select dates that are highlighted in the booking calendar. If all days in the next four weeks are unavailable for a service, there are no dates to click — meaning the client would never reach the waitlist option normally.

To solve this, Beautay automatically shows a prominent "No availability in the next 4 weeks" banner directly on the booking page when this condition is met. The banner lets clients know they can still browse dates further ahead in the calendar (where slots may exist), and includes a Join Waitlist button if they would prefer an earlier opening.

  • The banner only appears when the service has the waitlist feature enabled.
  • It is shown before a specific date is selected.
  • It disappears as soon as any availability is found within the four-week window.
  • Clients can still browse dates beyond 4 weeks — the banner does not mean there is no availability at all, only that the nearest 4 weeks are full.

Slot holds explained

When a cancellation creates a free slot and a waitlist client is invited to claim it, Beautay places a slot hold on that time. While the hold is active, the slot appears as unavailable to all other clients browsing the booking page — it is reserved exclusively for the person who received the invitation.

This prevents the frustrating scenario where a client receives an invitation, clicks the link, and finds the slot already taken by someone else who happened to book at the same moment.

Hold duration

The hold lasts for exactly as long as the invitation is valid. The expiry time is set by the business and scales based on how soon the slot is:

Slot timingTypical hold & invitation window
TodayShort — measured in minutes, since urgency is high
This weekA few hours
Further aheadUp to a day or more

The exact durations are configured by each business in their waitlist settings.

When "Send to all" is active, there are no holds

If the business uses the Send to all at the same time priority strategy, everyone on the waitlist is notified at once. Because multiple people are invited simultaneously it is not possible to hold the slot for any individual — it becomes first come, first served. See Priority strategies below for more detail.

Hold released automatically When the invited client books, the hold is released immediately. There is no delay or manual step required.

How invitations work

When a slot opens, Beautay identifies the best match from the waitlist queue and sends an email invitation containing a unique, time-limited booking link.

Cancellation detected

A booking is cancelled or a time slot otherwise becomes free.

Waitlist matched

Beautay filters the queue by service, preferred date ranges, time-of-day preference, and the business's priority strategy to find the best candidate.

Slot hold placed

The slot is reserved for the matched client (unless "Send to all" is active).

Email invitation sent

The client receives an email with a unique link, the slot details, and a clear deadline to act.

Client books or invitation expires

If the client books, the hold is released and the entry is marked complete. If they do not act in time, the invitation expires and the next person in the queue is contacted.

Invitation links are single-use Each link is tied to one slot and one client. Sharing the link with someone else will not allow them to book with it, and the original recipient cannot use an expired link.

Invitation expiry & cascading

Every invitation has a deadline. If it expires without being claimed, Beautay automatically:

  1. Releases the slot hold, making the slot visible again to all clients.
  2. Searches the remaining waitlist for the next eligible candidate for that slot.
  3. Sends a new invitation to that person with a fresh hold and deadline.

This cascade continues down the queue until either someone books the slot or the queue is exhausted. If no one on the waitlist claims the slot, it becomes openly available again.

What happens when the last person on the list expires?

The slot hold is removed and the slot returns to normal availability. The waitlist entries remain in the system — those clients are still queued and will be contacted if another slot opens in the future that matches their preferences.

Booking from a waitlist invitation

The invitation email contains a link that takes the client directly to the booking page with the slot pre-filled. The process is:

  1. Open the link — the booking page loads with the offered date, time, and service already selected.
  2. Review the details — confirm the slot is correct before proceeding.
  3. Complete the booking — sign in if prompted, then follow the normal checkout steps. The slot hold bypass is handled automatically; the client does not need to do anything special.
Act before the deadline The invitation shows the expiry time. If the deadline passes, the link stops working and the slot moves to the next person in the queue. If that happens, the client remains on the waitlist and will be contacted again if another suitable slot opens.

Priority strategies (for businesses)

Businesses choose how the queue is ordered and who gets contacted first:

StrategyHow it worksSlot hold?
First come, first served Clients are contacted in the order they joined the waitlist. Yes
Most previous bookings Loyal clients with the highest booking history are prioritised. Yes
Least previous bookings Newer clients with fewer bookings are prioritised — useful for acquiring new customers. Yes
Send to all at the same time Every eligible person on the waitlist is notified simultaneously. Whoever books first secures the slot. No — first come, first served

The chosen strategy applies to all waitlist processing for that business. It cannot be set per service.

Business setup & configuration

To use the waitlist, a business needs to complete the following in their account settings:

  • Enable waitlist — top-level toggle in account settings under the Waitlist section.
  • Enable per service — each service has its own waitlist toggle; enable it for services where you want clients to be able to queue.
  • Set a priority strategy — choose how the queue is ordered (see above).
  • Configure invitation expiry times — set how long an invitation stays valid based on how soon the slot is (today, this week, further ahead). These durations also determine how long each slot hold lasts.
Invitation expiry and hold duration are the same setting There is no separate "hold time" configuration. The expiry time you set for invitations is exactly how long the slot is held for the invited client.

Troubleshooting

I joined the waitlist but never received an email
Check your spam folder first. Invitations are sent to the email address on your account. If no slot has opened for that service since you joined, no invitation would have been sent yet — you are simply still in the queue. Note that if all of your preferred dates have now passed, your entry will have been automatically removed and you would need to rejoin with new dates.
My invitation link is not working
The link is most likely expired. Each invitation has a deadline shown in the email. If it has passed, the slot has moved to the next person. You remain on the waitlist and will be contacted if another slot opens.
I tried to book from my invitation but the slot was gone
If the business uses "Send to all at the same time", there is no slot hold and another client may have booked it first. If a different strategy is in use, contact support as this should not happen — the slot should have been held for you.
I wanted to join the waitlist but was told to book directly instead
This means Beautay found open availability within your preferred date range. The waitlist is for when no slots exist — if one is available, booking it directly is faster and guarantees your appointment.
There is no "Join Waitlist" option on the booking page
The business either has not enabled the waitlist feature globally, or has not enabled it for that specific service. Contact the business directly to ask if they run a waitlist.
As a business, how do I remove someone from the waitlist?
Waitlist entries can be managed in the Waitlist section of your admin. You can delete individual entries, which removes that client from the queue and means they will not receive future invitations for that service.