---
title: Waitlist
description: Let travellers join a waitlist for full departures and offer freed seats to the next group in line automatically, with a hold or first-come offer.
---

# Waitlist <Badge type="tip" text="Growth+" />

The waitlist keeps selling once a date is full. Instead of a dead end, travellers can join a waitlist for the departure. When seats free up, the next group in line whose size fits gets the seats held for a few hours. If they don't book in time, the seats pass to the next in line.

::: info At a glance
- **Plan:** Growth and Scale
- **Category:** Sales
- **Where:** Console › Plugins › Waitlist, and Bookings › Waitlist
:::

## How it works

**What the traveller sees**

- When a departure is full, or the group is bigger than the seats left, the booking form offers **Join the waitlist** instead of checkout. Nothing is charged.
- After joining, they see "You're on the waitlist" with their place in line, and get a confirmation email (if on).
- When seats free up for them, they get an email with a link that holds the seats until a set time. The link takes them straight to checkout with the held seats.

**When seats free up**

Seats can free up after a cancellation, an unpaid checkout that expired, or when you add seats or reopen a date. With automatic offers on, Tourtify offers them straight away.

**What your team sees**

**Bookings › Waitlist** shows departures with a line, how many groups are waiting, offers out and the demand you could sell. You can offer seats by hand, move someone to the top, or add seats to a departure.

## Turn it on

1. Go to **Console › Plugins**.
2. Find **Waitlist** and flip its switch on.
3. Select **Configure** to choose how offers work, then **Save**.

## Settings

**When seats free up**

| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Offer freed seats automatically | After a cancellation, an unpaid checkout, or when you add seats or reopen a date. Off: you choose who to offer from the Waitlist page. | On |
| How offers work | **Hold the seats for the next in line**, or **Email everyone who fits; first to book gets them**. Holding is fairer: nobody else can take the seats while the offer is open. | Hold the seats |
| Hold seats for (hours) | If they don't book in time, the offer lapses and the seats go to the next in line. 1–72. | 12 |

**Emails**

| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Confirm sign-ups by email | Travellers get a "You're on the waitlist" email when they join. | On |

## Manage the waitlist

Open **Bookings › Waitlist**.

- **Departures with a line** lists dates where people are waiting, with seats taken and free.
- Each person shows a status: **Waiting**, **Offer out**, **Held**, **Booked from waitlist**, **Offer lapsed** or **Closed**.
- Search by name, email or tour, and filter to **Seats free only**.

From a waiting traveller you can:

- **Offer seats** to make them an offer now, even with automatic offers off.
- **Move to top** to put them first in line.
- **Withdraw offer** to cancel an offer that's out.
- **Remove** them from the list.

For a departure you can **Offer to next in line**, **Email those who fit**, or add seats with **+ seats** when you can run a bigger group.

::: tip Demand you could sell
The page highlights departures where more people are waiting than there are seats. If you can add a vehicle or a guide, adding seats there turns waiting travellers into bookings.
:::

## Good to know

- Only groups that fit the free seats get an offer. A group of four isn't offered two seats.
- When someone books from an offer, they are marked as booked automatically.
- Waitlist offers can also go out on WhatsApp with [WhatsApp notifications](./whatsapp-notifications).
- Turning the plugin off stops sold-out dates taking waitlist sign-ups. People already waiting are kept.

## Related

- [Abandoned checkout recovery](./abandoned-checkout)
- [Dynamic pricing](./dynamic-pricing)
- [WhatsApp notifications](./whatsapp-notifications)
- [Checkout](/bookings/checkout)