Waitlists

Let customers join a waitlist when an activity session is fully booked.

When an activity session reaches capacity, waitlists give customers a way to register their interest and get notified if a spot opens up. This helps you capture demand you would otherwise lose and fill cancellations automatically.

How waitlists work

1. A customer tries to book a session that is fully booked.
2. They are offered the option to join the waitlist for that session.
3. When a spot becomes available — due to a cancellation or capacity increase — Sailia sends a notification email to the next customer on the waitlist.
4. The customer receives a link to complete their booking before the spot is released to others.

Waitlist notifications are tracked as waitlist-notified events in meter usage tracking, so you can monitor notification volume.

Enable waitlists

Waitlists are configured at the activity level:

1. Open the activity

   Navigate to the activity you want to enable waitlists for.

2. Enable the waitlist option

   In the activity settings, toggle the Waitlist option on. This allows customers to register interest when the session reaches capacity.

3. Save the activity

   Save your changes. Customers now see a Join waitlist option on fully booked sessions instead of a sold-out message.

You can enable waitlists on individual activities — not every activity needs one. Enable them on high-demand activities where cancellations are common.

Managing the waitlist

From the bookings dashboard, you can:

• View the waitlist for any session, ordered by sign-up time
• See whether a waitlisted customer has been notified
• Manually remove a customer from the waitlist
• Monitor how many customers are waiting for each session
• Email everyone on the waitlist directly from the session

Emailing the waitlist

You can send a one-off email to every customer on a session’s waitlist — useful for letting them know about extra availability, schedule changes, or alternative sessions to book.

1. Open the waitlist

   Open the session and scroll to the Waitlist area.

2. Open the composer

   Select Email in the waitlist header. The email composer opens with every waitlisted customer pre-selected as a recipient.

3. Write and send

   Compose your message and send. Each recipient receives the email individually.

The composer deduplicates email addresses, so customers with the same email across multiple waitlist entries only receive one message. Waitlist entries without an email address are skipped. If no one on the waitlist has an email address, the Email button shows a warning instead of opening the composer.

Notifications

When a spot opens up, Sailia automatically sends an email to the next customer on the list. The email includes:

• The activity name and session date/time
• A booking link to claim the spot
• A deadline to complete the booking

If the customer does not book within the deadline, the spot is offered to the next person on the waitlist.

If you have workflows configured, you can customize the content and timing of waitlist notification emails.

Troubleshooting

Customer did not receive a waitlist notification

Verify the customer’s email address on their profile. Waitlist notifications are sent automatically when a spot opens — check whether the session has had any cancellations. You can also set up a workflow to customize notification timing and content.

Spot opened but waitlist customer was not notified

Notifications are sent to the next person on the list in sign-up order. If the spot was filled by a direct booking (not through the waitlist), the waitlist may not have been triggered. Review the booking source in the bookings dashboard.

Related guides

Activities

Set up activities and enable waitlists.

Online bookings

Learn how the booking flow works for customers.