Automatic waitlisting

Set up Arketa to automatically move clients from the waitlist into class when a spot opens.

Automatic waitlisting moves the next person on the waitlist into class and processes their payment as soon as a spot opens — with no manual action from you.

Requirements

Enable automated waitlist is on in Settings → Booking Settings → Waitlist
For a paid class, Arketa must be able to pay for the spot without the client: a credit from a pricing option that applies to the class, or — if Charge payment method on file is on under the unpaid reservation resolver — a drop-in charge to their card on file

If Arketa can't pay for the spot, it skips that client and leaves them on the waitlist. Free classes convert without any payment.

To make sure waitlisted clients always have a credit to use, set the class to Package & Subscription Only, as described below.

Automatic waitlisting also respects each client's booking limits. If moving a client off the waitlist would exceed the booking limit on their pricing option for the period — for example, they've already booked another class that day and their plan allows one booking per day — Arketa skips that client and leaves them on the waitlist. If they're the only person waitlisted, the spot stays open. To take the earlier class instead, the client can cancel their other booking for that period, or you can add them manually from the class roster.

Set your class to Package & Subscription Only

For a single class:

Go to Full Schedule
Edit the class
On the Pricing step, set Price type to Package & Subscription Only

For all classes of a service type:

Go to Setup → Service Types
Edit the service type
On the first page (Overview), set the price type to Package & Subscription Only

For specific instances within a service type:

Go to Setup → Service Types → click into the service type
Select the specific class instances you want to change
Edit each one and update the pricing setting

What happens when a spot opens

The client at the top of the waitlist is automatically moved into class
Their payment is processed (the credit is used from their package/subscription)
They receive a confirmation email that they've been added to class
The waitlist moves up

Free classes with a waitlist

Free classes work with automatic waitlisting. When a spot opens, the next client is moved in and confirmed with no payment step.

Auto-assigning a spot when a client comes off the waitlist

If your class uses spot booking, Arketa can automatically assign the next available spot to the client when they move off the waitlist — so they're not just added to the class with no spot picked.

This happens automatically — there's no setting to turn on.

How it works:

Applies to both automatic and manual waitlist conversions
Only triggers when the class has a spot map (spot booking enabled)
Assigns the first available spot in the room — there's no preferred-spot logic
If no spots are available or spot booking isn't enabled for that class, the client is still moved into class, just without a spot assigned

Turning off automatic waitlisting

If you prefer the manual flow (clients are notified and must claim the spot themselves):

Go to Settings → Booking Settings → Waitlist
Turn off Enable automated waitlist and click Save changes

With this off, when a spot opens, everyone on the waitlist is notified, and the first client to book gets the spot.