Waitting list

Waiting list

Overview

A waiting list (waitlist) booking is used when customers want to book a departure, but there are not enough available places (transport seats and/or hotel beds).

Instead of losing the booking, Tourpaq can create a waitlist booking that:

• records the customer’s interest

• does not reserve allotment immediately

• is automatically converted into a normal booking if allotment becomes available later

When to use this

Use the waitlist feature when you want to accept interest for fully booked departures and handle them fairly (first created → first processed).

A waitlist booking is not a confirmed contract until it becomes fully confirmed (see Status lifecycle).

Preconditions

Before you can use waiting list pricing, you must already have the normal setup for that departure:

• Transport allotment and/or hotel allotment configured

• A valid price list for the departure

Configure a price as “Waitlist (WL)”

To enable waiting list behavior, mark the relevant price as a waitlist price.

1

1. Open the relevant price list entry

Navigate to the price list entry for the departure where you want to allow waitlist bookings.

2

2. Enable the Waitlist (WL) flag

Check the Waitlist (WL) checkbox under FLAGS.

Enable Waitlist (WL) in the price list flags.

Waitlist (WL) flag selected.

How it works

Standard behavior (while allotment exists)

If there is enough allotment to cover the customer’s needs, Tourpaq behaves as usual and creates a normal booking.

Waitlist behavior (when allotment is missing)

When allotment is not available and the price is marked as Waitlist (WL), Tourpaq can still create the booking but will treat it as a waitlist booking:

• No allotment is reserved at creation time

• No payment steps are available yet

• No “thank you for booking” email is sent yet

• The booking clearly indicates it is a waitlist and not a confirmed contract

Status lifecycle

Waitlist bookings move through the following statuses:

• WL – Waitlist booking created (not confirmed)

• WLOK – Allotment has become available and was reserved automatically; booking is now ready for an agent to finalize

• OK – Booking finalized by an agent (normal booking behavior applies)

Tourpaq periodically checks for new allotment and will process waitlist bookings in the order they were created.

What happens when the status becomes WLOK

When a waitlist booking can be fulfilled, Tourpaq reserves the needed allotments and changes the booking to WLOK.

At this point:

• the booking appears on the Office Dashboard for action

• an admin/sales agent must open the booking and save it again to finalize it

Only after the booking is saved and becomes OK:

• customer emails/tickets are sent (normal flow)

• payment rates and payment options become active

In Tourpaq Office (Back Office)

Waitlist indicators in Tourpaq Office.

When placing a waitlist booking in the Office:

• Transport/hotel popups show additional warnings that you are selecting a waitlist scenario.

• A transport may require using a button such as Search Waitlist also to display waitlist options.

• When clicking Take allotment, a confirmation checkbox appears and you must acknowledge the waitlist scenario before continuing.

In Tourpaq WebBooking / Customer Center

Waitlist messaging in WebBooking / Customer Center.

For WebBooking, clear customer communication is critical because the customer is self‑serving.

Typical behavior:

• A visible message/banner is shown on key pages (landing, confirmation, and Customer Center login).

• The message can have a default version and a brand-specific version.

• Payment steps are typically hidden because the booking is not confirmed yet.

Brand-specific WebBooking texts may require assistance from Tourpaq Support, depending on your setup.

Tips and troubleshooting

WebBooking rejects a booking attempt

If a price has no allotment and is not marked as Waitlist (WL), WebBooking will reject the booking attempt.

“Customer asks why they can’t pay yet”

If the booking is still WL (waitlist):

• payment is not available yet because the booking is not confirmed

• the booking becomes payable only after it reaches OK

“The booking is WLOK but nothing is sent to the customer”

This is expected. An agent must open the booking and save/finalize it so it becomes OK and triggers the normal email/payment flow.