For customers

Booking a visit

For customers. Some places let you choose a time instead of waiting in line. This page shows you how to book one, what happens on the day, and how to change your mind.

What booking is#

A booking is a visit at a time you choose. Instead of joining the line now and watching your place, you pick a day and a time, and your visit waits for you until then. When you arrive, you check in, and you go into the line in the place your booked time earned you.

Booking is free. You never pay Line Me Up anything, for a booking or for anything else, and there is no payment step in the app. Some places show a price beside a service; that price is only there so you know what to expect, and you settle it with the place itself.

Which places take bookings#

Not every place takes bookings, and a place may take bookings on some lines and not others. Each line on a place's page has a small picture beside its name that tells you how it works:

If a place's page shows only walking people, it is not taking bookings at the moment. You can still join the line in person or from your phone; see Finding a place and joining.

What you need#

• Nothing, to look. You can open a place's page, tick services and see the free times without signing in.
• Your phone number, to book. When you press the button that books, Line Me Up asks you to confirm your phone number with a 6-digit code first. It is how you get back to your booking if you lose the link, and how the desk reaches you. See Your account, language and privacy.

Book a time#

You can find the place through Explore, by scanning its poster, or from a link it sent you. Each opens the same page.

To book a time:

1. Open the place's page.
2. Under Select services, tick what you are coming for. On a line that takes bookings, the times appear only once you have ticked something, because the times depend on what you chose.
3. On a Walk-in + booking line, you will see Now, or at a time you pick. Press Pick a time to see the times. On a Bookings only line the times are already open.
4. Under Day, the button shows today, for example Today · Sat, 3 Oct. Leave it, or tap it to open a calendar and choose another day.
5. Tap a time. The one you chose fills in. Tap it again if you change your mind.
6. Check the bar at the bottom of the screen. It says how many services you chose, how long they take, and the time you picked. Its button says what will happen, for example Book Thu 10:30.
7. Press the button. If you are not signed in yet, confirm your phone number first; you come back to the same page afterwards. While it works the button says Booking….

When the booking is made you see your ticket. It says Booked, shows your token (such as CON-20261030-014, with its last part, 014, printed large), and tells you when you are expected, with the words Check in at the desk when you arrive. The booking also appears in your Visits tab under Upcoming, so you can find it again even if you close the page.

The calendar: which days you can choose#

• You can book today and the next six days: seven days in all. Days further ahead cannot be chosen.
• Days the place has marked as closed, such as a holiday, are greyed out and crossed through in the calendar. If you land on one, the screen says, for example, Closed on Mon, 5 Oct. Choose another day., sometimes with the place's own note about why.
• Days are the place's own calendar days, in its own time zone. If you are booking from another city or country, the times shown are the times at the place.
• Times are written the way the place chose, for example 1:30 pm or 13:30.

Which times you can choose#

• A time that is full stays on screen but cannot be tapped. That tells you the place opens then but has no room left.
• Times that have already passed today are not shown.
• If no times are listed, the screen says No times left on this day. That usually means the place is closed or has nobody working then. Try another day.
• A long service is only offered at times it fits. If you tick a treatment that takes two and a half hours, you only see starting times with two and a half hours free after them.
• A booking of two hours or more shows when it ends. A time at a sports ground or a hall that lasts the day reads 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, and a line above the times says how long each one lasts, such as Each time lasts 8h. A booking can last up to 12 hours.

Book several services, or book and join at once#

You can choose several things in one go: a booked time on one line and a place in the line now on another, or booked times on two different lines. The bar at the bottom lists each line and when, for example General · now and Specialist · Thu 10:30.

To book and join together:

1. Tick each service you want, on every line you need.
2. On each line that needs a time, pick a day and a time.
3. Read the bar. Its button changes to match: Join & book when you are joining one line now and booking another, or Book 2 times when you are booking two.
4. Press it.

Everything you chose is made together, or nothing is. You will never end up with half of it. When it works with several places at once, Line Me Up takes you to your Visits tab, which shows them all.

Book while the place is closed#

When a place is closed right now, you cannot join a line from your phone, because there is nobody to serve you. You can still book a time for later on a line that takes bookings. On a Walk-in + booking line the times open by themselves and the line says when it opens again, followed by pick a time. The Come now instead button is not offered until the place opens.

Check in when you arrive#

A booking is not in the line until you check in. Checking in tells the place you are here, and puts you in the line in the place your booked time earned you, not at the back.

To check in from your phone:

1. Open the Visits tab at the bottom of the screen.
2. Find your booking under Upcoming. It says Booked.
3. Press I am here. Your booking changes to Waiting and shows how many people are ahead of you.

You can also just tell the desk you have arrived; the front desk or a manager can check you in from their side.

Once you are checked in, everything works as it does for anyone waiting: your page shows your place, and tells you when it is your turn. See Waiting, your ticket and alerts.

Tell the place you are running late#

If you are going to be a few minutes late, say so from your phone. The desk sees your new arrival time, and your booked time is kept.

To say you are running late:

1. Open your booking: on your ticket page, or in the Visits tab under Upcoming.
2. Press Running late.
3. Choose 5 min, 10 min or 15 min.

You then see a line such as We've told them you'll be there ~10:45. Your time is kept. If it is going to be later still, press Running later and choose again.

Reminders before your booking#

Your Notifications inbox (the bell at the top of the screen) carries two reminders for each booking:

• The evening before, at 6 pm by the place's clock.
• An hour before your time.

Each reminder names the place, the line and your time, and, if the place has set one, where to go, for example a room number. A reminder can show up to about a minute after its moment, and it is never sent late: if the moment has passed, it is skipped rather than arriving stale.

Cancel a booking#

If you no longer need your booking, cancel it so somebody else can have the time.

To cancel a booking:

1. Open the Visits tab.
2. Find the booking under Upcoming.
3. Press Give up my place. The booking moves to Past and says Cancelled.

You can cancel any time until the desk has called you. After that, the app says You have already been called — please speak to the desk.

Change the time of a booking#

You cannot move a booking to another time yourself from the app. You have two ways to change it:

• Cancel and book again. Cancel the old booking in your Visits tab, then book the new time from the place's page. Check the new time is free before you cancel, so you do not lose both.
• Ask the desk. The front desk or a manager can move your booking to another time. When they do, your Visits tab and your ticket show the new day and time.

If the place cancels your booking#

Occasionally a place has to cancel bookings, for example because it has decided to close on that day, or because too few people are working to see everyone. When the staff cancel your booking for one of these reasons, a message appears in your Notifications inbox saying which booking was cancelled, with the place's note if they gave one. Tap it to open the place's page and book another time.

The booking also shows as Cancelled in your Visits tab.

If you do not turn up#

If you do not check in and the place's late window passes, your booking is usually given up a little later and shows as Missed in your Visits tab. This frees the time, and it frees you to book on that line again. If you are on your way, say you are running late before your time passes, or call the place.

What you will see in your Visits tab#

The Visits tab is the one place that lists every booking you have made while signed in, even if you lost the link. Each booking shows the place, the line, your token and when you are expected, and a word for where it stands:

A booking on a day other than today names the day as well as the time, so a booking moved from Thursday to Friday reads differently.

Something went wrong#

"That time has just been taken"

Somebody booked it a moment before you. The times are fetched again; choose another one and press the button again.

"This line does not take bookings" or "This line is not taking bookings right now"

The place has stopped taking bookings on that line, or paused it. Try again later, or join in person.

"… is not taking new visits right now"

The place is not accepting new visits at the moment. Nothing was booked. Try again later.

"We could not load the times. Please try again."

Your connection dropped while the times loaded. Check your signal and try again.

"We could not reach Line Me Up…"

Your phone could not reach Line Me Up. Check your connection and try again, or ask at the desk: the front desk or a manager can book you in from their side.

For businesses: offering bookings#

Customers can only book on a line set up to take bookings: a Bookings only line, or a Walk-in + booking line. How early a customer may check in, how late they may be, and how long each time slot is are set on the line. See Lines, services and desks to set this up, and The Waitlist for checking in, moving and cancelling bookings from the desk.

A receptionist does not need to be a manager for this. Give a staff member the Front desk ability on Team and they can book a caller a time from Add visit on their Workboard, move a booking to another time, and check a booking in from their Waitlist, on the lines they handle (see Your team, roles and leave).