Have a Bot watch for cancellations at a fully booked spot

How this helps you

You stop refreshing a booking page and still catch the cancellation.

✦ Try it

Check [booking page links] for openings on [date] between [time window] for [party size]. Do it now and tell me what you see, then check every hour until [stop time]. Only message me when a slot I'd accept appears, with the time and the booking link. Don't book or enter any details yourself. If a page won't load or asks me to log in, tell me once and keep trying.

Fill in: [booking page links] are the reservation pages. [date] and [time window] are when you want to go. [party size] is how many people. [stop time] is when to give up, such as the evening before.

What they did

Matt (@mattyp) had his Bot check every hour for openings at a popular bathhouse and a sushi restaurant in San Francisco, places that usually need booking about a month ahead. It found cancellations at 2:00 pm and 5:45 pm on a Saturday and pinged him when they appeared, and he finished the booking himself before the spots filled.

Who it's for: Anyone chasing a hard-to-get table, class, appointment or campsite.

Before you start

The booking page link for each place.
The day, time window and party size you want.
Phone notifications on, so the ping reaches you fast.

How to try it

Paste the prompt below with the venue links, date, time window and party size.
Ask it to run the check once now and tell you what it sees, so you know it can read the booking page.
Let it set up the hourly routine and say when it should stop (for example after the date passes).
When it pings you, open the link and book it yourself.
Ask it to pause the routine once you have your booking, so it stops using your usage.

What to expect

Quiet for hours, then one message: '2:00 pm Saturday just opened for 2 at [venue]. Booking link: ...'.

Common mistakes

Letting it run after you've booked. Hourly checks use your weekly usage; pause it.
Leaving the time window open. Without one you'll get pinged for slots you'd never take.
Expecting it to book for you. Matt booked himself; keep payment and personal details with you unless you decide otherwise.

Related tips

A price watch Bot that only pings you for a real, verified drop: Give a Bot one exact product and two shops. It checks every morning, treats anything it can't read as unknown, and stays quiet unless it confirms a lower price.
Put quiet hours inside the routine itself: Have the routine re-check the clock right before it acts, and skip itself if it's too late.
Make routines cheaper: events, slow schedules, change checks: A 5-minute routine wakes 8,640 times a month. Use an event trigger, the slowest schedule that works, and a cheap change check.