Booking Appointments for Multiple Family Members on Guest App

Modified on Fri, 6 Feb at 4:01 PM

In this article, we will guide you through the steps for clients to book appointments for multiple family members on the guest app.

Things to know

The ability to book appointments for multiple family members online is controlled by the "Allow Online Booking for Multiple Family Members or Pets" company setting.
Online booking must be enabled for the business.
Each service must have a staff member assigned, and staff work hours must be set.
Clients must sign in using an existing MyTime account, Facebook, or Apple login—or create a new account during checkout.
Clients can choose whether to include themselves in the booking. In the “Who is this appointment for?” section:
- The “I'm booking for myself” option is selected by default
- This option cannot be unchecked unless a family member is selected
- Once a family member is selected, clients can choose to exclude themselves by unchecking the box
When booking for multiple family members, each family member’s tab will appear in the order they were added.
After selecting a service for the first family member and choosing the "Next Family Member" option, clients will be redirected to the second family member tab. The system will automatically scroll to the top of the service list, allowing them to view all available services for selection.
The "Select a Time" button becomes available only after a service has been chosen for each family member. For example, after selecting a service for the first family member, click "Next Family Member" and choose a service for the second family member to reveal the time selection option.
If the Multi-Staff Appointments setting is enabled, clients will see a checkbox labeled Use same start time on the Pick a Time page. This allows scheduling all appointments to start simultaneously, if desired.
The same service cannot be booked multiple times in a single booking. To book the same service more than once, the client must complete the booking and then start a new one.
If a client selects a specific staff member, only the services that can be performed by that staff member will be visible.
No Preference option on booking widget:
- When a client selects No Preference, the system assigns a staff member using round-robin logic. Learn more here.
- If the "Can customers book a specific staff member?" setting is disabled, the "Book With" section will be hidden. In this case, appointments will be booked as if "No Preference" was selected, meaning the round-robin assignment will apply.
Booking Appointments with Add-On Services
- Accounts with Multi-Staff Appointments Feature Enabled:
  - If a staff member is selected for the core service and "No Preference" is chosen for the add-on, the same staff member will be assigned to both.
  - If "No Preference" is selected for both the core service and add-on, the system will assign the same staff member to both service. However, if the assigned staff member is not eligible to perform the add-on service, a different staff member will be assigned to the add-on.
- Accounts with Multi-Staff Appointments Feature Disabled:
  - If "No Preference" is selected, the system will automatically assign the same staff member to both the core service and the add-on.
  - If the selected staff member cannot perform both the core service and the add-on, the option to select an add-on will not be visible.
When booking an appointment online, the error message "Time is no longer available" may appear
- Another appointment has been booked at the same time.
- The staff member’s working hours have changed.
- The selected time slot is no longer available for the chosen staff member.

By default, when clients use the "Book Again" button, appointments are prefilled with information from previous bookings. However, the option to disable this automatic prefilling is controlled by a hidden setting that can only be configured by the MyTime team. To enable this setting, please contact support at support@mytime.com
If “Can customers book a specific staff member?” is enabled and prefill is not disabled:
If the previous appointment was booked with a specific staff member, the Book With field shows that staff member.
If the previous appointment used No Preference, the system applies round-robin logic and displays No Preference.
Examples:
Last appointment with Staff B → Book With: Staff B
Last appointment with No Preference → Book With: No Preference
Behavior When Prefill Is Disabled: The "Book With" field always displays "No Preference," regardless of the previous booking.
Clients who book appointments—whether for themselves, or family members, will receive a notification listing all services booked:
- Booked in-store: The Booked by Business notification is sent.
- Booked online: The Booked by Client notification is sent.
If the setting "Accept online payments through MyTime?" is configured to either "Yes, require online payment to book online" or "Let clients choose whether to pay online or in person," and the client opts to pay online, the following will occur:
- When an appointment requiring a deposit is booked online, the client's card on file will be charged for the deposit, and a hold will be placed on the card for the remaining balance.
- If the hold amount cannot be charged successfully, the location manager will be notified that the pre-authorization attempt failed and will need to collect the remaining balance from the client at the time of the appointment.
- For businesses that require online payments but do not enforce a cancellation policy, clients can book $0 services—such as services covered by a package or membership, or services that are free—without needing to enter a credit card.
When an appointment is booked for a family member online, a ticket is automatically created.
Clients receive a booking notification listing all scheduled services:
- Booked in-store: Booked by Business notification
- Booked online: Booked by Client notification
For mobile businesses:
- Services unavailable at the selected location are hidden in the booking widget.
- Selecting In-Store hides services offered only at the client’s location.
- Selecting At Your Location (up to X miles) hides services available only in-store.
Clients can book both individual and multi-client services in a single transaction for their family members. During checkout, all selected services are grouped together for convenience. When a multi-client service is included, the Additional Guest Form must be completed for every participant before the booking can be completed.
Clients can book $0 services without a credit card. However, a card will be required if you have a cancellation policy or if the "Store Client Credit Cards?" company setting is set to "Yes, and also require them to schedule appointments."

Clients can book an appointment for multiple family members by following these steps:

Clients must download the guest app from either the Google Play Store (for Android users) or the Apple Store (for iOS users)
Once downloaded, open the app and tap on the account icon located in the top right corner
On the sign-in page, clients can either log in using their MyTime consumer credentials or sign in using Facebook
After signing in, clients will be directed to the My Account page
Tap the "Booking" icon located at the bottom of the screen. This action will direct them to the booking page
Tap "Book Now"
Select the desired location (if the account has multiple locations)
Tap "Book Appointment
In the "Who is this appointment for?" field, select or add multiple family members
- When adding a new family member, you need to enter their name
Tabs labelled with each family member’s name will appear below "Select Services For"
Browse available services or use the filter option to narrow results by staff member or service category. Tap 'Book' next to the desired service to add it for all selected family members
To add additional services, tap the "Add another service" link.
To move forward to select add-on(s) for the next family member, click 'Next Family Member'
Click "Select Time."
Choose a date and time for each family member:
- To schedule all appointments at the same time, select 'Use same start time'.
- Otherwise, tap 'Select' next to the preferred time for each family member individually.
Tap 'Continue to Checkout'
On the checkout page:
- Complete the intake form.
- Pet information will appear in separate tabs—switch between them to review details for each pet.
- Enter payment information (if required) and complete the booking.
The booking confirmation page will appear once the appointment is successfully booked

Once the appointment is booked, the client can:

To book another appointment for the same service, use the Book Again button to navigate to the Time Picker
To book another appointment for all family members included in this appointment, use the Book Again All button to navigate to the Time Picker
Add the booked appointment to your personal Google, Outlook, or Apple calendar.
To obtain directions to the business, clients can utilize the "Get Directions" link

For more information, contact us at support@mytime.com or (385) 233-6964.

Related Articles:

Guest App Configuration

Booking Appointments on Guest App

Self-Check-In for Appointment on Guest App