Getting Off the Peloton Class Waitlist

I’ve discovered that getting off the Peloton class waitlist is the best way to get into classes at Peloton Studios New York. Anyway, I’ve been trying for weeks to get into a class at Peloton NYC. The process of going through the Peloton online class booking system to book a Peloton live class is ridiculous and frustrating. At least in my experience recently, Peloton has gotten rid of the queue. Ding, dong, the queue is dead.

However, on December 13, the big Peloton news was that they’d updated the studio booking system for in-person classes. As a result, it’s now even harder to get onto a Peloton waitlist.

Earlier this year, Peloton instituted a new policy, explained here:

“In order to accommodate as many Members as possible, each individual Member can book 2 classes per day or 4 classes per bookable period (Thurs-Mon). Waitlisted spots do not count towards your overall limit; however, please only reserve one waitlist spot per Member per class. We reserve the right to cancel classes that are booked in excess of the limits.”

When I was getting ready to head to PSNY in December 2023, to celebrate my birthday, I had my max four classes booked. However, because I’d booked under the old system, I was also on the waitlist for two more classes. Unfortunately, because of the new system, I never was able to get into additional classes because I was locked out from adding more to my three days at the studios.

So, this new system seems to close you out of additional waitlist classes once you hit those four booked classes. Before December 13, you could continue to add yourself to waitlist spots, regardless of how many classes you had confirmed.

Knowing this, I will be changing up how I book classes in the future. Rather than scramble to get my four bookings, I’m going to focus on waitlist spots.

Another update: you cannot put yourself on the waitlist for more than two classes in a day or four total classes in a weekend. Again, I hate this about the new system. What if you are traveling long distances to go to PSNY for the weekend? And how you get off the waitlist has changed completely, too. More about that in a bit.

Here’s what I wrote to Peloton in an Instagram comment:

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“Only downside to working the waitlist these days? @pelotonstudios is now limiting how many classes you can take in a week. So when you are traveling from out of town, it sucks that you can’t use the most of your time @onepeloton to take classes. I hope they change this in 2024 to a MONTHLY limit instead or increase the weekly limit beyond only four days. Or rather than a max of four classes over a Thursday to Monday, if you live more than 50 miles away, you have NO limit. Something needs to change.”

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Getting on Peloton class waitlist later in the week

While it was understandably frustrating that I could not get into any of the classes I tried to book each Thursday, I’ve learned something important: as it gets later in the week or, frankly, the month, people cancel their spots.

And suddenly waitlist spots open up. Granted, these spots are for a few days later. For example, I happen to be traveling to New York City this weekend to see family. So, I decided to check the Peloton Studios website to see if there are any spots. On a Wednesday, there were 22 waitlist spots.

So, if you have flexible travel plans, it would be wise to continue to check the studio website and see if there are openings in the coming days and weeks. FYI, I ended up getting off the waitlist for two classes. One was a Matty Maggiacomo power walk. The other was a yoga flow with Chelsea Jackson Roberts.

2024-25 Peloton Studios New York planned closure dates

If you’re planning to try to get into last-minute Peloton classes in New York, then you’ll need to note the days that the studio is going to be closed. These are pre-planned closures, when there are no live classes. There is one remaining date for 2024 and into 2025. It is the Holiday Studio Closure, from December 23, 2024-January 1, 2025. The London studios also have similar closure dates.

Everything has changed with the Peloton waitlist

With the booking system that debuted in 2023, everything has changed. For one thing, you don’t get those email notifications anymore that say, “You’re in” or “You’re off the waitlist”–unless you have existing credits in your Peloton account.

In other words, in the past, if you were on the waitlist and a spot opened up on a Peloton bike in the cycling studio, Peloton automatically moved you off the waitlist into a legit spot. You didn’t have to do anything to claim your spot — the system handled it. Not so with the new system.

Now, if a waitlist spot opens up and you do not have any credits (previously purchased for a class you had to cancel), you get an email notification in the days before your class that lets you know that a spot has opened in your waitlist class. That email then includes a link you must click within two hours of receiving the email to complete the booking process. However, it doesn’t explain what happens if the two-hour window passes, if you miss the email like I did before my December trip. TL;DR: it’s an automatic cancellation of your waitlist spot.

You’ve lost your spot on the waitlist

Trust me: I was super bummed that I missed this email and a guaranteed spot in Denis’ yoga class. I figured, OK, I’ll just show up tomorrow an hour before class and try to get off the waitlist then.

Nope. If you don’t click the link and take the spot, you’re off the waitlist. Like 100% scrubbed from it. I discovered this when I went back into my studio account to check. Peloton took me off the waitlist and I can’t get back onto it, even though there are spots available.

This is probably why, during my December trip, there were empty bikes in the cycling studio during my 7:00 a.m. class with Camila Ramon. People on the waitlist didn’t answer in time and those spots were wasted. Honestly, that’s stupid.

A new thing that Peloton is starting is a so-called quiet period. That means, they won’t be sending emails about waitlist spots you can claim in the overnight hours — Eastern Time for PSNY and GMT for the London Studios. I’ve heard that emails stop going out at 10 p.m. local time and start again at 6 a.m. local time.

During my trip back to PSNY in January 2024, I met a number of people who got off the waitlist like I did. However, they did not have leftover class credits in their account so they got that email in their inbox saying they had to click the link within two hours. All told me that the email arrived around 6:30 a.m. Eastern. So, if you’re on the PSNY waitlist, definitely check your email first thing in the morning, every day before your trip.

Will there still be two waves to the Peloton waitlist?

It used to be that people got off the waitlist in two waves. One, in the days before the class you could get an email saying you have the chance to get off the waitlist.

And two, it was day-of. That is, if you were still on the waitlist the day of the class, you would show up an hour early, get your buzzer and pray to the Peloton Gods that you got in. While the system sort of still works that way, there are some marked differences.

For starters the restaurant buzzers are gone. Instead, they take your phone number when you check in for the waitlist. This is the text message I got when I checked in for my Matty class and was on the waitlist for an Adrian Row class a few hours later.

Later, they will text you with the good news if you got off the waitlist and into the class. And they choose people randomly, not on a first-checked in, first-served basis as they did before. Or, they’ll text you about 30 minutes before the class begins to say, whomp whomp, you didn’t make it off the waitlist.

In fact, I just read something on the Official Peloton Facebook page. It tells me they’ve changed the waitlist system.

Day-of waitlist at Peloton Studios

So, basically, if it is 12 hours before your class and you still haven’t gotten an email about a waitlist spot and your Peloton account still shows you on the waitlist, plan to go to the studios the next day. You’ll want to show up one hour before the class begins.

Once you check in at the front desk, you’ll take a seat in the lobby area. At about 30 minutes before class begins, they start canceling spots for any no-shows. Then, they start moving those waitlist people–YOU!–into classes.

Also, earlier in 2024, Peloton confirmed that you could get walk-in spots for classes. You walk in the doors from 10th Avenue, check in at the desk to see if there are any free spots and then see what happens. Good luck!

New system changes how waitlist spots are given out

As I mentioned at the top of this article, Peloton debuted a new booking system on December 13th, which seems to affect how the waitlist works. I was right.

Three days before a Power Walk class for which I was on the waitlist, I got the email below:

Notice, it tells me there is a SPOT available in a class, not that I’m off the waitlist. And I had to click the link to take that spot. Which I did. That was the only way to get off the waitlist and into this Selena Samuela Power Walk class.

Had I not seen the email nor clicked the link, that waitlist spot would have gone to someone else. As you can see, it says the link expires in two hours. And as I explained earlier, if you miss the chance to click that link, then you lose your spot not only in the class but on the waitlist all together.

Take the first spot off the waitlist you can get

My last time at the studio, I was on the waitlist for a Denis Morton yoga class. When I checked in, they offered me a spot in Matty’s class.

They said it was a run class. I don’t run so I declined. Shouldn’t have done that.

Turns out it was a walk plus run. Once I figured this out, I went back to the front desk. Unfortunately, the class was now full. This happened again in December when I was, again, on the waitlist for a Denis yoga class. I didn’t get in but they offered me a spot in Mariana’s run class. Also, I declined.

Pro tip: if you get to the studio on one waitlist and are offered a spot in another class, take the spot.

I still regret not taking that spot in Matty’s class! Which is why I was so psyched to get into his walk class in January.

Keep checking the Peloton studio website for class openings

We’ve already established that bookings open each Thursday at 12 noon Eastern. And they often fill up within minutes.

However, life happens and people cancel. So, if you’re going to be in New York City, check back on the studio website.

A class that previously was full may now have a waitlist open. Or, even better, there is room to book an actual class versus getting on a waitlist.

I’ll tell you that once I got on one waitlist, which happened on a Tuesday, I booked my trip to New York City for the coming weekend.

This involved booking a flight and a hotel. And then I stalked the Peloton studio site relentlessly.

When I tell you I refreshed it at least once an hour, I’m not exaggerating. And by the time I got on my flight to New York City on a Thursday, I was on the waitlist for four classes.

By the end of Friday, I was off the waitlist for two more classes. Finally, on Saturday, I ended up taking three cycling classes — they were stacked classes. If you can, try to book those. That is, on the studio website it will show Class A + Class B. You don’t leave in between classes but you get to take two legit classes for one price.

The next day I got off the waitlist for a walking class in the Tread studio and then a strength class. However, with this new booking system, all of the above would have been impossible today. That’s because once you have four spots reserved for you — either booked in a class or a spot on a waitlist — the new system will not let you add any additional waitlist spots.

Be wary of day-of waitlist spots on the website

One final thing about stalking the Peloton Studio waitlist for spots: if you see a red waitlist spot for a class happening within the next hour and you’re in the city, don’t rush over and try to get in.

I’ve learned that the studio website defaults to the red waitlist button when it’s under an hour until a class starts. I don’t know why it does this. All I know is that during my last visit, I saw this happen —n yes, I was still obsessively checking to see if I could get into other classes.

And when I saw one pop up that was 30 minutes in the future, I rushed to the front desk and asked to get in. That’s when I learned that, nah, it’s a bug in the system and there really aren’t any waitlist spots left. I can’t believe, almost a year later, that bug is still there. So, don’t get your hopes up like I did.

How many spots in each Peloton studio class

If you are wondering how the number of spots in a PSNY class might affect your ability to get off the Peloton studio waitlist, you’re not wrong. For example, of the four studios, the cycling studio has the most spots. There are 39 bikes in the cycling studio, which is Studio 1.

Next, there is the Tread studio. That’s Studio 4. There are 16 treadmills in that studio. I confirmed that during my last Tread class with Matty Maggiacomo. If you look at my Tread tablet, with the “Only Studio” Leaderboard filter on, you’ll see that there are 16 people in the class.

After that is Studio 3, which swings between the strength studio and the rowing studio. I took a rowing class with Alex Karwoski in December and counted eight Rows. When I took a strength class with Logan, there were eight spots as well.

Finally, there is the yoga studio. That’s Studio 2. There is space for only seven mats there, which I discovered when I took the yoga class with Chelsea.

Final thoughts on getting off the Peloton class waitlist

You’ll need persistence and patience when dealing with Peloton classes and either booking them or trying to get on the waitlist. Also, with the new system, you have to check your email regularly. Personally, I think Peloton should move to a text system, the day they have for day-of waitlist spots.

In fact, after experiencing this new system during my December 2023 trip and being frustrated by it, I polled my social media followers. Here are the results:

Hands down: people want text alerts over emails.

Postscript on the Peloton waitlist

It appears that Peloton has improved the new waitlist system. I got an email today about being added to a class when a spot opened up.

At first I panicked because I missed the added part and was searching for the link to click before the two hours expired. But alas I was automatically added and then I confirmed it in my Peloton Studios account, which you can see below.

It appears because I had credits in my account, leftover from waitlist spots I’d paid for last December and didn’t use (when you still had to pay, regardless if you had a secured spot in class or not), I got into the class automatically. This now seems to be the default if you have credits leftover. If you don’t, you will still need to wait for that link, click it within two hours and then pay for your class then. However, since you don’t have to pay for a waitlist spot anymore, I’m not sure how lucky others will be in having this seamless movement from waitlist to confirmed class spot.

Note to self: I still have those credits and I know that they expire 12 months after you purchased them. So I need to write to Peloton and ask if I can get that expiration date extended as I doubt I’ll get back to PSNY this year for my birthday in December.