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FerryRez automatically monitors WSDOT's ferry reservation system for trips you're interested in. Here's the process:

• You search for a ferry trip and add it to your tracking list
• FerryRez checks WSDOT's system regularly for availability changes
• When space opens up (or becomes unavailable, if you've enabled that option), we send you a notification
• You click through to WSDOT to make your reservation

FerryRez checks your tracked trips regularly. This strikes a balance between timely notifications and being a good citizen of WSDOT's systems. When availability changes, you'll typically receive a notification shortly after.

No. FerryRez only monitors availability and sends notifications. You must make your reservation directly on the WSDOT website. We provide a "Reserve Now" link that takes you directly to WSDOT's reservation page to make this as quick as possible.

No. FerryRez is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Washington State Ferries or the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). We simply monitor their public reservation information to help travelers plan their ferry trips.

Yes! FerryRez is completely free to use and always will be. It's a community project built to help fellow ferry travelers.

FerryRez uses registration codes to manage new accounts. Registration codes help us maintain service quality and prevent abuse.

To get a registration code, you'll need to know someone who already uses FerryRez, or contact us through the contact form to request access.

Open Invitations from the account menu and enter a recipient's email to send them a personal Join link. You can send up to 10 invitations in total per account, and each one is single-use and works only for the email address it was sent to.

Invitations expire 7 days after they are sent. A pending invitation can be resent once, but resending does not extend the 7-day expiry.

Yes! You can track as many trips as you'd like. This is useful when:

• You're flexible on which sailing time you take
• You're planning a round trip and need reservations in both directions
• You're considering multiple travel dates

All your tracked trips appear on your Trips page for easy management.

Go to your Trips page and toggle the tracking switch off for any trip you no longer want to monitor. You can also remove the trip entirely from your list. Trips for past dates are automatically removed from tracking.

You'll receive a notification when:

• Space becomes available on a trip you're tracking (always enabled)
• Space becomes unavailable on a trip you're tracking (optional, can be enabled in Settings)

We only notify you when the status changes. You won't receive repeated notifications if availability stays the same between checks.

• Email: Sent to your registered email address. Always enabled and includes a direct link to reserve. Best if you check email frequently.
• Pushover: Push notifications via the Pushover app. Offers custom sounds, priority levels, and works on iOS, Android, and desktop. Requires a Pushover account and user key.

For the best chance of catching a reservation, we recommend enabling multiple notification channels.

Go to your Settings page to configure notifications:

• Enable/disable Pushover notifications
• Add your Pushover user key
• Choose whether to be notified when trips become unavailable

This usually means someone else reserved the space before you could. Ferry reservations are in high demand, especially for:

• Popular routes (like San Juan Islands)
• Peak travel times (weekends, holidays, summer)
• Morning and evening sailings

When space opens up (usually from cancellations), multiple people may be watching for the same trip. We recommend acting within minutes of receiving a notification for the best chance of success.

This is normal and intentional! Here's why:

Availability fluctuates frequently. As the departure date approaches, ferry trips often go through cycles of being available and unavailable. This happens because:

• People cancel their reservations (space opens up)
• Someone else reserves the space (becomes unavailable)
• More cancellations happen (space opens up again)

We can't assume you've already reserved. When space becomes available again, we notify you because:

• You might have missed the previous opening
• Someone else may have gotten the spot before you
• Each opening is a new opportunity to reserve

Tip: If you don't have "unavailable" notifications enabled, you won't know when the trip filled up again after our last alert, so a new "available" notification might seem like a repeat, but it's actually a new opening.

How to stop these notifications: Once you've successfully made your reservation, visit your Trips page and turn off tracking for that trip. You'll stop receiving notifications immediately.

When you're ready to reserve:

• Click the "Reserve Now" button on FerryRez (or the link in your notification)
• This takes you to WSDOT's reservation website
• Select your route, date, and sailing time
• Choose your vehicle type and complete the reservation
• Pay the reservation fee with a credit card

You'll receive a confirmation email from WSDOT with your reservation details.

Unfortunately, WSDOT's reservation system doesn't support deep linking to specific sailings. When you click "Reserve Now" we take you to their site, but you'll need to select your route, date, and sailing time again. We try to make this as quick as possible by taking you directly to the reservation page. If WSDOT adds deep linking support in the future, we'll update FerryRez to take you directly to the right sailing.

FerryRez supports all routes that accept reservations through WSDOT, including:

• Anacortes - San Juan Islands (Lopez, Shaw, Orcas, Friday Harbor)
• Port Townsend - Coupeville (Keystone)
• Mukilteo - Clinton

Routes without reservation systems (standby only) are not available in FerryRez since there's nothing to track.

WSDOT has strict policies about missed reservations:

• You must be through the tollbooth at least 30 minutes before departure
• If you miss this deadline, your reservation is forfeited and given to standby vehicles
• A $25 no-show fee is charged if you don't cancel in advance
• Canceling less than 2 hours before departure incurs a $10 late cancellation fee

If your plans change, always cancel your reservation in advance through WSDOT's website.

If you're not receiving notifications, check the following:

• Make sure you have at least one trip being actively tracked (toggle is on)
• Check your spam/junk folder for email notifications
• Confirm your Pushover user key is valid if using Pushover
• Ensure your email address is confirmed (check for a confirmation banner)

If issues persist, contact us for help.

Since we check availability periodically, there can be a brief delay between when WSDOT's status changes and when FerryRez reflects that change. Additionally:

• High-demand trips may change status rapidly as people reserve and cancel
• WSDOT may have temporary outages that affect our data
• Browser caching can sometimes show older data (try a hard refresh)

For the most accurate real-time information, always verify directly on WSDOT's website.

We're happy to help! Use the contact form to send us your question and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.