How the lottery and first come, first served allocate places

fepli has two procedures by which families get a place. They pursue different goals. Whoever knows the goals selects the fitting procedure and understands why the waiting list moves up only sometimes.

Which goals the procedures pursue

First come, first served decides immediately. Whoever registers receives a place if one is free, otherwise a place on the waiting list. In return, it rewards speed. Whoever is not at the computer at the start comes away empty at popular offers.

The lottery collects all registrations until the end of the phase and distributes the places afterwards. The time of registration plays no part. Families do wait for their result, however, and the team has to start the allocation and commit it.

ExampleCanoe trip · 4 places · waiting list 2 · 7 registrations

Participant

Registration phaseMonTueWedThuFriEnd

AdaMon 08:00takes partfirst to arrive

BenMon 08:01takes partone minute later

CemMon 08:03takes partone place still free

DanaMon 08:05takes partlast place

EmilWed 19:30on waiting listall places taken

FeeThu 21:10on waiting listall places taken

GusFri 07:45no placewaiting list full

Decisionat the moment of registration

Family knowsimmediately

Teamhas nothing to allocate

Registration arrivesDecision is madetakes parton waiting listno place

The first four to register on Monday from 08:00 get all the places. Emil and Fee go on the waiting list; for Gus it is full. Names and times are examples.

Many seasons combine both. First comes a lottery phase for the main registration, then a first come, first served phase for the remaining places.

The procedure belongs to the phase

The team determines the procedure for the registration phase of the season. All offers follow the same rule during this phase. Families therefore do not have to look up for each offer how the places are allocated. In addition, the whole programme changes from the lottery to first come, first served on a fixed day.

How the lottery weights registrations

The lottery is not a pure game of chance. For overbooked offers, fepli weights every registration by three criteria. Chance decides only between registrations with the same weight.

01Wish priorityA participant’s first wish counts more than their fifth. This way, participants are more likely to end up where they most want to go.

02Bad-luck compensationWhoever has already come away empty at other offers in the same run has better chances. This way, as few as possible come away with nothing at all.

03Few registrationsWhoever has only a few registrations in the lottery gets an advantage. This way, participants with many registrations do not get all the places.

In the example

Fee1st wish3 registrationsalready came away emptyhighertakes part

Emil1st wish2 registrationshighertakes part

Ada1st wish4 registrationsequaltakes part

Ben1st wish4 registrationsequaltakes part

Cem1st wish4 registrationsequalon waiting list

Dana4th wish9 registrationslowon waiting list

Gus5th wish6 registrationslowno place

Ada, Ben and Cem are weighted equally and share two places, so chance decides between them. Cem and Dana take the two places on the waiting list; none is left for Gus. The bars show the order; fepli shows no numbers.

Whoever is not drawn goes on the waiting list as long as it has room. After that, the registration stays without a place.

Every decision is recorded with its reason in the history of the registration. This way, the team can answer queries from families.

Rules that apply before the lottery

Rule	Effect
Variants	If a participant already has a place in a variant of the same offer, they receive no second one.
Preferred postal codes	Participants from these areas receive a place first for overbooked offers. fepli allocates the remaining places by lottery among all others. Without a postal code, one counts among the others, so that a missing address brings no advantage.
Decisive address	The address in the participant account counts, even if a participant has one of their own. This way, a family is in the same position for all its participants. The participant's own address counts only without an account.
Friend code	Participants with a shared code receive places only together. This lowers their chances. A code takes at most 4, for smaller offers at most as many as there are places.

Why the waiting list moves up only sometimes

In first come, first served, the waiting list moves up automatically, because whoever came first is to move up first. For the same reason, places with takes part and places on the waiting list count together as taken there. This way, a new registration cannot pass people who are already waiting.

During a lottery phase and the allocation, nobody moves up automatically. The decisions are made together there, and moving up automatically would pre-empt the lottery.

Season with both proceduresDoes the waiting list move up when a place becomes free?

Lottery phasedoes not move upDecisions are made together.

Allocationdoes not move upMoving up would pre-empt the lottery.

Between the phasesdoes not move upThe place stays free; the next phase decides.

First come, first served phasemoves upAt its start the waiting list first, then new registrations.

After the last phasemoves upUntil the offer starts, once everything is decided and committed.

From left to right through a season. Turn off automatic moving up to see the effect of the setting. All rules are in the reference Moving up.

Between two registration phases, a place that has become free stays free. This way, the team knows at any time which rule allocates a place. After the last registration phase, the waiting list moves up again, provided every registration is decided and everything is committed. In a season with the lottery only, this also fills places that become free during the holidays through cancellations.