Appointment reservation is a synonym for appointment booking. The term is often used in industries where a confirmation by the operator is still pending, or for provisionally blocked slots.
Nuances of the terms
- Appointment booking: Immediately binding, the spot is reserved right away
- Appointment reservation: Can be provisional, e.g. with manual release by the operator or with a temporary reservation while the booking form is being filled in
- Appointment request / contact form: No fixed slot is assigned immediately; the operator gets back to the customer
When a reservation makes sense
- Vacation rental or event: the operator first checks availability
- Consultation: the operator wants to review the request before confirming the appointment
- Capacity planning: provisional slot for returning customers
In practice, appointment reservation and appointment booking are mostly used synonymously in the context of online booking systems.