Don’t you hate taking advantage of a great deal on Groupon or Living Social only to have it expire before you have the chance to use it? If that happens, you still have some options. But what if you could basically guarantee that you’ll use your voucher before it expires by making a reservation when you buy?

Groupon recently announced that they’ll be taking a new approach when it comes to daily deals. Instead of buying a daily deal voucher to bring into a restaurant or business, Groupon customers will be able to take advantage of time-based deal options.

Here’s how it works: Groupon customers make a reservation when they purchase the deal, with a limited set of times that they can book that visit. Once you’ve paid and set your reservation, all you have to do is show up — sans voucher.

This is helpful for restaurants, too — as Rick Bayless of Frontera Grill merrily chirps in the press release. Before time-based deals, restaurants could see an avalanche of customers all trying to redeem their deals, who perhaps aren’t likely to turn into repeat customers.

What do you think? Are you a fan of time-based daily deals?

Thanks to The Consumerist for the heads up!