Starting the booking

The booking form has been designed to support rapid entry. The keyboard can be used to enter and navigate through the form. Most text boxes has lookup lists which can be access by pressing F2. When first opening a new booking, the form is reduced to a smaller format. When you tab past pax and basis fields, the form will expand and offer the full set of options. Yellow fields are compulsary and white fields are optional. If a yellow field is not filled in, the booking can not be committed.

Adding the agent

Start typing in the agent code if you know it. The label on the right of the agent code will name the agent for the code as you are typing it in. If you do not know the Agent Code then press F2 to view the list (Lookup...)
The Agent Ref text box is normally text initials of the Agents consultant making the booking. Press F2 to view list of consultants for this agent.

More about Commissions - Setting up Agents

Adding Travel Date, Tour code, Departure Time and Pax No's

Type in the Date of Travel. Date format is DD-MM-YY.
The Tourcode can be typed in if you know the exact tour code. If you don't, press F2 to view a list of available tours. Tours can not be deleted from the system once they have been booked but they can be disabled and will not appear in this list to book.
Departure time is only available in Day Tours. You can have multiple departure times for each tour and you can select default departure times.
Add No of Pax for each pax type. Availability and cost is calculated as you move from field to field.

More about Setting up tourcodes - Commissions with specific Tourcodes

Basis, type and number of nights

Basis is a class level of the tour which allows you to expand the complexity of the price matrix. Basis are configured for each tour. The tour maintenance configures which tours has basis, type and/or no nights. More basic tours may have no basis or type at all. Others may have basis only. It completely depends on how much flexibility required for the tour.
Type is a further extension to Basis. Normally only used with complex packages and accommodation codes.
No of nights are only used with accommodation bookings.

The form expands to reveal more fields...

As you tab past the last field on the reduced form, the form expands to reveal many more fields. You can now add pax name and details as well as pickup and dropoff information. The commit button is now also available as well as a number of other buttons on the buttom of the screen. The expanded form has two tabs. One at the bottom and one under the pax no's. If you have associated pickups with the agent, then that pickup location will automatically appear in the pickup text box. Default Payments are also added. All in an effort to complete the booking as quickly as possible.

Passenger information...

Type in the pax name. Alternativly you can select a pax from a database by clicking on the Orange button on the right of the text box. Pressing F2 will do the same thing.
Pax Origin, Discount, Voucher no and Source can also be quickly selected. Origin, Discount and Source is customisable.

Pickups and Dropoffs...

Pickups are associated with each Tour and departure time. Only pickups associated with this tour code will be available. Starting to type in the name of the pickup will start reducing the list of pickups and display pickups in the text box progressivly. Press F2 to get a list of pickups. Dropoff works the same way. Availability can be set and calculated on the pickup route. If the route is full then the booking can not be committed.

Tour value...

Tour cost and sell is automatically calculated from the price matrix for this particular tour code. Cost and sell can be manually overridden if you have the system permissions. Commissions are calculated on the gross and are configured in a number of ways: 1. configured to the agent for all tours 2. Configured to the agent for one or many tour codes, or 3. configured to the agent for one or many tour codes for a date range. Discounts are calculated from the discount box. It can be overridden - but only if you have the correct system permissions.

Payments...

Payment details must match the total tour value. You can add as many payments as you like. Payments can be collected by the Agent, POB (Paid on Board), Reservations, Outside Operator and Second Agent. Quickpick payment buttons are available on the right hand side of the payment screen. If you cancel a booking all payments must be removed or refunded.
Credit cards can be authenticated online if your system has been configured to support this. Credit cards can also be refunded online. Its a quick process that saves reservations staff time.

Committing the booking...

The booking is now complete. Press the Commit button at the bottom of the form. Pressing F8 will also commit the booking.

The booking form will disappear and the confirmation screen will pop up to confirm all the travel details. From the confirmation screen, you can also send notifications to operators and confirmation reports to the pax and/or Agent. Both Fax and email is optionally supported.

Multiple, customisable reports can be sent to from the confirmation output form. Typical reports include Confirmation, brochure, itinerary and vouchers. Optionally, you can also print each report.

Summary...

As you can see, the more familiar the reservations staff become with the form, the faster the booking can be completed. Eventually, they will become familiar with the tour codes and agents codes and will have no need for lookup lists. One of the keys to a functional reservation system is how well the tours, pickups, matrices, commissions and defaults are configured.

Searching for bookings