Creating a booking

A booking is created in one of three channels. Every booking looks the same in the console once it exists, and the channel is recorded on it.

Channel	Who creates it	How it starts
WEB	The customer, on the website	A Draft is created when the customer pays. The vehicle is seated and the booking confirmed in the same moment the payment is captured
CONSOLE	An agent, in the console	A Draft, confirmed by the agent when the customer commits
PARTNER	An aggregator or partner system	Confirmed through the partner interface, appears in the console like any other booking

Online self-service

The customer completes the booking on the website without an agent. The steps are:

1. Search: branch, pickup and return dates and times, then a class.
2. Extras: optional products such as additional drivers or a reduced excess.
3. Review: the full price including GST, with each product listed.
4. Details and payment: customer name, email, phone, address, drivers’ dates of birth, then card or buy-now-pay-later.
5. Done: a confirmation page. The booking is CONFIRMED and the customer receives a booked message.

No vehicle is held while the customer is between step 1 and step 4. Two customers can both reach payment for the last vehicle of a class; whoever’s payment is authorised first gets it, and the other is told the class is no longer available and is not charged. A checkout that is started but never paid is cancelled automatically after an hour.

Online bookings arrive in the console with the customer already created or matched to an existing customer by email and phone. An agent does not need to do anything for them before pickup day unless the customer gets in touch.

Manual creation in the console

1. Open Bookings and click New booking.
2. Pick the Branch, Out and Back dates and times, and a Class. The dialog only lets you continue on a class with capacity.
3. The booking opens as a DRAFT with a Daily Rental or the default product for that class already priced.
4. Click Edit. Add the customer: search by name, email or phone, or type a new one. Add drivers with dates of birth. Add or remove optional products. Save.
5. Click Confirm when the customer commits. The booking becomes CONFIRMED and the vehicle is reserved.

A Draft reserves a vehicle for 30 minutes only. If that hold lapses before you confirm, Confirm re-seats the booking on the class if capacity is still there. If capacity is gone, Confirm refuses and tells you so. Check availability again or offer another class.

Taking payment at creation

For a phone booking you usually want to take a payment or send a payment link before the customer hangs up. That is done from the booking’s Send for Payment, covered in chapter 7. Confirming does not require payment: your branch’s policy decides whether a booking is confirmed on the customer’s word or only once paid.

Customer and contact

A booking has a customer (who is contracted and invoiced) and may have a separate contact (who is written to). For a private renter they are the same person. For a business booking the customer is the company and the contact is the traveller. Messages about the booking go to the contact’s email and phone first.