TRIPS

Trips #


Trips bring all the pieces of Groupdesk together. Trips allow you to add Contacts and Organizers, add Inventory specific to the trip itinerary, and send emails to Bookings and Contacts. This is also where the payment schedule (including balance date) is determined for each individual group.


How to Create a Trip Record: #

  • Click [+] (top right corner)

  • Required to enter Name / Status* / Brand

    • Once status is determined you will also have to enter additional fields that are mandatory depending on the status of the trip.

Overview Module of Create Trip Record
  • Name: What you want your trip to be called (Ex. GENERIC-TRIP-2020-YEG-TO-HAWAII)

  • Status: the status of the trip (active, presale, limited, waitlist etc.)

  • Brand: The brand catalog that the trip is sold under

  • Year: The year in which the trip will occur

  • Program Period: When the trip occurs (March Break, New Years Eve, Spring Break, Custom etc.)

  • Type: the type of trip (Grad Trip, Spring Break, Festivals & events, custom etc.)

  • Launch Date: the date of the trip sales launch (first day to sell the trip)

  • Deposit Deadline: the day that deposits are due for the trip

  • Travel Week: which week your group travels (Ex. Your company runs 3 weeks of spring break and this trip travels on the second week. It would be travel week 2.)

  • Departure Date: the date the trip departs

  • Require Payment In Full – Enabled requires bookings to pay in full at the time of deposit. Will also hide some Payment Schedule info below if enabled.

  • Payment Period Count: How often you want payment period unit to occur (ex. 1 = once every month, 2 = once every 2 months)

  • Payment Period Unit: How often you want your periodic payments to occur (Yearly, monthly, weekly, daily)

  • Deposit Amount: numeric value of the initial deposit that will be required when first booking the trip

  • Periodic Amount: Numeric value of the periodic payments (ex $100)

  • Balance Date: The date that final outstanding balances are due (recommended to be 60-90 days prior to travel, but depends on individual business practices).

  • Currency: currency of the trip (this information pulls from the Brand Record selected for the Trip)

  • List Price = The lowest selling price per traveller on the trip‌

  • Total Available Traveler Spots = Maximum number of bookings/spots available to sell on this trip

  • Passport Required – if passports are required for this trip

  • Allow Passport Changes – select if you want passengers to be able to manually update their passport details on their profiles (This only shows if Passport Required is selected)

  • Automatic Status Changes – allow Groupdesk to automatically update booking statuses based on their payments and schedules (recommended)

  • Allow Rooming Changes – If selected, passengers will be able to submit their rooming requests through My Profile.

  • Enable Offline Pay – Enables travellers to pay with cash or cheque

  • Card Required – Travellers are required to enter a valid credit card to make a booking, even if no payment is necessary

  • Account: The account associated to the trip (Ex. Local High School, Fraternity/Sorority, Church Group)

  • Gateway: travel gateway where trip departs (Airport, Ferry Station, Bus Depot etc)

  • Destination: final travel destination, where the trip will take place

  • Hotel: The hotel where the trip will take place

  • Campaign: which sales campaign the trip is a part of

Use Trip Status to control Bookings. Bookings cannot sign up on a trip in Opportunity / Ready to Convert / Closed / Cancelled status.

Are you looking for ‘How to Build a Trip?’ Click Here!

What is required for each status? #

FIELD

MANDATORY ON THIS STATUS

Name

Always Mandatory

Status

Always Mandatory

Brand

Always Mandatory

Year

Active, Limited, Presale, Stopsale, Waitlist

Program Period

Active, Limited, Presale, Stopsale, Waitlist

Type

Active, Limited, Presale, Stopsale, Waitlist

Launch Date

Ready to Convert

Deposit Deadline

Active, Limited, Presale, Ready to Convert, Stopsale, Waitlist

Travel Week

Departure Date

Payment Period Count

Active, Limited, Presale, Stopsale, Waitlist

Payment Period Unit

Active, Limited, Presale, Stopsale, Waitlist

Deposit Amount

Active, Limited, Presale, Stopsale, Waitlist

Periodic Amount

Active, Limited, Presale, Stopsale, Waitlist

Balance Date

Active, Limited, Presale, Stopsale, Waitlist

Currency

Determined by Brand, Active, Limited, Presale, Stopsale, Waitlist

List Price

Total Available Traveler Spots

Account

Active, Limited, Opportunity, Presale, Ready to Convert, Stopsale, Waitlist

Gateway

Active, Limited, Opportunity, Presale, Ready to Convert, Stopsale, Waitlist

Destination

Active, Limited, Presale, Stopsale, Waitlist

Hotel

Campaign

Active, Limited, Opportunity, Presale, Ready to Convert, Stopsale, Waitlist

** Cancelled, Closed, and Completed do not require any information other than the mandatory Name, Status, and Brand.

Travel Week #

Travel week helps define the time of travel if there is a long program period with many trips. Assigning a travel week is helpful to operations/on-site teams and/or if you need to sort search results by week.

ie: Your week-long summer camp runs for 7 weeks. Trips with start dates in the third week would have “Travel Week: 3”.

Trip Statuses #

You can change your Trip Status depending on

  • Opportunity = traveler cannot yet book, trip not visible on the Trip Page

  • Ready to Convert = ready to change ‘generic’ or ‘placeholder’ inventory to real inventory

  • Presale = travelers can pay deposit

  • Active = open for all to book

  • Limited = only a few spots left

  • Closed = travelers can no longer book, but still visible on Trip Page

  • Waitlist = travelers can book and be added to the waitlist if more space opens up

  • Completed = this trip is in the past

  • Stopsale = travelers can see the trip but cannot book (sold out)

  • Cancelled = this trip is no longer happening

Updating a Trip status to Cancelled will stop all future payments on existing bookings

Add a contact (lead) to a trip #

Part 1:

Part 2:

  1. Open the Trip Record

  2. With the Contacts module open, click Add in the module header

  3. Search for the contact you’ve already created

    • Can search by name or email

  4. Add Lead from the Association drop-down

  5. Click Add

Add an organizer to a trip #

You can also add the Organizer association when editing a contact already associated to the trip.

  1. Open the Trip Record

  2. With the Contacts module open, click Add in the module header

  3. Search for the contact you’ve already created

    • Can search by name or email

  4. Add Organizer from the Association drop-down

  5. Click Add

Add a Trip Planner to a trip #

Part 1:

  1. Make sure your contact is set to Type Trip Planner.

Part 2:

  1. Open the Trip Record

  2. With the Trip Planners module open, click Add in the module header

  3. Search for your contact by name

  4. Click Add

The Trip Planner’s Contact Record user photo will display on the Trip Page.

Add Inventory to a Trip #

Are you looking for How to Build an Inventory? Click here.

  1. Open the Trip Record

  2. Scroll down and open the Inventory module

  3. Click Add in the Inventory module header, with the module open

  4. Search for the inventory you already created by name

  5. Click Add

If your browser window is very small, the Add button may be within a … button.

Now your inventory has been added onto a Trip! You will see details from your inventory populate into the Segments module. You will see pricing populate in to the Pricing module and the Pricing Matrix for the trip. Optional inventory pricing will populate in the Optional section under the Pricing Matrix within the Pricing module.

Add Multiple Inventory at Once: #

  1. Follow steps 1-4 from above and then click the Inventory + button in the right bottom corner

  2. This will open up another inventory search bar where you can select another inventory to add

  3. Click the Inventory + button for each additional Inventory you wish to add

  4. Click Add

Adding Multiple Inventories

Override Mandatory status #

If you are adding an Inventory to your trip that does not have the Mandatory status you want for this particular trip, you can override it on a trip-by-trip basis.

To do this:

  1. Select the inventory that you want to update

  2. Click Override Mandatory

  3. Choose Optional or Mandatory

  4. Click Update

Add Inventory to many Trips at Once #

You can add an inventory to multiple trips at once by:

  1. Using Search to find the Trip Records you are hoping to update

  2. On the search results page, select the Trip Records you want to update

  3. Click Edit Relationships in the top right above the search results

  4. In the Edit Relationship(s) Modal Window, select Add

  5. Choose the relationship type Inventory and search for the inventory you wish to add

  6. Click Append

  7. Click Add Relationships

Make sure to click Append as Overwrite will remove all other inventories from the selected trips.

Close up of the Edit Relationship(s) Model when adding an Inventory Record to many Trips Records

Adding and Removing Inventories to Bookings from the Trip #

Inventories can be added and removed from bookings from the Trip Record level. Please see the steps below for more details.

Add an Inventory to a Booking from the Trip Record. #

  1. On the Trip Record, Open the Inventory and Bookings Modules.

  2. In the Inventory Module, select the inventory you wish to add to the Booking

  3. In the Bookings Module, select the Booking you want the Inventory to be added to

  4. On the header for the Inventory Module, Select the + button on the top right corner

  5. This will add the Inventory to the selected Booking(s)

Inventory and Bookings Module with Bookings and Inventories selected

Remove an Inventory from a Booking from the Trip Record. #

  1. On the Trip Record, Open the Inventory and Bookings Modules.

  2. In the Inventory Module, select the inventory you wish to remove from the Booking

  3. In the Bookings Module, select the Booking(s) you want to remove the Inventory from

  4. On the header for the Inventory Module, Select the – button on the top right corner

  5. This will remove the Inventory from the selected Booking(s)

Adding Discounts and Fees #

Once you have pricing on Trips, you can add Discounts or Fees to customize the price for specific trips and bookings. If you would like to add an EBB (Early booking bonus/discount) (which will apply to all bookings when they sign up), click Edit and fill in the information for a Discount.

  1. Open Trip record

  2. Scroll to the Pricing module

  3. Click Edit

  4. Add the following fields:

    1. Category – Discount or Fee

    2. Description – Description of category

    3. Type – Amount or Percentage

    4. Amount – Amount of Discount or Fee

    5. Expiration Date – choose a date for Groupdesk to automatically remove the Discount or Fee from the Trip at midnight of the expiration date.

If you would like to add multiple discounts / fees to one trip, just add another Line Item + and fill in the appropriate information.

Once you have added the discount or fee to the trip record, it will display at the top of the Pricing module, under the Discount and Fees heading.

Always add the value as a positive number (not a negative). The type of ‘discount’ or a ‘fee’ is what determines if it adds or subtracts from the booking.

Updating Discounts and Fees #

If you want to add/edit a Trip Record discount and/or fee after you have bookings on the trip, you can choose to apply these discounts or fees to only new bookings, or any/all existing bookings.

To add/edit a discount or fee, follow the steps above.

To push the discount and fee to specific bookings:

  1. Open the Trip Record and scroll to the Bookings Module

  2. Using the checkboxes on the left-hand side of the Bookings Module, select the booking you want to edit to add/change to your new bookings and fees

  3. At the top of the Bookings Module, click the Push Discounts and Fees button

  4. We recommend spot checking a booking or two to confirm the discount and/or fee was applied

When applying the discount to existing bookings, the amount gets taken off of the total amount the booking owes, on the balance payment, not on the ‘next’ upcoming payment.

Setting Up Payment Schedules for a Trip #

Payment schedules are one of Groupdesk’s most powerful tools. Here are some things to know about choosing the type of payment schedule you want to set up for your trip.

It’s faster and easier to use a Periodic payment schedule. We suggest that all clients use this type of payment schedule.

Important Information:

  • Deposit date must be after launch date, and balance date must be after deposit date.

  • The deposit deadline and balance date must both be in the future (from when you create the trip) or your payments will not work correctly.

  • If you are opening a trip to Pre-Sale, you only need the deposit amount and the final balance date.

The total amount of the payments on a payment schedule must be less than the total trip cost. When the amount of scheduled payments is more than the trip cost, it causes display issues on the booking record’s profile and payment schedule. For information on how to fix this issue please click here.

Periodic Payment Schedules vs. Custom Payment Schedules #

Payment Schedule Example #

Both of these payment schedules look similar, but the behavior of the payment schedule per booking will change.

|

Date

PERIODIC

|

Date

CUSTOM

Total Trip Cost

|

$1300

|

$1300

Deposit Amount

|

$200

|

$200

Payment Date 1

|

March X

$150

|

March 01

$150

Payment Date 2

|

April X

$150

|

April 01

$150

Payment Date 3

|

May X

$150

|

May 15

$150

Payment Date 4

|

June X

$150

|

June 15

$150

Payment Date 5

|

July X

$150

|

July 15

$150

Payment Date 6

|

August X

$150

|

Payment Date 7

|

September X

$150

|

Final Balance

|

Oct 01

$50

|

Oct 01

$350

  • X = The Day of the month that your traveler signed up for the trip

  • If a traveler (Simon) signs up on May 14th

    • For Periodic: Simon pays their deposit, skips over all previous payments, their “X” date will be the 14th, and they will pay each Periodic Payment on the 14th until their trip is paid off (Periodic payments populate on the booking until the final balance amount is covered) or they reach their Final Balance date when their remaining balance will be charged.

    • For Custom: Simon pays their deposit, skips over all previous payments, their payment dates remain rigid to this custom payment schedule , so their next payment will be May 15th. They will continue to owe payments for each Payment date until the gap between July 15 and Oct 01. If there are no custom payments set up during a specific time period, our payment scheduler is unable to catch your traveler up on the payments with a Custom payment schedule. During this gap, the traveler will not have any payments until they reach their Final Balance date.

Pro’s & Con’s for Periodic vs. Custom Payment Schedules #

PERIODIC PAYMENT SCHEDULE

CUSTOM PAYMENT SCHEDULE

PROS

  • Can change dynamically based on when a traveler signs up

  • More flexible for longer sign up periods

  • Periodic payments may be the same amount or customized amounts

  • Short and simple set up time

  • Can set the exact dates you want every trip to charge your travelers

  • Every payment can be a different amount

CONS

  • Longer set up time (process currently requires generating a schedule, removing unwanted payments and then adding custom payments.)

  • Individual bookings who sign up in the middle of the set payment schedule (ie: halfway through) will not have payments for time periods not explicitly entered in the trip schedule on the trip

  • The rigid schedule means that a traveler who signs up on X Date (May 14th), might have a Custom payment coming up less than 24 hours after they sign up (May 15th).

  1. Can I edit an individual booking’s schedule for both kinds of payment schedules? Yes

  2. Can I choose the Deposit and Final Balance date for both types of Payments schedules? Yes

  3. Can I mix Periodic and Custom Payments? Yes

  4. Can I set up a payment schedule by percentage rather than dollar amount? No

How to Create a Periodic Payment Schedule on a Trip #

Step 1 – Create Schedule #

  1. Open the Trip Record

  2. In the Overview module, click Edit

  3. In the Edit Trip pop up, Add in the details below to the fields

You’ll need:
  • Launch Date – Day you plan on selling the trip

  • Deposit Deadline – Day all deposits are due (Must be at least 1 day before the Balance Date)

  • Payment Period Count – How many times is the periodic amount being charged within the payment period unit

  • Payment Period Unit – Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly

  • Deposit Amount – Amount the traveler must put down to begin the booking and payment process

  • Periodic Amount – Amount of each periodic payment

  • Balance Date – Day all travelers must have completed all payments

Payments occur once every _Payment Period Count_ _Payment Period Unit_

Trip with Deposit of $15, and payments every 2 weeks of $50

Most of this information can also be reviewed and updated in the Payment Scheduler module. You can update the following fields there:

  • Payment Period Count – How many times is the periodic amount being charged within the payment period unit

  • Payment Period Unit – Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly

  • Deposit Amount – Amount the traveler must put down to begin the booking and payment process

  • Periodic Amount – Amount of each periodic payment

  • Balance Date – Day all travelers must have completed all payments

Step 2 – Generate Schedule #

  1. On the Trip Record

  2. To review your schedule, scroll down to the Payments Scheduler module and click Edit

  3. In the Update Scheduler pop up, review and update (if necessary) in the schedule details and click Update

  4. Click Generate Schedule

  5. Your new Payment Schedule will appear in Payments module (above the Payment Scheduler module)

  6. Review and edit the payments (if necessary)

Trip with a generated schedule

Step 3 – Push Schedule #

Only push your schedule once you are 100% satisfied with your generated schedule as you CANNOT make any changes once it has been pushed.

  1. Make sure that you have reviewed your schedule fully

  2. Once satisfied, press the Push Schedule button

  3. A pop up will appear asking if you are sure (as this process can only be completed once), click OK

  4. The Push Schedule button will become unavailable after it has been selected once

Trip with a Pushed Schedule

You can only push a trip schedule ONCE.

Periodic Payments cannot be generated within 16 days of the Final Balance Date. You can add a Custom Payment within 16 days.

How to Create a Custom Payment Schedule on a Trip #

Step 1 – Create Schedule #

  1. Open the Trip Record

  2. In the Overview module, click Edit

  3. In the Edit Trip pop up, Add in the details below to the fields

You will still need to enter the following information, even though you will be creating a custom schedule later on:

  • Launch Date – Day you plan on selling the trip

  • Deposit Deadline – Day all deposits are due (Must be at least 1 day before the Balance Date)

  • Payment Period Unit – Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly

  • Payment Period Count – How many times is the periodic amount being charged within the payment period unit

  • Deposit Amount – Amount the traveler must put down to begin the booking and payment process

  • Periodic Amount – Amount of each periodic payment

  • Balance Date – Day all travelers must have completed all payments

Payments occur once every _Payment Period Count_ _Payment Period Unit_

Step 2 – Generate Schedule #

When the total amount of the scheduled payments on a payment schedule is more than the total trip cost, it causes display issues on the booking record’s profile and payment schedule. The total of the scheduled payments MUST BE LOWER THAN THE TOTAL TRIP COST. For existing trips with this issue, please click here for info on how to solve this error.

  1. On the Trip Record

  2. Click Generate Schedule

  3. Your Payment Schedule will appear in Payments module (above the Payment Scheduler module)

  4. Remove any Periodic payments that you do not want included in your schedule by clicking remove on the right side of the module

  5. To add Custom payments, click Add (in the top right of the Payments module)

    1. Fill in the appropriate information:

      1. Amount

      2. Currency (determined for you by the brand associated to the Trip)

      3. Scheduled At

      4. Type

    2. Click Create

  6. Repeat for all the payments you wish to add to your schedule

Trip with a generated periodic schedule
Adding Custom payemnts

Step 3 – Push Schedule #

Only push your schedule once you are 100% satisfied with your generated schedule as you CANNOT make any changes once it has been pushed.

  1. Make sure that you have reviewed your schedule fully

  2. Once satisfied, press the Push Schedule button

  3. A pop up will appear asking if you are sure (as this process can only be completed once), click OK

  4. The Push Schedule button will become unavailable after it has been selected once

You can only push a trip schedule ONCE.

Periodic Payment Schedule Examples: #

Example #1 #

If you want a $3000 Spring Break Trip with bi-monthly payments (every other month) of $200 and a deposit of $150:

  • Payment Period Count: 2

  • Payment Period Unit: Month

  • Deposit Amount: 150

  • Periodic Amount: 200

Example #2 #

If you want a $350 ski trip with weekly payments of $25 and a deposit of $10:

  • Payment Period Count: 1

  • Payment Period Unit: Week

  • Deposit Amount: 10

  • Periodic Amount: 25

Example #3 #

If you want a $1000 camp trip with monthly payments of $200 and a deposit of $100:

  • Payment Period Count: 1

  • Payment Period Unit: Month

  • Deposit Amount: 100

  • Periodic Amount: 200

Automatic Status Updates #

Automatic Status Updates happen when transactions are made to booking records based on the status of the payments on that booking. See here for the definitions of each status.

  • NEW JOINER

  • ACTIVE

  • OVERDUE

  • PENDING

  • DEFAULT

  • CANCELLED

  • COMPLETED

  • WAITLIST

  • UNCONFIRMED

  • NO SHOW

Bookings that are Organizers on the trip will not fall to Pending when they have missed more than 1 payment. They will stay in the Overdue status until manually changed

Trip Statuses and Automatic Status Updates #

Trip Status directly affects how Automatic Status Updates function on Booking Records. Please see the charts below for how Booking Statuses update in relation to Trip Status. The term missed in the Legends below refers to missed payments and Org refers to Organizers.

Active, Limited and Presale Trips
Cancelled Trip
Closed Trip
Completed Trip
Stopsale Trip
Waitlist Trip

Add a Document to a Trip Record #

Users can add a document to a trip and have it show up on all the bookings on that trip on My Profile. The document must be Document Type – Document, and Document Category – Other or Marketing.

Example Document to add to Trip Record

Once the document has been added to the trip record, it will appear on the Travel Documents section of MyProfile under the Documents to Print module. Travelers can click on the document and the document will open in another window.

Example of where documents from the Trip Record will display on MyProfile

Reset Pricing on a Booking from a Trip Record #

To reset a booking’s pricing from a Trip Record, please follow these steps:

  • Open the Trip record has the Booking that you wish to reset pricing for

  • Select Booking you wish to reset under the Bookings module and the Inventory that contains the pricing under the Inventory Module

  • Click Reset Pricing on the bookings module

  • Allow a few minutes for the pricing to take affect then check the Booking record for the updates