Shared Inventory Scheduled Tours

Shared inventory scheduled tours in TravelHerd use the parent/child concept for Land-only and Land and Air as well as Complete/Partial Itinerary tours. This is illustrated by the following examples for each of these scheduled tour combinations:

1. Land-only and Land and Air tours with shared inventory.

The Land-only tour is the parent, each Land and Air tour is a child of the Land-only tour with its own air inventory. Both inventories need to be available to confirm the child tour. Land-only and Land and Air tours generally do not start of the same date and make use of the Land-only date off-set. Often the Land and Air tour commences one day prior to the parent Land-only tour so as to allow for travel time to the destination where the Land-only tour begins.

To illustrate this, you have a Land-only tour with 20 rooms starting in Paris; its Land and Air tour child has 10 seats from JFK to Paris and 10 seats from LAX to Paris with passengers commencing the land portion of the tour upon arrival. When booking the Land-only tour, TravelHerd will check the inventory of available rooms for the requested departure date. When booking the Land and Air tour from JFK, TravelHerd will check the inventory of available seats and the inventory of available rooms also.

2. Complete itinerary tour and partial itinerary tour with shared inventory.

The complete itinerary tour is the parent, each partial itinerary tour is a child of the complete tour with it own inventory. Like the first example above, both inventories need to be available to confirm the child tour. The Land-Only date off-set may be used to synch-up the partial tour to the complete tour inventory. The complete itinerary tour and partial itinerary tour with shared inventory very often arise with motor coach itineraries.

TravelHerd can also accommodate scheduled tours with multiple level inventory; for more information on this, please click here.

Credit Card Payment Processing using Authorize.net

TravelHerd now incorporates credit card payment processing using Auth orize.net. Authorize.net processes over one billion transactions per year for over 430,000 merchants. We selected Authorize.net as our credit card processing partner because of their award winning API integration and customer service.

TravelHerd credit card payment processing is available in our on-line Book Now tour booking engine as well as from invoice emails generated within TravelHerd for any reservation with an open balance. TravelHerd uses the Authorize.net Accept suite. After much research, we chose the Authorize.net Accept suite as the credit card payment processing solution for TravelHerd for its extensive on-line security and ease of use for the end-user making the payment. This solution is a SAQ-A level PCI compliance. To make a payment, the credit card information is entered on the Authorize.net server via an overlay on TravelHerd scripts.

All TravelHerd subscriptions have incorporated this value added service. Subscribing companies may choose to use credit card processing using Authorize.net or not; its use is neither obligatory nor automatic. TravelHerd subscribing company administrators can activate credit card processing using Authorize.net for their company via an option in their TravelHerd company settings. Administrators must verify that their credit card processing bank has set up their company credentials with Authorize.net prior to activating this functionality. There is no additional charge to the monthly subscription rate. TravelHerd does not receive remuneration from Authorize.net for this value added service. Click here to schedule a demo for TravelHerd including credit card payment processing using Authorize.net.

TravelHerd WordPress Interface

Home of the Herds hosted websites can use the TravelHerd WordPress interface for scheduled tours, specials, hotel descriptions and scheduled activities. The synergy between the two applications saves you from dual information entry and its maintenance. It also precludes the issue of scheduled tours, specials, hotel descriptions and scheduled activities having to be updated in each application when revisions become necessary, thus avoiding out-of-sync data between the two applications. Scheduled activities can generally be described one day or less tours (sightseeing, docent and self-guided) and activities (classes, cultural, sporting, spa and dining, etc.).

Scheduled Tours and Specials

When selling scheduled tours and specials, the information for each specific tour is entered once but the data is utilized in both TravelHerd and your WordPress website using the TravelHerd WordPress interface. The tour selling prices and accruals are entered into your TravelHerd application and dynamically display on the tour’s web pages on your WordPress website. The tour itinerary text, including embedded images, is loaded in your WordPress website and get utilized as the tour’s itinerary in your TravelHerd database. The TravelHerd WordPress interface process saves hours of maintaining dual databases in separate applications with the inherent issue of out of sync data. For companies not selling scheduled tours or specials, the TravelHerd WordPress interface can be used to display sample itineraries with “From” pricing or without any pricing component at all.

Hotel Descriptions and Scheduled Activities

Hotel descriptions and scheduled activities are loaded only once in WordPress posts. The hotel vendor set-up in TravelHerd utilizes the appropriate WordPress post for day to day itineraries created in the TravelHerd booking engine. This functionality includes XML hotel vendors accessed via the TravelHerd XML interface; if using multiple XML vendors for the same hotel, the same description taken from your WordPress post can be used across vendors. The same holds true for scheduled activities, wherein TravelHerd utilizes these WordPress posts, making them ready to book into your TravelHerd itineraries.

Using the TravelHerd WordPress interface also makes it a breeze to set up your scheduled tours and specials for on-line sales using the TravelHerd Book Now (B2C) and TravelHerd Travel Agent Portal (B2B) features. Both TravelHerd Book Now and TravelHerd Travel Agent Portal are excellent avenues to increase your bookings and revenue without the direct interaction with your staff. Contact us today for a TravelHerd demonstration and learn about these exciting features and the TravelHerd application for yourself.

Book Now online reservation portal

Sell scheduled tours and specials from your TravelHerd database online via the Book Now online reservation portal and boost your reservations! The Book Now module utilizes a pre-formatted link on your website to the TravelHerd application. Tours offered may also have single or multi level itineraries and pricing as well as in-tour options and pre and/or post extensions. When a visitor to a TravelHerd subscribing company’s website clicks on the Book Now online reservation portal link, they are presented with the large main image of the selected scheduled tour with a calendar detailing upcoming scheduled departures for that tour and an option to revise the room requirement(s) as needed. For those TravelHerd subscribing companies using the TravelHerd WordPress interface, the itinerary and database loading offers of scheduled tours and specials a more streamlined process.

Offer scheduled departure tours with single level or multiple levels (Deluxe, Standard) and pricing
Sell extensions and/or additional optional services (e.g. day tours, etc.) at time of booking
Tour inventory can be on either per person, # of rooms or room type; zero inventory shows as “On Request”
Flexible departures: daily, weekly, monthly, individual departures and more
Receive instant notification of new Book Now reservations/requests

The calendar display details the first instance of a scheduled tour which can be booked or requested, as you have the option to cut-off online sales x days out. For days when the tour operates, it will display the per person double occupancy rate and indicate whether it is on request or available for instant confirmation. The room requirement is set to 1 double occupancy room with an option to easily revise the room requirement(s), both in quantity and room occupancy type, and the calendar will redisplay with the rates and availability based on the new room requirement. The calendar can be advanced to other months, as required. Select a departure date, to reveal the large, main image of the selected scheduled tour followed by a detailed day-to-day itinerary including any embedded images.

Upon selection of a tour departure date from the display, a total gross selling price with a per person breakdown is calculated and the visitor is prompted to enter their email address. If the email address entered is known to your TravelHerd database, the visitor’s required contact details will be displayed. Visitors with email addresses unknown to your TravelHerd database will be required to enter their contact details. In either case, the passenger names, genders, optional dietary requirements, and country of passport issue must be entered prior to submission; these details can be updated later in TravelHerd by your staff, if required. Terms and Conditions, either for your company or tour-specific are also detailed at the bottom of the screen display.

Upon submission, a proposal is created in TravelHerd and the purchaser is emailed a combined itinerary-invoice which also details the payment terms. An email is also generated to the TravelHerd subscriber advising the proposal, tour and departure date, rooming requirement and the purchaser’s contact information. A unique email address at your company can be assigned for Book Now email communications. The on-screen display will then update to a thank you message which reiterates the tour information which they’ve now booked. The reiteration also includes pricing and, if the purchaser’s email address is a travel agent in your TravelHerd database, the commission amount. When the reservation is completed, accruals are automatically added to the proposal, if they have been loaded into your database for the specified tour. Book Now reservations are tagged with WWW for easy identification. TravelHerd’s Book Now online reservation portal is a boost to your company’s reservations and a great adjunct to your sales and marketing efforts!

Travel Agent Portal

Select travel agents can book your products via the TravelHerd Travel Agent Portal.

Travel agents have moved toward becoming destination and category specialists (think Africa, honeymoons, pilgrimages and more); indeed many have become as knowledgeable in their areas of expertise as the tour operators themselves. The TravelHerd Travel Agent Portal allows tour operators to invite select travel agents, on an individual agent basis, to book your tours and specials for their clients, by themselves without the direct involvement of your staff. Travel agents logged-in to the secure TravelHerd Travel Agent Portal will also have access to additional functionality. Here’s how it works:

Authorize select travel agents on an individual basis and invite them to log-in with their email address and create their own password to access the secure TravelHerd Travel Agent Portal
After logging-in, travel agents are presented with a display of featured promotions and news on the portal’s home page along with a menu of actions available to them including the following:
Click image to enlarge

Travel agents can book tours and specials, including up-sell options and extensions, from within the secure TravelHerd Travel Agent Portal by themselves without the direct involvement of your staff
Travel agents can review their upcoming reservations, including those booked via your sales consultants as well as those booked via the portal
Travel agents can enter passengers’ names and other information to their upcoming reservations
Travel agents can issue invoices, client invoices and itineraries for their upcoming reservations
Variable commission levels can be set in the TravelHerd scheduled tours and specials database for reservations made 1) via the Travel Agent Portal, 2) via your in-house sales consultants or 3) combination reservations (initially booked by the travel agent via Travel Agent Portal but later requiring revisions by your sales consultants) as a means to incentivize travel agents to use the portal
Travel agents can initiate brochure requests from within the secure Travel Agent Portal, which are then transmitted to the tour operator

Select travel agents will appreciate the ease, convenience, and functionality which the secure TravelHerd Travel Agent Portal offers them without the direct involvement of your sales consultants.

TravelHerd Online Knowledge Base

A powerful online tool to answer TravelHerd users’ questions while working within the application, the TravelHerd Online Knowledge Base, is a click away.

TravelHerd users have a powerful online tool to assist them with questions while using application, the TravelHerd Online Knowledge Base, which is powered by the WordPress for fast and easy searching. Users may access the TravelHerd Online Knowledge Base whilst working within the TravelHerd application, thus maintaining productivity and continuity.

Click on image for expanded view

The TravelHerd Online Knowledge Base has searchable topics applicable to employees day-to-day use of the TravelHerd application. The Online Knowledge Base covers many areas of responsibility including Reservations, Database, Sales and Marketing and Accounting, to name a few. Users have commented that they find the Knowledge Base particularly convenient as a “memory-refresher” assisting them while they perform TravelHerd functions outside of their day-to-day responsibilities.

Many clients find the TravelHerd Online Knowledge Base to be a helpful assistant when the training new employees and cross-training current employees on the TravelHerd application. They find that the Online Knowledge Base’s ease of access is a functional method to answer many common, and some not-too-common, questions which employees may have during their training. Using the Online Knowledge Base does not require the intervention of supervisory and training personnel; it is available to every TravelHerd user.

Multiple level inventory for scheduled tours

The TravelHerd tours module offers multiple level inventory for scheduled tours based on one of the following inventory types:

Number of persons
Number of rooms
Number of Singles or Twin/Double

Additionally, a single tour can be provided with multiple pricing levels. The nomenclature for the pricing level is controlled by the client. Pricing levels and inventory type can be revised from season to season or ad hoc as required. The scheduled tour inventory set-up details the inventory usage for previously entered tours. In the event of occupancy based inventory, actual inventory is not required for every occupancy type. TravelHerd will confirm from scheduled tour inventory what is available, i.e. twin confirmed, single on request. Online sales of tours book from the same inventory and follow the same inventory rules; the online buyer of a scheduled tour is advised what can be confirmed at the time the buyer makes booking.

multiple level inventory for scheduled tours

With multiple level inventory for scheduled tours, tour inventory is set to zero as soon as the release date has been reached. The release date is set as a number of days prior to the tour departure date. A more strict online cut-off number of days prior to departure can be set in the TravelHerd company settings. Availability is calculated by counting actual confirmed persons, rooms or occupancy types including temporarily-held persons, rooms or occupancy types booked or in-process bookings made by the internal sales consultants/reservation agents. This ensures that true availability is shown at all times. A TravelHerd report displays temporarily-held inventory booked or in-process bookings made by the internal sales consultants/reservation agents, confirmed inventory as well as tour inventory on request.

TravelHerd can also accommodate tours with shared inventory. These may be Land-only and Land and Air tours or Complete itinerary/Partial itinerary tours. In these situations, TravelHerd allows for shared inventory for the related tours.