Home → Arctic Reservations → Add-ons → Understanding the Trip Add-Ons Form
9.1. Understanding the Trip Add-Ons Form
The Add-Ons Feature is a powerful way to link any required equipment, inventory or related service (upsell) to a Trip Type that your guests may need. The Add-Ons Feature has the ability to work with inventory constraints, offer "Choice Sets" that will require guests to make a selection for each guest from the choices offered and much more. This guide will take you through all of the add-on options that you are likely to find useful for your business.
First let's look at the Add-Ons Form. To create an add-on for a Trip Type, go to the "Add-Ons" tab on either the "Create Trip Type" or the "Edit Trip Type" pages. (You can also add special add-ons to a specific trip as well. Again you will go the the "Add-Ons" tab on either the "Create Trip" or "Edit Trip" pages.) Once you are on the "Add-Ons" tab click the blue "+Add Add-Ons" link to add your first add-on. This will open the Add-Ons Form as shown here:
This is the form you will use to tell Arctic about the add-on. The first field is the "Name" field. Enter the name you wish to use for the add-on here.
Next, you will tell Arctic how to add the add-on to the reservation. You can choose to add it to the whole reservation meaning your reservation would only require one add-on regardless of the number of guests (e.g., useful for car shuttles or other services that are purchased once for the whole reservation), or the add-on can be added for each guest individually. Most add-ons will tend to be added to guests, and hence Arctic selects the "Reservation Guest" option by default.
Next, you will select the "Type" of add-on. This field is where you will tell Arctic whether this item is a "Required" item, an "Optional" item or part of a "Set of Choices". If the add-on is a required piece of equipment or transportation you will choose "Required". This could be things like a life jacket or a shuttle to and from the river, where it is needed for every single reservation or reservation guest. If the add-on is not required and the guest can choose whether or not they would like to add the item to their reservation, use the "Optional" setting (this is useful for upsells, like wetsuits or added transportation services).
Your final choice is the "Set of Choices" option. This option allows you to create a set of choices that will be presented to your guests that they must choose from, such as Boat Selections. For instance, if the trip is a river trip and you offer your guests the choice of a Single Kayak or a Double Kayak, using the "Set of Choices" option will ensure that each guest makes a selection for either a Single Kayak or a Double Kayak. Arctic will not allow them to complete their reservation until each guest has a boat selection for the reservation. We will discuss configuring a "Set of Choices" in a subsequent section of this guide.
The following fields will only show if you chose either "Optional" or "Set of Choices" for the "Type" field on the Add-Ons Form. If you choose "Required", Arctic will disable the remaining fields because you have told it that this item is a required part of the trip and therefore included in the trip price and covered under the same online description as the trip itself.
If you have the "Online Reservations" module, you will tell Arctic whether to display these add-ons online or not. The default selection for this is "Yes."
The "Show Online" field is followed by the "Online Description" field. This will be where you can add useful information about the add-on for your online guests such as "Seats 4 people with a max weight of 1000 lbs." This field will only be displayed if you choose "Yes" for the "Show Online" field.
If you want this item to be included by default for each guest or reservation, then you will select "Yes" for the "Include by Default" field. You can use this for either "Optional" or "Set of Choices" add-ons, and Arctic will automatically select and include these items with your guest's reservation. With the "Set of Choices" option, you will only be able to tell Arctic to include one of the choices in the set by default. If you choose more than one of the choices in a "Set of Choices" to be included by default, Arctic will give you an error. If the add-on is an "Optional" item, your guest will be able to choose to "opt out" of the add-on if they wish and Arctic will allow them to do so. If the item is a "Set of Choices" add-on, your guest can opt out of the "Default" selection if they wish, but will be required to make a selection from one of the other choices offered before they can proceed with their reservation.
Generally, add-ons that are set to be included by default will be left in place by your guests when making online reservations. If you have an add-on that has a small amount of available inventory associated with it, you may want to choose to have this add-on set to not be included by default. This will ensure that only those guests who really want to use the item will select it. This is a great way to stretch your resources especially if you offer the item for more than one trip type or as a rental item as well. We will discuss inventory constraints in further detail later in this guide.
The next field is the "Price" field. If there is an additional cost associated with the add-on, you will enter the price here. This field will only show for "Optional" or "Set of Choices" add-ons. If there is not an additional cost associated with the add-on, you can leave the price at 0.00.
Next you can tell Arctic how to account for the income from the add-on. You can create and/or choose a specific account for it or allow Arctic to "Automatically Select" an account.
Finally, if there are any fees or taxes associated with the add-on, you will add these by clicking the green "+Add Fees" button. These fees will only be assessed to this specific add-on and will not be assessed to any other add-on created nor the main trip costs. This will allow you to set the various fees and taxes that you collect for each specific add-on to ensure that you are collecting the correct fees and taxes for each item you offer.
The next field is the "Capacity" field. The "Capacity" field is where you can limit the total number of a particular add-on that will be available for a specific trip. This can be used with or without adding required inventory. For example, you may want to limit Go Pro Rentals to 2 for each trip even though you may have 6 or 8 total available. This helps you stretch the inventory you have across multiple trips. You could also use this option to limit the number of "fishing spaces" available for a trip or the number of triple kayaks that can be reserved.
Again the "Capacity" field can be used with or without adding required inventory. All this field does is limit the number of a particular add-on that can be selected by your guests for a specific trip.
The final part of the Add-Ons Form is the Required Inventory section. If your add-on has inventory constraints, you can click the blue "+Add Required Inventory" link and associate the add-on with the Inventory Items. To use this feature, you will first have to create the Inventory Item as a Rental Item. For further instructions on how to create a Rental Item see Creating Rental & Inventory Items. We will discuss using the Required Inventory Feature in a subequent section of this guide.
In the next sections, we will use the Add-Ons Form to create several add-on configurations so you have a good understanding of all of the ways you can use the Add-Ons Feature.