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Where do I find it?
Setup> Products & Services> Products > Edit Product > Attributes
What does it mean?
This feature allows you to offer ticket sales with convenient pickup locations up to a certain point before departure, while still giving you the necessary time to organise these pickups efficiently. Think of it as a cut-off time to help with smooth operations!
By using this setting, your passengers can choose from your various pickup points as long as their booking is made outside of the 'blackout period'.
The 'blackout period' is a setting you can apply to each product, measured in minutes. You can decide whether or not to enable this for a particular tour or activity.
The purpose of the blackout period is simple: it provides you with sufficient time to organise the logistics involved in the pickups, such as assigning drivers and buses, ensuring a seamless experience for everyone.
This applies to both relative and absolute types of pickup routes.
It's important to note that this feature is specifically for online bookings on the Palisis webshop.
What customers will see
When a customer books inside the blackout period, the webshop clearly shows that some pickup locations are unavailable. However, they can still select the 'Not specified' option and any other pickup points with times outside of this blackout.
**Unfortunately, the deadline for arranging pickup service for this departure has passed. If you wish to schedule transportation, please choose a subsequent departure.
Please note that this warning message will be displayed in the language selected for the webshop and cannot be modified.
Example scenario
Let's say you set a blackout period of 60 minutes for a particular day tour. This means you need one hour to organise the pickups.
Therefore, pickup location selection will be unavailable for bookings made within the last hour before departure. However, if their booking is made before that last hour, they'll still be able to choose pickup locations with times later than the current booking time + 60 minutes.
This ensures that while you can still capture those last-minute bookings, you have the operational breathing room needed to provide a reliable and well-organised pickup service.
What should I do?
To set a blackout time for one of your products, go to Setup > Products & Services > Products. Then, click 'Edit' on the product you wish to modify and enter the blackout time in minutes under the 'Attributes' tab.
This setting will prevent your customers from selecting pickup locations with a scheduled pickup time that falls within the period starting from the moment they make the booking and extending for the duration of the blackout time you have specified (in minutes).
For example:
Let's say your tour starts at 9:00 a.m. and you've set a blackout time of 60 minutes. If a customer attempts to book two hours before the tour starts, at 7:00 a.m., they will not be able to choose any pickup point with a scheduled pickup time before 8:00 a.m. This is because you, as the operator, require at least 60 minutes (your designated blackout time) to organise the pickups effectively.