Setting up a Hopon-Hopoff coach operation
Index
Using the Trip Manifest
Overview
In it's simplest form a HOHO operation consists of 3 items:
- A bus pass on the top level
- Bus sectors underneath the pass
- A thread is all the sectors between the start and finish point.
- Bus routes underneath the bus sectors
- Bus sectors underneath the pass
The set-up for a HOHO operation is both simple, but also has to follow certain set rules. In this tutorial the following operation will be implemented:
- Operator and financial entity = Test Organisation
- The bus sectors are from London to Manchester to Edinburgh
- Pick-up in London is Piccadilly Circus at 08:00
- Pick-up in Manchester is the YHA at 08:00
- Pick-up in Edinburgh is Central Youth Hostel at 08:00
- The pass that we sell is called a Blighty and is from London to Edinburgh
We start from the bottom, the routes and pick-ups and work our way to the top - the pass last.
Setting up bus routes
The code needs to be strictly formatted to describe the bus and the day FROM/TO origin and destination. Thus the bus route from London to Manchester will have the code BRLONMAN and the name description of Bus London - Manchester.
In Maintenance -> Edit/Add Tours click on Tour Setup Wizard. Fill in the details as described below.
Select the Tour Type = Pickup
Set the 08:00 pick-up time. Make it the default. Next and Finish to exit.
Open the BRLONMAN tour and selected the Advanced tab. Tick only the boxes indicated below.
Click on Locations, click on New Stop and fill in the details as below. If there were more than one pick-up in London, we would create Stop 2, 3 etc. with the appropriate offset minutes to the start time of the bus route - 08:00.
Click on Edit Locations. Click on "Add New"
Fill in the location name (required) and any other details (optional) and "Save"
If a city or suburb needs to be added click on "Edit/Add".
Close the locations screen.
Drag the location from the right side list onto the appropriate stop on the left.
Do the same thing again for the Manchester to Edinburgh section. Call it tour code: BRMANEDI description: BUS MANCHESTER - EDINBURGH
Setting Up Sectors
There are strict naming conventions for the bus sector codes and name. The code is made up of thread number and name followed by sequence number along the thread in lots of ten to allow route changes to be implemented easily. For example 1S10 is the first sector in thread 1 (Town1 to Town2).
For our simple example we will have the following sectors: London to Manchester to Edinburgh
Thread 1S London to Edinburgh |
Code |
Name |
London - Manchester |
1S10 |
London - Manchester |
Manchester - Edinburgh |
1S20 |
Manchester - Edinburgh |
In Maintenance, open a new Day Tour. Fill in the details.
Click on "Schedule" and "Add New" and make it the same as the first pick-up on the route.
Select "None" for the "Price Matrix Type" - no prices on sectors, because they can not be booked on their own.
Click on the Advanced tab to set "Component Only" - The component only setting will prevent the sector from being booked at pass level inadvertently.
"Disable Availability Check" - Enabling availability will allow seats on the bus to be limited for the bus sector. This is the "normal" setting.
"Can be waitlisted" and
"Availability Check On Change". - Availability Check On Change is a special feature that must be set for sectors to ensure the itinerary editor function efficiently.
Select the correct "Tour Location" "Start" and "End"
Click on the Resource/Price Settings tab to check that the Max Pax is set to 0 and Infant not included in Availability is unchecked. Max Pax needs to be set to 0 as all control of the bus sector availability is set using resources in the Trip Manifest rostering section – see Resources). Infant not included in Availability needs to be deselected as infants do take a seat on the bus.
Click on "Routes" and click and drag the route onto the sector pickup time and ensure that the pickup list is the default (which is set by Respax as a default normally).
Do the same for the sector from Manchester to Edinburgh. Tour code: 1S20 description: Manchester - Edinburgh
Using the Trip Manifest
Setting Up a Thread
In "Reservations" click on "Trip Manifest" to open the thread tool. Click on "Thread Tool" and "Add Thread" to create a new thread.
Start the thread sequence from 1 and name the thread: <start location> - <end location> if possible
Click on "Add Sector" to start populating the thread with sectors. Fill in the day offset and start the sector sequence at 100 and increment with 100 each time. (so changes in sectors can easily be implemented in the future)
Set the next sector - 1S20 and increment the sector sequence to 200 as we said above.
Click on "Commit" and "OK" to save the changes.
How to set-up a bus resource
In "Maintenance" "Add/Edit Tours" click on "Add New" and "Resource" and fill in just the 4 main fields indicated and click "Save"
In "Reservations" click on "Trip Manifest" to open the thread tool. Click on "Trips"
Upload new attachment "graphic28.gif"
Left click and drag across as many days as you want to assign an actual resource (Ar) in our case bus CG404. Right click and click "Add vehicle".
Upload new attachment "graphic29.gif"
Select the appropriate bus.
Upload new attachment "graphic30.gif"
Click on "Refresh"
Upload new attachment "graphic31.gif"
How To Set-up Virtual Resources
Availability on sectors are set with virtual resources. These are set-up in the "Lookups" section in "Maintenance".
Open the "Resources Types" tab (use the directional arrows to scroll left and right) and "Add New"
Add as many seats as your bus have. Start from 1 up to max seats. This gives you full flexibility for future changes.
In "Reservations" click on "Trip Manifest" to open the thread tool. Click on "Trips"
Left click in the Vr field where you want to start adding a resource. Right click to bring up the menu and click "Add resource"
Select the correct resource - our bus is actually a very small Mini, only 3 seats available... We want to repeat the resource until the 22 Nov, so tick the appropriate boxes.
Upload new attachment "graphic35.gif"
OK, OK and click "Refresh". I have done the same with the Driver (Dr) and Actual Resource (the vehicle) (Ar) and this is how the final trip roster looks:
See this section on how to set up drivers: * Adding A Crew Member (Driver)
Upload new attachment "graphic36.gif"
Setting Up a Pass
The pass is the actual tour that is sold to the customer. It is made up of sectors. It could include all the sectors of a thread or just a section. It could also contain sectors from different threads.
Click on Add New - Day Tour icon.
Type in the Code and Name for the pass. This code or at least description needs to be strictly formatted to describe the origin and destination. In our example - call the pass BLIGHTY and the description BLIGHTY - London to Edinburgh.
Click on "Schedule" and set to 0:00.
Click on the "Advanced" tab and tick:
Force Pax ID
Force 1 pax per booking
Can have Components
Use New Price Matrix
Disable Availability Check
Select "Tour Flavour" - HOHO
Click the "Bases" tab. Rename Standard to "LON-EDI"
The naming convention indicates the direction of travel. So in our set-up it is London -> Edinburgh = LON-EDI
Create a sub-basis called standard and web enable it.
Click on the "Prices" tab and click on "Set Range" and fill in all the details and "Set Range"
Click on the "Components" tab
Stand on the "All basis and subbasis" package and add components by clicking "Add Tour"
Fill in the first sector, 1S10, and start the sequence as always at 10. Day offset is 0, the start day of the tour. Click "Adhoc Sector" - this only brings in the components when using the itinerary editor and not like the normal standard package set behaviour, all pre-loaded at booking time.
Do the same for the second sector, 1S20.
Save the tour.
Making a Booking