Audience: CEO/Owner, Reservationist, Dispatcher
Read Time: 10 Minutes

This guide will provide a detailed overview of creating Hourly and Point-to-Point Pricing.

Hourly and Point-to-Point Pricing plans are used for your basic pricing methods to establish your minimum hourly rates per vehicle type and fixed Point-to-Point pricing (Zone pricing).  These Point-to-Points may be comprised of Airports to and from a location as well as transfers between different zones.  For example:  If you charge the same rate for a transfer to or from your local airport(s) to a group of Cities or Postal Codes, you would create a ZONE with that grouping of locations then create a Point-to-Point price.  Same applies if you have a fixed rate between different Zones.  The application of this is in the Pricing area when building a reservation.  If the pick up and drop off locations match one of your Point-to-Point prices it will select that Point-to-Point for the reservation. 

NOTE:  This same functionality is used in the Online Booking Customer Portal your Customers will be using to obtain rates when booking reservations online.      

There is no limit to the amount of Pricing Plans you are able to create.  When creating a new reservation the reservationist will be able to select the appropriate price plan based on the type of reservation.  Each plan can have different rates as well as different variables, fixed items and taxes.  This functionality allows you to create different plans for different airports, cities and states.  You may also create different plans for specific events:  Proms, Weddings, Sporting Events, etc.  If the pricing plan is NOT Point-to-Point based and only uses hourly rates you do not need to add any Point-to-Points.  

The plans created in this area are available to all reservations and may be used as the default plan for any customer.  By selecting one of the plans in the Customer profile to be their default, that plan will be the one used when creating a new reservation for that Customer.  NOTE:  If the Customer has a specific pricing plan set as their default you are still able to select a different plan when creating the reservation. 

NOTE:  The Online Booking Customer Portal also has the option to select multiple plans to be used for NEW Customer bookings.  An existing Customer will use their default plan(s) when booking online.

These Pricing plans will pre-populate the reservations with the prices and items you have entered for the selected plan.  While the prices and costs are populated each of them may be changed from within the reservation.

Located in the System Setup icon on the left navigation panel select the option for PRICING SETUP.

ADDING ZONES -  MANAGE ZONES

Zones are pre-defined service areas that may be Cities or Postal Codes.  If your pricing is based on Cities only then you do not need to enter Postal Codes.  If your pricing is more defined and cities are broken down into separate zones you will enter Postal Codes only.  Zones can be used across multiple Pricing Plans which may be local or other States.  When adding the Zone it has no price.  The prices are established in the Pricing Plan and is specific to the different vehicle types.  It is not required but recommended that Zones be created prior to creating pricing plans.

-  A Zone based on Cities may contain Cities spread out around your State or Service area.  If you have several Cities that the transfer rate from the local airport all have the same rate they would be entered in the Zone.  Zone names are internal only, meaning your Customer never sees the Zone name.  There is also no required naming convention.  You may call your Zones:  Red, Blue, Yellow, etc. 1, 2 3, etc.  North, South, East, etc.  These names are for internal reference only.   

ADDING PRICING PLANS -

Pricing Plans can be added to allow different price rates, minimums, fixed charge items, variable rates and taxes.  The name of the plans are for internal reference only.  They may be named to allow the reservationist to quickly find different rate plans for other service areas (ex. Dallas Pricing Plan) or event pricing (ex. Wedding Packages). 

NOTE:  Default Pricing Plan is the only plan that requires a price for all Vehicle Types.    

The Pricing Plans can be selected from the drop down list when creating reservations.  These Plans may also be assigned to Customers as their default plans.  The Pricing Plans are most commonly used to reflect different rates in different markets or special events.

After the Pricing Plan has been added you can add the Hourly Rates, Point-to-Point Rates, Fixed Charge Items, Variable Fee Items and Taxes (if applicable).

HOURLY RATES - 

You will need to add the vehicle types that are used for the Pricing Plan by using the ADD HOURLY VEHICLE TYPE RATE option.  Select the Vehicle Type you are adding to the plan and enter the hourly rate and the minimum (If the add option is greyed out you have already added all vehicle types to the plan).  These rates and minimums can be changed in the reservation.    

POINT-TO-POINT RATES - 

These Point-to-Points will be created using the Zones that were created.  By creating these Point-to-Points the reservationist will know the rate between the two points when creating the reservation.  These Point-to-Points are also used to auto populate rates for your online bookers.  They are also used to provide prices to outside companies (Affiliates) sending reservations to you.  To add a new Point-to-Point rate use the ADD function.  NOTE:  If you want to copy Point-to-Points from an existing plan you can use the COPY PLAN RATES option (This feature allows you to copy all rates from one plan to another).  

In the ADD ZONE/POINT TO POINT PRICING window, select the Vehicle Type you are creating a price for.  Enter the Rate, Estimated hours and Flat/Total Charge option.  This is setting the rate that will be populated to the reservation when a matching pick up and drop off location are entered in the booking tab of the reservation.

You may also set a predefined amount to pay the driver, Affiliate and Contractor.  These rates will override any other pay rates you have set up for the drivers. 

Select the type of reservation this Point-to-Point applies to:  Arrival, Departure or Ground.  

Use the drop down lists to select the Zone or Airport for Pick Up location and for Drop Off or Airport.

You may also add specific items to be added to the Point-to-Point.  This may include specific TOLLS that you know will be charged for the selected routes.  If a TAX applies to any of these Additional Items check the option to the left of the item.  To select the applicable Tax use the option on the right to select which tax applies to these items.

FIXED CHARGE ITEMS -

These are charge items that either have a fixed rate and are added to reservations or if added with a value of 0 (zero) may be given a value in the reservation.  This might include items such as:  Additional Gratuity, Tolls, Cleaning Fees, etc.  By leaving the value as 0 (zero) it will appear in the reservation at booking and at billing but will not print on documents such as confirmations sent to the Customer until a value is added.  Each pricing Plan can have different Items and amounts.

If the item is payable to the Driver, select the option and enter a % to be paid to the driver when calculating the pay.

There are four options of how to use the item.  All four may be used:

Price is Fixed - Reservationist is not able to change the amount. This option is not commonly used.

Item is Quantifiable - Allows the reservationist to select how many of the items to add to the reservation.  Also allows an online booker to select a quantity and a driver, if allowed in following two options.

Driver can add - This allows the Driver to add the item at the end of the job as a cost to the reservation if they are using the FASTTRAK Driver APP.

Customer can add - This enables the customer to add the item when booking a reservation.  Might be an item such as Car Seat.

Select the Trip Type the Fixed charge applies to.  You may select all options if it is a fee that is applied to all reservation types.  If it is a charge that is only applied to arrivals, such as Airport parking, select only the option which it apples to.

VARIABLE FEE ITEMS-

These are variable (%) fees that are added to a reservation.  If the percentage is known you will enter it for the item.  If the percentage is not always known it can be left as 0 (zero) and an amount can be entered on the reservation.  If left as a 0 (zero) it will not show on documents sent to the Customer until an amount is entered.  These items are generally used for things such as Gratuity, Fuel Surcharge and any other item you would charge a percentage of the cost.  Each Pricing Plan can have different items and percentages.

If the item is payable to the Driver, select the option and enter a % to be paid to the driver when calculating the pay.

Use the Selection Options to select which base charges the variable is used to calculate.  You will also have the ability to select which Fixed Charge Items the variable is used to calculate.  NOTE:  If you later add a new Fixed Charge Item you will need to edit the Variable Charge Item to calculate on that new item, if applicable.

Select the Trip Type the Fixed charge applies to.  You may select all options if it is a fee that is applied to all reservation types.  If it is a charge that is only applied to arrivals, such as Airport parking, select only the option which it apples to.

TAXES -

These are Tax Items that may be added to reservations.  This only applies where local authorities allow or require taxes (VAT) to be added and collected on reservations.  If there is only one general tax that is added to all reservations you will only create one tax item.  Where there are multiple taxes or the tax rate may change based on where you are filling the reservation you will need to create multiple tax items.  These may all have different rates and apply to different items.  These Taxes are reportable items that later allow you to generate reports to obtain information over selected date ranges for various types of taxes and the amounts.  NOTE:  While these are called taxes they may be used for other variable fees that you would want to charge on all items including variables you have entered in the Variable Fee Items section.  Each Pricing Plan can have different tax items with different amounts.  This would commonly be used when you have Price Plans that may be for different service areas.

Use the ADD TAX ITEM on the TAXES tab in the Pricing Plan to add a NEW Tax.

Select the items the tax applies to and the Trip Types.  If it applies to all trip types (Arrival, Departure and Ground) select all three options.  NOTE:  If you later add additional Fixed Charge Items or Variable Fee Items you will need to edit the tax to be charged on those items.

Add the Tax rates by using the option in lower right.  You may create multiple Tax Rates in this section which can then be selected in the reservation based on which tax needs to be applied.  Enter the rate.  The location and code are for your purposes only to provide better reporting.  The Customer only sees the Description name of the Tax Item.

NOTE:  If you have a single Tax Item that is applied to ALL reservations refer to the setting in GLOBAL SETTINGS on the reservations tab to always select.