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Gift codes
Gift codes are short, most often single use, codes that can be entered by customers at the time of booking, acting as a fixed amount payment against the value of a booking. E.g. a 50 USD gift code would reduce the outstanding balance on a booking by 50 USD (or completely pay for a booking costing 50 USD or less).
Gift codes could be issued by staff in lieu of a refund or as a good will gesture.
- Gift codes do not apply to credit card or booking fees or local payments (cash)
- Gift codes are issued in a certain currency and can only be used on Channels with the same sale currency
- Gift codes are not currently able to be purchased directly and must be issued by your staff
Setup & use
Creating gift codes
Gift codes can be created via Configuration & Setup > Promo and gift codes in the same way as promo codes.
Additionally there is an interface for quickly creating a new gift code from an existing booking:
In the booking screen in the back office, under the Money is a link to Issue a new gift code. All that needs to be done is confirm the name for the gift code and the amount, the code wil be randomly generated 12 digit numbers and letters (excluding a few letters that can look ambiguous such as 0OI1) and displayed in the pinned note & audit trail. The code is not automatically emailed to the customer.
While it is possible to configure the same rules about which tours can or can't be purchased using a given gift card, the details of this should be clearly explained to the customer to avoid confusion. Where possible it would be preferable to allow a gift code to be used against any tour.
Adding gift codes to a booking
To enable promo / gift code entry via the customer booking engine head to Channel Manager > Step 3 - Customer information.
Staff can enter a gift code at the point of booking creation or afterwards via the Add Promo/gift code link under the Product tab on the booking edit screen.
Gift codes work in the same way and use the same API fields as promo codes. To build promo / gift code functionality into your API powered booking website/app:
- Show Promo - Check a gift code is valid for a given channel and find out if it requires a membership number
- Start New Booking - Pass a gift code when a booking is started to apply it to the booking
If you have already built an API integration that supports promo codes then you may find gift codes work with no further changes.
Redemption & reporting
TourCMS vouchers include details of any promo / gift code used.
When a gift code is used on a booking a new payment line will be added to the correct value. If the booking value is less than the value on the gift code then the remainder is effectively "lost", however staff can check the remainder in the payment "Note" and should just issue a new gift code if required.
