Frequently Asked Questions

• Do I need a web site in order to have a reservation system?
• How do wait-lists work?
• How does the Late-Cancellation report work?
• Our boats are reserved in two hour blocks. How do we configure the system for that?
• How do I create System Policy and News pages?
• How does the data export feature work?
• How do I manage instructors in my aircraft or boat reservation system?
• How can I link my reservation system to my web site?
• How can I let the general public see availability information from my reservation system?
• Can I include pictures of the resources?
• How can my reservation system pay for itself?
• Is there a charge for each reservation?
• How many users can I add to my system?
• Why do bookmarks not work?

Do I need a web site in order to have a reservation system?

No. All you need is access to the Internet to use your reservation system. However, if you already have or will have a web site for your organization, it is easy to link your site with your reservation system for the convenience of your group members.

How do wait-lists work?

When a resource you would like to reserve is already reserved by another person, you are given the opportunity (on the reservations detail page), to be put on a waiting list for that reservation. If and when the owner of that reservation cancels it there are two possible actions depending on how the system is configured. Either the system assigns the reservation to the first person on the waiting list who does not have a conflicting reservation and the person who gets the reservation is sent an e-mail confirmation, or all people on the waiting list are notified by e-mail of the new availability and the waiting list is erased. Any number of people may put themselves on a waiting list and you can see the number of people already on any particular waiting list before adding yourself to the list. The My Reservations report displays all the waiting list requests you have created.

How does the Late-Cancellation report work?

A record of each canceled reservation is recorded with the date and time it was canceled. When you run the report you need to specify two dates and the number of hours before a reserved time that your organization considers a cancellation to be late. The report will show all canceled reservations between and including the two dates plus the number of hours between the reserved time and the time the cancellation was made. This allows you to enforce your policy (if any) on late cancellations.

Our boats are reserved in two hour blocks. How do we configure the system for that?

For two-hour blocks beginning at 7am and through 7pm you can configure your entire system to display this list of hours for reservations: 7am, 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm. Each reservation will be for two hours.

For three-hour blocks starting at 6am through 6pm enable the following hours: 6am, 9am, 12n, 3pm.

For 1.5 hour flight school lession times, where the aircraft must be back 1/2 hour before the next lesson for refueling, configure for two hour blocks and set a policy that aircraft must be returned 1/2 hour before the end of the reserved time.

How do I create System Policy and News & Announcements pages?

As a manager of your system you or anyone you give "super-user" privileges to may edit your system's policy page or announcements page. Normal users will simply see the information you enter however you and other "super-users" will be shown an editor immediately below the screen regular users see. You may use this editor to enter your policy statement or news on the appropriate page. You may use simple HTML formatting "tags" to center text, or format text as bold or italic, or change the font, color, or size.

How does the data export feature work?

On request we will send you a Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/VISTA compatible program which allows you to download data from your reservation system. The data is retrieved in a format suitable for import into Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, dBASE, and numerous other applications and databases. You can use the data to analyze usage patterns, utilization, import into an accounting program, or whatever you want. To run the utility you must have Windows 98 or newer.

How do I manage instructors in my aircraft reservation system?

The most practical and flexible method to deal with instructors, students, and plane reservations is to have the instructors book planes for their students. Many FBOs and less formal flight schools have instructors who have non-standard schedules. In such situations the instructors can stay in control of what hours and days they are available. Having the instructor reserve the plane eliminates the problem of reserving a plane but then not being able to "reserve" the instructor for the same time or visa versa.

How can I link the reservation system to my web site?

It is very simple to put a link to your reservation system on your web site. When you sign up for a system you will be given the address to the standard system login page. All you have to do is place one or more links to that page anywhere you like on your web site. Full instructions for doing this will be included in the materials you receive after signing up. On request you can also receive instructions for creating your own login page or embedding the login prompts in a page on your web site.

How can I let the general public see availability information from my reservation system?

You may now put link to a read-only view of your reservation system on your web site. On request this feature will be enabled at no extra cost. Anyone clicking on that link on your web page will be able to view the availability of any of your resources. They will not be able to make on-line reservations. Your reservations telephone number and/or e-mail address will be displayed so that they can contact you with reservation inquiries and requests.

Can I include pictures of the resources?

Yes. You may upload a picture of each resource you create on your system. The picture is displayed whenever a user clicks on a resource ID link and is displayed along with any other detail information you have provided for that resource. You may upload and associate a picture with a resource only after you have created that resource on your reservation system.

How can the reservation system pay for itself?

If you are in the business of renting airplanes, boats, or cars, using the U-Reserve-It.Com reservation system can maximize the number of rental hours for your fleet because it is available 24 hours a day and everyone may use it at the same time. With typical telephone based systems only one person can be helped at a time. For a three plane FBO all it takes is one additional rental hour per month at $52/hour to pay for your U-Reserve-It.Com system. Typically the cost breaks down to about 50 cents a day for each reservable resource. Adding such a small cost to rentals can easily pay for the system.

Is there a charge for each reservation?

No. The reservation system fees are based on the number of reservable resources you make available to be reserved. Thus your users can make as many reservations as they like and your cost will still be the same flat fee.

How many users can I add to the system?

There is no practical limit to the number of users you may authorize to use your system. If you have a new system and you have many users to add, you can arrange for assistance from the U-Reserve-It.Com staff.

Why do bookmarks to reservation system pages not work?

Bookmarks save the address of the current page and theoretically allow you to easily return to that page. However with sites like U-Reserve-It.Com which are password protected, the bookmark does not and cannot save the additional information which is required by the system to log you into your system. U-Reserve-It.Com will not show pages unless it knows who the user is and that user has properly and recently logged into the system. Thus using a bookmark to return to U-Reserve-It.Com reservation system pages will result in error messages.

Top