Find and neutralize:
7 mistakes when booking
a transfer

No matter where you book a transfer, there are some things that are true for most travel agents.

Situation: Tourists have 4 suitcases, and the travel agent has booked a Business-class transfer for them, but they want to place their baggage inside the car's cabin!

What to do: Always check the number of luggage pieces allowed for each of the car classes. For instance, Business class accommodates up to 3 suitcases and doesn't allow to transport them inside a car cabin. Keep in mind that on the way back, tourists often have even more belongings with them. Therefore, it makes sense to offer them a more spacious transfer.

Remember that you need to warn the Kiwitaxi support team about non-standard baggage and ski equipment in advance.

Situation: 4 adult tourists are traveling with a 1-year-old child. When choosing a transfer, the travel agent specifies only adult passengers.

What to do: A child is always counted as a passenger, no matter how old they are. Look how a selection of transfers can change depending on the number of passengers chosen:

Situation: The travel agent booked an Economy-class car for tourists with two small children.

What to do: If tourists are traveling with two children, each of which needs a child car seat, book a car class not smaller than a minivan. Note that in Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Egypt, and Sri Lanka, there are no child restraint laws. Thus, carriers may not have a large variety of child car seats. If your tourists need more than one child seat for transfers in these countries, contact the support team after making the booking.

Situation: The tourist had decided to stick around for breakfast at the hotel. Meanwhile, their transfer arrived.

What to do: Warn your tourists that the free waiting time at an airport or port is only 1,5 hours, and at a hotel or a railway station — 15 minutes. If a tourist doesn't inform us that they are going to be late, a driver leaves and an order gets canceled.

What to do: Even if you know resorts like the back of your hand, always check addresses before making a booking. This will help avoid extra payments and cancellations on the spot. In directories, some hotels' information contains the nearest city/town, although, in fact, they are located in small surrounding suburbs. Check the map and ask hotel staff for an exact address.

If you need to specify two drop-off addresses (for instance, passengers go to different hotels), don't enter both of them in one field. Contact the support team or book the service of an additional stop.

What to do: If you need a transfer from an airport, specify the flight arrival time, not the flight departure time. Remember that the free waiting time is 1,5 hours after the flight's arrival time. If a tourist wants to stick around in duty-free shops, contact the support team and postpone the pick-up.

Make sure your tourist has studied the voucher and understood the trip details.

If you need a transfer from a hotel, specify the pick-up time at a hotel, not the flight departure time. Remember that different airlines have different check-in time limits. On average, it's 40 minutes before a flight. It's better to arrive at an airport 2 hours before the departure of a domestic flight and 3 hours before the departure of an international flight.

Situation: The travel agent specified only their phone number in the booking.

What to do: First of all, we need a tourist's phone number. If your travel agency has a phone number available 24/7, specify it too.

• If you're booking a Kiwitaxi transfer, tell your clients the number of our support team. If any problems arise, they should call us first. Thus, we'll be able to solve these problems faster.

• Check the flight number. Sometimes, travel agents mistakenly specify a connecting or return flight.
  
  
• If your tourists need to be met at a railway station or in a seaport, specify the number of a train and a carriage, and in the case of a ship — its name and route.
  
  
• Check your email regularly and read emails about order workflow carefully.
  
  
• For any urgent questions, call our support team.
  
  
• Check the payment method. If you've chosen the payment on the spot, tell your tourist how much money they need to prepare. The amount and currency of an additional payment are specified in a tourist's voucher.
  
  
• A tourist may book an additional service provided by the driver on the spot. For instance, the second hour of waiting due to losing baggage and being stuck at an airport. In this case, a tourist pays for a service in cash to the driver. The payment is made in the currency specified in a voucher for the main order.

We at Kiwitaxi try to prevent mistakes and teach our partners how to make a booking correctly. However, it's impossible to avoid mistakes completely. That's why our cool specialists are there for you: