Updates to our booking and ticketing system
An update on changes to our booking and ticketing system
Updated: 25 April 2024
Over the next week, we'll be sending an update on our eBooking system direct to homes in the communities we serve, detailing the changes and enhancements we've recently made to the platform, and those we're working towards implementing in the near future.
Many of these changes and enhancements are done in tandem with feedback from our colleagues, customers, and stakeholders and we'll continue to keep you updated and find ways to hear and continue to improve your experience of booking travel with us.
Updated: Friday 15 March 2024
This week, while our ticketing and eBooking platform underwent essential maintenance, we installed some further enhancements. We've shared the details below on those which are relevant to our customers' experience of the platform.
These changes are active from 15 March 2024 and are in addition to updates carried out to the back end of the system and alterations made to support front line colleagues.
We'll make sure we keep you informed via our website of the next set of enhancements. We'll also share this with local community groups and our community board.
Thursday 14 March
Improving and making system messaging clearer
All labels on the system will now show when 'check-in closes' to avoid confusion and help ensure customers arrive on time for their sailing.
Improving how port and island names are displayed
The system and eTickets will now show both the port name and the island name for each destination. For example, Port Ellen (Islay), Brodick (Arran) or Castlebay (Barra).
Saving your routes to your customer account
Customers who have a customer account can now save any route within an account, making booking or rebooking the same route again an easier process.
Registering / saving a blue badge to your customer account
This can now be done on your online account once - and then saved for future bookings, meaning you don't have to re-enter the details each time.
Purchasing a return for all Canna sailings
We have fixed an issue which had meant that it had not been possible to book any sailing to/from Canna online - since some sailings had not been bookable in this way. This has now been resolved.
Removing a vehicle from a multi-island booking
It's now possible to remove a vehicle from a multi-island booking and for the system to calculate your refund. You will be automatically refunded and in line with card companies' and standard banking processes, this will be within a maximum of ten working days, but usually sooner.
Tuesday 20 February
Sailing showing correct availability when weight limit is reached
We've implemented a fix into the system which means that when the weight limit for a sailing has been reached, the eBooking platform will accurately display that there's no further availability.
Making a booking on your customer account, after clicking browser's back button
Customers are now able to make a booking after clicking the browser's back button.
Sailing showing correct availability when cars are fully booked
A partial fix has been made to the system in the latest release which has ensured that a sailing will show as unavailable to customers wishing to travel with a vehicle when cars are fully booked for that particular crossing.
Customers will not be able to select this crossing in this instance. In the near future, we hope to implement a further fix to ensure the system displays 'high availability', 'medium' and 'low' availability correctly.
Friday 2 February
Customer bookings affected by loss of connection
We have identified an issue where some customer bookings were not completed due to a drop in connectivity during the booking and payment process with WorldPay.
In response, we've implemented a fix into the system which ensures if this were to happen again, the booking will be automatically identified and completed, and customers would receive confirmation of their booking within 60-70 minutes. (Usually, out with this scenario, customers will receive their booking confirmations immediately).
We're working to add on- screen messaging to the system to support customers. And our teams will be able to check bookings for customers, should that be required.
Same day bookings for Turn Up and Go routes
We very recently became aware of an error on the platform where those making bookings on Turn Up and Go routes for same day travel were presented with an error message. This has now been fixed within the latest system update.
Tuesday 16 January
Advanced Passenger Information on non-API routes
Customers will no longer be required to enter this information online when travelling on shorter sailings (under 20 nautical miles). Only the lead passenger will be required to provide basic information, while additional passengers will only be required to provide basic information such as concession and care details.
Changes to booking confirmations
Booking confirmations will no longer include personal details such as date of birth. Instead, this will detail the route and ticket type you've purchased or made a reservation for.
Changes to customer accounts, nationality field
When logging into your customer account, or using a guest account, you'll be prompted to add details to a new 'nationality' field. This information is required for lead passengers and travel companions on all 'Advanced Passenger Information' routes. These are voyages longer than 20 miles, for which we're required to collect passenger details.
Multi-journey reservations
On multi-journey reservations, you'll now be able to enter your details before selecting your routes, consistent with the single and return bookings process.
Double debiting of subscription tickets
We have fixed an issue around the scanning of subscription tickets purchased at the port or vessel with a credit/debit card, ensuring the system will now take off the correct amount of journeys for the customer.
Password reveal button
If you need to reset your password on your customer account, we've implemented a further fix to make sure that the password reveal button is now displayed on the relevant password reset screen to make the process easier.
Thursday 12 October
Improvements to on screen messaging
Customers will now experience a better process when activating their accounts. This latest round of enhancements has allowed us to add more prompts on screen to guide you.
Booking bike racks and towing products
The process for adding a bike rack, caravan or selecting a car towing product to your booking has also changed. To help avoid confusion, these can now only be selected after a vehicle has been added to your reservation.
Pet ticket inaccuracies
An issue where additional pet bookings were inaccurately added to customer bookings has been resolved. For example, when a customer adds two pets to their booking, the booking will reflect two pets only and not four (as previously experienced).
Error messaging
Error messages relating to the validity of telephone prefixes on some customer accounts have been resolved. This means that those customers with accounts which encountered this message will be able to complete bookings uninterrupted.
Monday 18 September
Clone bookings / Block bookings
The latest update to the system will mean that commercial customers will have their block bookings, now referred to within the new system as 'clone bookings', confirmed via our port teams, with full details displayed in Microsoft Excel documents.
Monday 11 September
Modified bookings not scanning
Where customers have a booking for a bookable route, and they wish to travel on an earlier sailing - it's now possible for us to scan tickets for customers to move them to an earlier sailing, where there is availability. The customer's booking, their account and record of the booking will be automatically updated as a result.
Gourock-Kilcreggan 10 journey ticketing
Customers can now purchase 10 journey tickets for this route online, or through our Customer Engagement Centre and on board the vessel.
'My account' access
A time zone issue, where some users were not able to log into their account for a period at midnight GMT has now been resolved, meaning customers can always have access to their online account.
Vehicle registrations and look up
The system has been updated to accept spaces in the vehicle registration field during the booking process, meaning both formats with and without a space will activate the vehicle registration look up process to auto populate your vehicle details.
Duplicate vehicles showing in customer accounts
The issue which had previously caused some customers to see two or more versions of the same vehicle appear in their account has now been resolved.
Online booking process changes
The following changes to the online booking process have been put in place to improve customers' experience:
When a user is using dark mode on their device, any white backgrounds will have contrasting coloured text instead of white text.
We have added a password reveal icon which is now visible when inputting your password.
You will also be able to add certain special characters as '_' and '!' into your password when registering for an account. This will resolve the issue we had when the register button did not allow customers to progress with registering for an account when using special characters within your password.
Friday 11 August
Failed bookings notification
The system has been updated to show a pop-up message, which gives clearer guidance on what to do if your booking fails due to a timeout when there's been no interaction with the booking page. Should this occur, you'll be prompted to seek support from our Customer Engagement Centre.
Livestock trailer products
We have improved the system to make it easier to book both high and low livestock trailers when full or empty.
Credit account customer invoicing
We've also updated the system to fix booking holder details as well as VAT calculation and invoice calculations for customers with credit accounts.