Creating a Reservation

Watch the video below or read the following article with screenshots to learn how to make a reservation from the dashboard.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH Dashboard- Making a Reservation (2:59)

Creating a Reservation

Reservations within the Good Sam Booking platform can be added from the Reservations tab in your Manager account or from the dashboard. This will be the process that you will use if you're taking over the phone or in person bookings. Start by clicking the orange "Make Reservation" button at the top of the dashboard.

Step 1: Dates & Equipment

At this step of the reservation, you will enter in the requested dates in which the camper is wanting to book a site. 

*Note: You do not have to enter in the adults, children and vehicles at this step; however, you will need to select the Site/Lodging Kind at the bottom. If you select RV, you will need to put in the rig information so that the system will display the appropriate sites. Click the "Search Sites" button to proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Select a Site

Step two in the reservation process will allow you to select from a list of all sites that are currently available for the date range and RV length you selected. 

*Note: If your site length is 35 ft and you entered in a 40 ft RV, this site will not show as available to book. Similarly, if the guest has requested a site with Passenger Side and Driver Side Slides, only sites that can accommodate BOTH slides will appear.

In order to move to step three, you will click on "select" for the site you'd like to book. If you have group bookings enabled, you can add multiple sites onto one reservation. See a full demonstration of how to make group bookings here.

Step 3: Camper Information

In step 3, you will collect more information about the guest. 

If this customer has stayed in your park before, you can search for their account in the "Account" bar at the top. Note that customer accounts are associated with their email, so we suggest recording emails so that you can easily select the correct account. Once you select the appropriate customer, the information associated with their account will be automatically linked to the reservation.

If you are making a reservation for a new customer, you will need to take at minimum their first and last name. Within your settings under "Reservations," you have the option to enable "Lite Reservations," which will only make the name of the guest a required field. Some campgrounds prefer to make all of the camper information mandatory (Name, Phone Number, Email Address, & Billing Address), but other parks like to be able to make reservations quickly and without having to collect info from every field. 

If you have the Good Sam validator configured, then you also have the option to type in the customer's Good Sam Membership ID on this step. If their Good Sam ID is valid, then you will be able to proceed to the next step. If their ID is not valid, then an error message will pop up and you will not be able to proceed to the next step.

After you've entered the camper information, you will have the option to add in any private or public notes to the reservation. Public notes will be printed on guests' invoices and emails, while private notes are viewable only to campground employees.

Once you click "Save & Continue" on this page, this will create a reservation hold (meaning the reservation is now on the calendar, but the guest has not been emailed and no payment has been collected). If you exit out of this view prior to selecting "save and continue", your reservation will not be saved.

Step 4: Payment

In step 4 of the reservation flow, you will have the ability to accept payment, apply any relevant discount options or inventory items, and send a confirmation email to the guest. To send a confirmation to the guest, click the orange "Finalize & Send Confirmation(s)" button at the bottom of the Reservation Summary. The reservation has already been made and will appear on your dashboard; you do not need to click this button unless you would like to send out the email confirmation.

Below the Reservation Summary will be the full invoice - this is where you will add any extra inventory items or discounts.

To add an Inventory Item to a reservation, click "Add An Item", and type in the search box the desired add-on. All inventory items must be previously entered into the "Inventory" to be selected here - for information on how to create an inventory item, click here.

To add a discount, you will need to have previously entered in your discounts under settings. You can then select any of your pre-entered discounts by clicking the "add discount" in the lower right hand corner. For information about how to create a discount, click here.

Within the payment tab, you will be able to charge the full amount (or deposit) in whatever payment type you prefer. 

*Note: The "Credit Card" payment type refers to Stripe, while "Taken Off-Line" will be used for any non-Stripe, physical card terminal the campground may have on hand.