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Group Bookings ​

Group bookings are billable vehicle-hire trips for organisations. The organisation hires the vehicle for a group trip, enters the expected mileage from the vehicle home location, and sees a per-mile cost preview during booking.

Booking lifecycle ​

The diagram below shows what happens from creating the booking through to invoicing and payment, including notifications sent along the way. Click the diagram to zoom in.

Group booking lifecycle

The group booking lifecycle from creation through to payment.

Create a group booking ​

  1. Go to Bookings.
  2. Click New booking on the list or calendar view.
  3. Select Group as the booking type.
  4. Choose a Vehicle that allows group bookings, is marked Group hire eligible, and set the Schedule (date plus start and end times).
  5. In Group details, select the Organisation and enter the Expected mileage for the hire from the vehicle home location (shown side by side).
  6. Optionally select a Driver — a group member from that organisation when they drive themselves, or a staff driver when your staff will drive.
  7. Review the estimates bar (expected mileage, vehicle home, and estimated cost) as you enter mileage — use the info icon on estimated cost to see how it is calculated — then add optional Notes and save.

You can also create a group booking from the calendar by clicking or dragging on an empty time slot, then choosing Group before saving.

Group booking form with organisation and expected mileageAn example of creating a group booking with organisation and mileage details.

Organisation ​

An Organisation is required for every group booking, along with expected mileage. The organisation must have a paid subscription for the trip date (or an override). If that subscription later lapses, the booking warns that the organisation is not subscribed. When draft auto-cancel is on, the booking is cancelled in the same window as unfinished drafts, and the notice says The organisation is not subscribed.

  • When you save a valid booking with organisation, mileage, and a driver, the booking is Confirmed automatically.
  • Group bookings without a driver remain Draft until a group member from the organisation or a staff driver is selected.
  • Group bookings cannot be saved without an organisation or expected mileage.
  • Vehicle hire is billed to the organisation.

Organisations are managed under Settings → Organisations.

Driver selection ​

A Driver is optional when creating a group booking.

Choose either:

  • A Group member linked to the selected organisation when the group drives themselves, or
  • A Staff driver when your staff will drive the vehicle (for example when the organisation does not have its own driver).

If no driver is selected at booking time, the booking stays Draft until a driver is assigned. You can assign one later from the booking form or the Drivers schedule calendar.

If you save without a driver, a prompt says no staff driver is assigned and asks whether to email eligible staff drivers with accept and decline links. Group members are not emailed. A table lists the staff drivers who will receive the emails and when a request was already sent, so those people are not emailed again. Turn on I confirm that request emails will be sent, then choose Send request emails, or choose Save without sending. The same question appears on every save while no driver is selected, including after Save without sending. You can also send the emails from the missing-driver warning on the booking, or from the Options tab. Those use the same prompt: review the recipient table, confirm that emails will be sent, then choose Send request emails or Cancel.

Each send, skip, or “I am not available” reply is recorded on the booking Activity tab.

  • Group members linked to the organisation are managed under Operations → Members — see Managing Members.
  • Staff drivers are managed under Operations → Staff — see Managing Staff.

Eligibility ​

When a driver is selected, they can only be chosen if they are:

  • Signed off for driving
  • Licence-checked with a valid pass outcome
  • Licensed for the selected vehicle category (when a vehicle is chosen)
  • Training-complete, when your organisation requires driver training

Group members must belong to the selected organisation.

Ineligible members appear in the list but cannot be selected.

Driver overlap prevention ​

When a driver is selected, the same driver cannot be booked for overlapping trips across internal, open, one-to-one, driver own, or group bookings.

Vehicle overlap rules and booking buffers still apply in the usual way. See Managing Bookings.

Assign from the Drivers schedule calendar ​

On the booking calendar, switch to Staff:

  • Group bookings without a driver, or with a Staff driver, appear on the calendar.
  • Group bookings using an organisation's Group member do not appear — those trips are managed by the organisation, not your staff schedule.
  • Bookings without a staff driver appear on the Unassigned row.
  • Drag a group booking onto a driver's row to assign a Staff driver.
  • Drag back to Unassigned to remove a staff driver from the booking.

You can also set or change the driver from the booking form Group details tab.

Drivers schedule calendar with unassigned group bookingsAn example of assigning a staff driver from the Drivers schedule calendar.

Vehicle group-hire eligibility ​

Not every vehicle that allows the Group booking type can be used for group hire.

  • In Operations → Vehicles, enable Group hire eligible on vehicles that may be used for group bookings.
  • A vehicle must allow Group in its allowed booking types and be group-hire eligible to appear when creating a group booking.

Expected mileage and cost preview ​

Group bookings do not use a pickup and drop-off map.

  • The form shows the vehicle home location (from the vehicle record, or your team default) in the estimates bar below the form fields.
  • Enter the expected total mileage for the hire starting from that home location.
  • The estimates bar shows expected mileage, vehicle home, and estimated cost live as you enter mileage — use the info icon on Estimated cost to see how it is calculated.
  • Both values are stored on the booking when you save.

Final mileage is recorded on the booking after the trip. Invoicing is handled from the booking Options tab — see Mileage and Invoicing.

Edit or cancel a group booking ​

  1. Open the booking from the list or calendar.
  2. Use Details for the vehicle, schedule, and notes.
  3. Use Group details for the organisation, optional driver, expected mileage, and cost preview.
  4. To cancel the booking, open Options and click Cancel booking. The notice then shows who cancelled it. Other cancellation reasons are listed in Managing Bookings.

The booking type is fixed after creation and cannot be changed on the edit page.