This document applies ONLY to prospects / customers self-scheduling Discovery or Introductory Flights from a link on your organization's web site. This is not the process by which staff create a reservation for a Discovery or Introductory Flight customer. To see that process, please watch the quick Schedule & Process a Discovery Flight e-learning.

Discovery Flight Scheduler

Through a link from the subscriber's home page, the Discovery Flight Scheduler (DFS) provides the ability for prospective customers to go through an automated process to reserve an aircraft and an instructor for a Discovery or Introductory Flight.  

If you sell gift certificates online, you may optionally include a link to the Discovery Flight Scheduler on the gift certificates. For more information, please see Gift Certificates Overview.

During this process, personal information is obtained and a customer record is created in your MyFBO system. The customer receives confirmation of the reservation, as do the instructor and the main contact person for the system.

How It Works

The Discovery Flight Scheduler begins from a link on the subscriber's home page (see Linking with MyFBO).  After clicking on that link, the prospective customer is guided through the following steps:

1. The prospect is asked to enter his or her name and e-mail address.  

   Name and E-mail Entry
   

2. The DFS sends a four-digit verification code to the e-mail address entered.

   E-mail Verification
   

   E-mail with Code
   

3. The prospect enters the verification code from the e-mail.  This assures that there will be a working e-mail address on file.
4. The prospect is asked to enter additional personal information -- address, city, state, postal code, country, daytime phone, and home phone.  Address, city, state, and daytime phone are required entries -- the DFS will not continue if these fields are blank.

   Additional Information Entry
   

5. The DFS creates a customer record in the subscriber's database using the information collected.  The notes field includes "Discovery Flight" and the current date.
6. The prospect is asked to select a date for their Discovery Flight.  The dates begin with tomorrow or as restricted by the subscriber's normal reservation time parameters.

   Date Selection
   

7. The DFS determines available times on the selected date.  Available times are based on:
   • The aircraft and instructors available for Discovery Flights as noted in their Resource records.
   • The subscriber's hours of operation.
   • The times of sunrise and sunset.  (The earliest Discovery Flight time is at least one hour after sunrise.  The latest time is at least one hour before sunset.)
   • Additional limits set in the subscriber's Discovery Flight Parameters.
   • Available times are on the hour only -- no half hour start times are included for simplicity.
8. The prospect is asked to select from the available times.  (If no times are available, the DFS returns to step 6 and asks the prospect to select another date.)

   Time Selection
   

9. A reservation is made for a randomly-selected aircraft and instructor.  The reservation duration is based on the subscriber's Discovery Flight Parameters.  The reservation remarks field includes "Discovery Flight." A page is displayed confirming the reservation.

   Scheduling Confirmation
   

10. An e-mail is sent to the prospect confirming the reservation.  Copies are sent to the subscriber and to the instructor (if instructor has an e-mail address in their resource record).

    Scheduling Confirmation E-mail
    

11. As one of the Discovery Flight Parameters, a subscriber may allow newly-established Discovery Flight customers to log in to the online system with read-only access.  Some subscribers may wish to allow this as an additional "selling point" for their organization. If this parameter is enabled, the customer's password is "reset" and notification that this access is available is included in the confirming e-mail and confirmation page. 

Note: Since individuals using the Discovery Flight Scheduler from the link on your web site are most likely potential students, we recommend also confirming the reservation by phone so you can answer any questions that the individual may have prior to their flight. 

Enabling the Discovery Flight Scheduler

Your System Administrator can enable Discovery Flights in the Reservation Type Parameters from the Admin Tab / Parameters & Settings menu.

In addition to the parameter that enables the Discovery Flights, the Administrator must enter a few parameters that define how the Discovery Flight Scheduler (DFS) will function -- what a Discovery Flight is called at your organization, whether to reserve a half-hour or an hour, etc.  For additional information on setting these parameters, please see Discovery Flights.

The aircraft and instructors to be used by the Discovery Flight Scheduler must also be identified. This is easily accomplished using the Change ALL Resource option from the Manage Tab / Resource Management menu. In Aircraft Usage Allowed and Staff Usage Allowed, Discovery must be set to YES for the resources to be included for use by the Discovery Flight Scheduler. The actual aircraft and instructors reserved are selected randomly from those available at the flight time the prospective customer prefers.

05/31/11 cli