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Boat handout process

Assign boats to customers throughout the day. The flexible assignment system tracks your fleet and keeps planning optimal.

How assignment works​

When bookings are about to start (approximately 30 minutes before departure), you can assign specific boats to customers. This creates a clear connection between the booking and the physical boat being used.

Method 1: Fleet overview (primary)​

  1. Go to planning overview, then open the Fleet view
  2. Click Start next to any available boat
  3. Select the booking from the popup list
  4. Click "Start trip" to begin

This method efficiently assigns boats based on what's physically available. It's typically used by dock hosts managing multiple departures.

Method 2: From booking details​

Use this when customers arrive and you want to look up their specific booking first:

  1. Open the booking from the Bookings overview
  2. Look for the Trip section showing "Ready to start"
  3. Click "Claim a boat" to see available boats
  4. Select the boat from the dropdown list
  5. Click Start trip when customer departs

Managing active trips​

Once boats are assigned and trips are running, you have several control options:

From booking details​

  • Trip timeline: See complete history of boat assignments, switches, and trip events
  • Switch boat: Change to a different boat if needed during the trip
  • Pause trip: Temporarily pause for lunch breaks, fuel stops, or other interruptions
  • End trip: Complete the rental and release the boat

From fleet overview​

  • Stop button: End any active trip directly from the fleet view
  • Status monitoring: See which boats are in use, available, along with which booking is assigned to each boat and expected return times

Connected fleet features​

If your boats have hardware connections:

  • Remote engine control: Start and stop boat engines directly from the system
  • Customer self-service: Customers can manage trips on their phone. They can start within the allowed time window, pause during the rental (for lunch breaks or fuel stops), and end their trip to release the boat

Planning philosophy​

Why flexible boat assignments work

Let's Book uses a two-tier planning system that maximizes your booking capacity:

Boat models vs. individual boats: Customers book boat types (e.g., "Speedboat 6p") rather than specific boats (e.g., "Speedboat 6p #3"). This means you can:

  • Accept more bookings by not locking boats too early
  • Handle maintenance or issues without affecting customer bookings
  • Optimize your schedule without gaps caused by pre-assigned boats
  • Make last-minute boat switches seamlessly

You only assign the specific physical boat when the trip is about to start, giving you maximum flexibility while maintaining full operational control.

This system balances operational efficiency with planning flexibility, letting you run a tight operation while keeping customers happy with reliable boat availability.