Booking Policies and Procedures

Enter Bookings:

Source of Bookings: Bookings can originate from various sources, such as:

• Agents
• Walk-in Customers (Boost)
• Existing Customers
• Referral Customers (Direct bookings made through the Makkah Office or CEO)

Forwarding the Bookings to the Booking Staff:

MT Booking Group is created for the purpose of forwarding the bookings to the booking staff. Please make sure that you have forwarded all the necessary information for the bookings mentioned in the booking checklist. While sharing the booking in the booking group, you need to make sure that no special rates are quoted to the customer/agent. If yes, then you need to inform the booking staff about the change of price and who allowed the discount. So, it is a matter of pertinent importance that while entering the booking price in the system, make sure that the price is according to our booking price, and if not then go through the agent previous chat and verify the booking price.

MT Booking Group: This is a WhatsApp group where all bookings must be initially posted, regardless of their source. Once a booking request is received in the group, the data entry staff available at that time should:

• Acknowledge the request.
• Verify the information provided using the booking checklist.
• Request additional details if needed, based on the checklist.
• Enter the booking into the portal using their personal login, and mark the status as "Pending."
• Generate the Kashaf for drivers (available in the portal).
• Inform the senior staff member on duty (such as the Customer Services Officer or anyone responsible for reviewing bookings) to check the booking and update the status from "Pending" to "Confirmed."

SOP for Bookings (for CSO)

Reference Clients Via Phone or WhatsApp:

1. Collect all information as per the booking checklist:

a. Customer Name:
Ensure that the name is written in the correct grammatical format, as shown below:

1. • MUHAMMAD TARIQ - Incorrect
   • muhammad tariq - Incorrect
   • Muhammad Tariq - Correct

b. Contact Number:
Always include the correct country code with the contact number. Ensure the number is on WhatsApp (if not, request the agent/customer to provide one). The WhatsApp number is crucial for pickups and other communications like reminders or time changes.

c. Alternate Contact Number:
An alternate contact number is important in case the primary number is unreachable.

d. Recent Photograph of Family/Group Head (For Arrivals):
Placards are not allowed at the airport, so the driver needs a recent photograph of the guest for recognition at the pickup spot.

e. Flight Details Including PNR and Itinerary (Ask for Air Ticket Photos):
Before entering flight details such as flight number, departure and arrival airports, flight arrival time, and terminal name, check the flight status online (don't rely on Google alone—use other websites too). If there is a discrepancy in the flight number, inform the agent/customer immediately and ask them to verify.

f. Pickup and Drop-Off Information:

i. Time, Date, and Location:
Ensure names are written correctly, as explained in the "Customer Name" section. Enter the correct pickup date and time, ensuring the AM/PM format is accurate. Mistakes, especially with 12am and 12pm, can cause major issues.

ii. Adjusting Pickup Time:

1. • Flight Arrival: Set the pickup time to match the flight arrival time.
   • Flight Departure: Guests may not know how long the drive takes or when they need to be at the airport. It’s your responsibility to inform them.
     • For international flights, guests should arrive at the airport 3 hours before departure. Calculate the drive time and add the 3-hour airport check-in time when scheduling the pickup. For example:
       • Makkah to Jeddah Airport: 2-hour drive + 3 hours at the airport = Pickup time 5 hours before flight departure.
       • Makkah to Madinah Airport: 5-hour drive + 3 hours at the airport + 1 extra hour for emergencies (e.g., roadblock) = Pickup time 8 hours before flight departure.
       • Madinah to Madinah Airport: 2-hour drive + 3 hours at the airport = Pickup time 4 hours before flight departure.

iii. Pickup Date for Airport Departure:
When setting the pickup time for flights departing early in the morning (e.g., 12am, 1am, or 2am), ensure you adjust for the correct pickup date, which might be the day before the flight departure. For such flights, guests will need to be picked up 5 to 9 hours before departure, resulting in a pickup date one day earlier than the flight departure date.

g. Booking Price:

A rate list is designed and usually shared with all our agents, you need to follow that rate list while entering the price of the booking. There are rates for individual trips of each vehicle, also there are some discounted rates for the round trip. Remember round trip discount is only valid if the booking for all the round trip is provided at the same time and the trip is according to the round trip mentioned in our rate list. If there is any variation in the trips, the round trip discount shall not be applicable. Sometimes a different booking price is offered to the customers/agents.

MT Confirm Booking:

This WhatsApp group is used for posting all the confirmed bookings before forwarding it to the agents and guests. A CSO will check the bookings using booking checklist, and change the status from Pending to confirm if there is no mistake. CSO is responsible to forward the booking voucher to the MT Confirmed Booking group as well as to the agent and customer. After confirming the booking status, the portal will give an option to download the voucher in PDF form. CSO will download the form and name it as per the given example below:

Transport Voucher Name Example: Shamim Khan BID, 85637, 85638, 85639.pdf

Forwarding the Voucher to the Agent and Customer:

All booking vouchers needs to be immediately forwarded to the agent and/or customer with exception to some customers (Some agents do not want us to send our voucher directly to the customer) a list of exceptions is always displayed on the notice board. The list keeps changing with new agents entering in our system, so always keep an eye on the list.

Protocol to send the confirmed booking voucher:

·        To the Agent:

Always use Agent’s WhatsApp to send the confirmed voucher to the agent

·        To the Customer:

Customer shall be sent a Welcome Note (available in the portal) and confirmed booking voucher from Helpline WhatsApp number. Along with the instructions how to connect with our driver. In case of Airport arrivals, a video for the specific airport and terminal needs to be sent with the voucher.