You can create a better boarding experience for your passengers, reduce wait times and lower your operation costs at the same time with easy-to-use, professional ticketing software that saves time and money.
Train reservation ticket software benefits:
- Create an entire season of dates and times with a single click
- Offer unlimited types of coupon discounts and track results
- Use barcode scanning to quickly get passenger onto trains and improve their experience
- The best of both worlds: online and convenient ticket purchases and a full fledged box office
- Divide the rail cars into tiered seating options at varied prices to maximize profits
Better Boarding With Barcodes
When Amtrak announced it was abandoning the policy of punching holes in tickets and adopting a new barcode scanning processes, many saw it as a game changer for the rail industry and they were applauded for bringing its service into the modern age. At the time, an Amtrak spokesperson described the primary benefit to passengers:
You don’t even need to print the document and bring it with you,” said Matt Hardison, chief of sales distribution at Amtrak, who helped plan the iPhone program.
Why did they make a decades long change? Because Amtrak knew passengers would spend less time waiting to board resulting in happier customers and a reduced costs. Small, independent rail lines can take advantage of these same processes to lower their own costs and make great first impressions with satisfied customers.
ThunderTix uses handheld barcode scanners available as iOS and Android apps or one of our other wired and wireless options. Making use of barcode scanners for tickets and passenger manifests isn't just for cost reduction, however. The overall passenger experience is greatly improved since the same technology powering the barcode scanners also enables online reservations available at the consumer’s convenience.
Sightseeing by rail is just one of the activities vacationing families take. While making reservations for airfare and hotel stays, families will often book fun activities at the same time all in a single session. Knowing this, the savvy train tour operator will make their service available online via their website or on a third party's website such as Viator, one of the ThunderTix partners. Last minute, impulsive purchases at the physical train station will always be a revenue generator, but online purchasing is simply a must for today's businesses.
Best Bet For Bookings
An even greater benefit of train ticketing software is the ability to divide up the rail cars into seating sections, each with different pricing based on the passengers experience. Nearly all trains have a class division (first and coach) but there are much more sophisticated ways to monetize the experience than the old two-class system.
For example, if a scenic train tour runs along the coastline of an ocean or river, the view on one side of the train is much more vivid than the other, depending on the direction traveled. While presenting the reservation process to passengers online, a train operator can set seat prices higher on the side of the train that is nearest the water. It is a function of train reservation software to be able to switch this tiered pricing back and forth, for every north/south departure. This may seem complicated, but in actuality the train operator need only configure the software once, then let the software handle the tiered pricing automatically for the rest of the season.
If the train route cannot take advantage of this type of pricing, you can offer different seating amenities. Seating in more luxurious cars may get higher prices, while large groups and families can choose seating in coach. Reservation software should offer large groups a discount if they purchase in bulk, during a single online reservation session (that includes travel agents too).
ThunderTix Train Reservation Software
ThunderTix train reservation software supports handheld barcode scanners that make passenger boarding vastly more efficient. Our technology is an industry leader in barcode ticket printing, scanning and we lease and sell the handheld scanners too.
When you make ThunderTix your choice for reservation software, you get the peace of mind of an automatically generated passenger manifest so your operators know exactly who is on board, in compliance with Federal law.
Also, as an option, we can create an interactive seating chart for each of your rail cars that allows you to assign premium pricing as you see fit. The seating charts are presented to your customers as they make their online reservations allowing them to pick the seats that will create the best experience. We also have the tools for group reservations to get a discount, if high volume sales is your goal.
Interested in learning just how easy it is to implement modern train reservation software into your business? Be sure to take a look at our other features and sign up for a free trial today!