Most sharing arrangements quickly find they need some kind of reservation system so that people can easily see who and when partners are using the shared asset. If they have an arrangement where free time can be booked on a first come basis, then they need the system to enable them to make the reservation too. Ideally this should all be on-line so everyone can access it.
Over the last couple of months several on-line reservation systems have come to my attention, so I thought I’d let you know about the three that look the most interesting.
The first is My Reservations which has been created by Bill Hosie, a yours2share member. Bill has shares in both a light aircraft and a boat, so he has a good understanding of the requirements. The system can either be slotted into your own website (many syndicates have a website about their boat, plane etc) or can be a standalone system hosted by My Reservations. I’ve had a play with the demo and for £45 a year, this gives you all the basic functionality you need for a straightforward syndicate, and it’s very easy to use.
Then I stumbled upon Divvy which is free to use and appears to allow lots of flexibility and sophistication. You can manage reservations on multiple items, and can take payment with reservations. I’ve also had a play with Divvy and set up a reservation system for a client who wanted a system to handle booking at several cottages. Because it is so flexible, it is a bit harder to understand and for a straightforward syndicate, could be overkill, and a bit frustrating if your computer skills aren’t too great.
Finally I heard some good reports about Booking Bug so I had a look. This looks like the most sophisticated system of all and costs the most at £10/month for the basic package. This looks like it has all the functionality of Divvy and more, but has a simpler user interface. I haven’t played with the system, but what I could see of the website looked straightforward. As well as the basic package which would suit a private syndicate, there are business packages suitable for a whole range of booking and reservation requirements.
There are also several more booking systems designed specifically for sharing aircraft and I’m sure lots more for the hotel and bed and breakfast/holiday lettings market, but these three are some of the best I’ve seen that would work for a wide range of private syndicates sharing many asset types.
If you’ve used any other system and have views, good or bad, please let me know, by commenting below.