What are Driver Events?
Driver Events are live updates sent to customers during their trip alerting them to the current status of the driver in relation to the Pick Up.
Most importantly: * driver has set off to pick the customer up *driver is at the agreed pickup point *driver has dropped the customer off.
Customers have visibility of the driver events via our Booking.com Companion:
There are five types of events that we receive from our Booking.com driver app or from your own driver app via API:
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All events requested should be registered when the car is not moving. Please ensure drivers are not using their phones whilst driving.
Please note that Driver Events is different from Driver Assignment: we expect all our suppliers to assign a driver to the ride at any time before pickup time either on your Portal or via your API integration. Driver Events are triggered by the driver using either the Booking.com Driver App or your own driver app . You must always Assign a Driver to every ride before the pick up time.
Why are Driver Events important?
Driver Events are proven to have a positive impact on customer experience as the customer is more aware of where their driver is and so lowers anxiety of a driver no-show.
Therefore, this will improve your Quality scores which will always be a key metric that Booking.com will evaluate partners on.
Providing this level of status information to customers is now industry standard and is an expected feature from travellers. This is why we are now asking all our suppliers to work towards supplying us with Driver Events for every ride allocated by Booking.com. Our aim is to have 100% of rides with Driver Events and so provide an even better service for our customers.
The benefits of sending Driver Events are not only for customers.
Providing Driver Events also helps in the event of a customer dispute, should a customer contact us to report their driver being late, or not showing up. We'll have all the information we need to resolve the matter without needing to contact you for evidence.
It is very important that Driver Events are provided with GPS logs (lat, long).
How can I send Driver Events for all Booking.com rides?
You can send us Driver Events in two ways - it is important you choose the best way that allows you to aim for 100% rides with Driver Events.
1) Via Booking.com Driver APP
If you do not have your own driver app, we would recommend your drivers use the Booking.com Driver App for all our rides.
You can do this, via our Partner Portal or API.
- Portal - You can create a driver, assign the ride to your driver using our Portal. Your drivers will be able to use our Booking.com Driver APP on their smartphone. Click here for a guide to get started, for Portal partners.
- API - If you are connected or want to connect to our API, you can still allow your drivers to use our Booking.com Driver APP on their smartphone. Click here for a guide to get started, for API partners.
2) Via your own Driver APP
If you have your own Driver App or use a 3rd Party Dispatcher App, we would suggest connecting via API to our Driver Events endpoint. This way the data you are already collecting from your drivers as to their journey status, will also be transferred to the customer. Click here for a guide to get started connecting your app Driver Events via API.
How can I know if my drivers are sending Driver Events?
We will send weekly email updates to all our partners alerting you to current levels of Driver Events usage. You can also track your level of Driver Events via the Reports section of the Partner Portal.
In the Overview tab you can check how many Driver Events we received from your drivers in the last four weeks.
If you are using our Booking.com APP, in the Driver Analysis tab you can check the app usage by driver in the last four weeks.
In the Rides tab you can check the driver tracking by each completed ride.
It is visible for each complete ride both when the driver clicked an event and the GPS logs. (if no GPS logs are there, please verify that your drivers have 'Location Services' active on their smartphone).
If your Drivers are using the Booking.com App, make sure they have all activated their account.
If you see your Driver name with below 'Resend Activation SMS', this means they have not activated the App. To have all your Drivers active, please follow this guide.
If you have your own Driver App and you are connected via API we would expect you will also be able to check on your system that your drivers are correctly using your Driver App and submitting events.
What happens if I do not send Driver Events?
We expect all Booking.com Partners to provide Driver Events. Having these Driver Events being visible to customers is an essential part of making sure all Booking.com customers recieve a high quality experience.
Alongside Price, Quality & Incident Rates - Driver Events is one of our key metrics for Partners being included in Booking.com campaigns that will lead to additional bookings. This includes the Genius loyalty program, Free Taxi and other campaigns that will require Driver Events to be included.
What happens if we are unable to send Driver Events?
If you have technical problems using our Driver APP (issues registering drivers, Driver App not working, driver cannot see the ride...) or via API, we ask you to contact us reporting them via our ticketing system. We also advise first to have a look at our guides in the help centre , you may find the solution.
If you have Operational Blockers to being able to send Driver Events, here are some possible solutions.
- I use external drivers, they do not want to use any APP: For this problem we do need to ask you to be strict with drivers and ensure they use the Booking.com Driver App or your own system. This should be a requirement to be considered as a driver for your rides coming from Booking.com.
- I do not want customers to call the driver: The preferred option is to give all customers the Driver number because this helps to solve pickup issues faster. However if this is a serious concern, we do have a way to mask the driver number to customers if requested. We can send to customers just your office number. Please contact us via the ticketing system to tell us about this problem and we will help.
- Sometimes I need to change driver last minute: No problem. You can change the driver according to your operational reasons as many times as you need to before pickup time. You can also change the driver if the flight is delayed. If you are using our Driver App, the booking will move between drivers depending on the allocation. If changes happen last minute before pickup, It is important to call the driver to inform them to check the Driver App. In general, we advise to make sure the driver is assigned in advance, up to one hour before pickup, to ensure the pickup is guaranteed for all our prebooked rides.
- I do not want drivers to know that the booking is from Booking.com: Our Booking.com Driver App is branded and is created to manage Booking.com rides only. Drivers need to be aware and understand the high standards that Booking.com expect and carry out the Rides in line our operational procedure with submitting Driver Events. Alternatively, we would recommend using your own branded driver app. There are several dispatch systems that offer to their clients a driver app that can then be connected to us via API and we can receive Driver Events that way.
- My drivers don't speak English: If you are using our Driver App, we are working to have it translated into more languages. The steps drivers need to make within the App are simple to understand so even though drivers may have limited English, the actions are always the same and so with repetition should not be a big issue once drivers are trained. You can use this guide to help them.
- We are provide pick ups from a Desk / have a host at the airport so, we cannot send events: If operationally you only assign drivers when customers check-in to your desk / host, we can accept only for airport pickups that the representative/ hosts actions the events at the airport on behalf of drivers when customer checks-in. This will give us proof that the customer is with you and has been picked up. We would still expect from your drivers the driver events for all non airport pickups using our app or your app.
If you have any other blocker that prevents you from sending us driver events, please let us know by contact us.