OK Hivemind:
My ultimate GOAL is to sell a non-fixed seat package online that defaults to Best Seating as opposed to hunting for the same seats in every performance.
However, if I build a package and I do NOT select a mode, when I go online to test in our internet mode of sale, it's defaulting to a Flex-package setup, which I don't want. When I use the SAME mode of sale in the local environment, it's treating it like a Fixed seat package, which I do want. Any ideas why this might be happening?
Artie, is this TNEW or a custom site? And if TNEW, which version?
Cutting to the chase, TNEW v7 does not yet support Non-Flex Non-Fixed-Seat (NFS) packages, only flex NFS packages (and Fixed Seat Packages). However, since you mention defaulting to Best Seat, I wonder if you have a custom site, as TNEW does not currently (without customization) support SYOS on packages at all.
Hey Gawain, Sorry, should have mentioned. Right now we're on TNEW v6, upgrading to v7 in a couple of months.
So, sounds like my dream is in vain haha
Yes, I'm afraid so. Non-Flex NFS packages are on the roadmap for 2019, although not immediately:
https://www.tessituranetwork.com/en/Support/Roadmap/TNEW
In any event, I think I'm getting closer to understanding what you want: you want to basically say "choose this section for all performances", rather than having to choose for each, correct? Or do you want them to be able to identify specific seats for each show?
The main reason this isn't available is that NFS packages are designed to accommodate performances in different venues (as we do). Also, the interface has to account for the possibility that a section is not available for one or more of the performances.
It's possible that what you are looking for is a customization in any case.
Correct - we always know how many productions we'll be doing from year to year, but we don't always have the performance calendars in place until about two months before the production starts. Therefore, we sell subscriptions into a series of dummy performances with GA houses. Then, once the performance calendar is set and we open up sales, we have a customization where our subscribers go online and are able to "book their tickets" for the upcoming production. In reality, the customization is a hidden exchange from the dummy performance to a real performance of their choosing.
Because of this, seats don't matter at all - they choose their seats for each production on a show-by-show basis.
I've been building these "Dummy performance" packages for years as fixed-seat. However, next season is a large, 7-show season, and the seat server keeps timing out trying to find the same GA seat for all seven dummy perfs, some of which have been on sale for longer than others, making finding the same seats even more difficult, I'm sure.
Therefore, I thought I could try to build a non-fixed seat package that could fix this problem. But obviously this would only fix the problem in-house, not on TNEW.
Interesting. I might put in a ticket with TASK about seven shows overloading the seat server, that doesn't seem excessive. But we have had a similar, if less involved issue, which is that we used to sell a four show package of essentially a coupon book to be redeemed for specific shows later on, and we're having to rethink that now that we can't sell non-flex NFS packages online.