Subscriptions

Subscriptions allows for the grouping of any of the productions within the system. This grouping can then be named and tickets sold to pre-determined performances with different pricing reflecting the number of different productions subscribed to.

Vouchers can also be sold which can then be redeemed for products such as programmes that are yet to be printed, or services provided by the organisation.

Before a season can be set up, a number of preliminary steps must be carried out. Use the following as a checklist:

• The venue seating plan must be defined or updated for the new season. See Defining a Venue.
• Book types must be defined for season tickets. Setting up book types for a season also requires that decisions be made about how season tickets will be discounted. See Book Types in Setting Up Sales.
• Products such as programmes and other merchandise that will be sold with a subscription must be defined. See Listing Products For Sale in Setting Up Sales.
• Productions and performances for the season must already be defined. See Defining a Production.

Once this information has been set up, the season can be defined. The steps to define a season are:

• Creating a New Season
• Defining Season Ticket Prices
• Adding Fees, Products and Vouchers to a Season
• Adding Productions and Performances to the Season
• Holding and Releasing Seats

Once the season has been set up, subscriptions can be processed as described in Booking a Season Subscription.

A season can be edited by selecting Productions > Edit Season. Although it is possible to change most season settings once it has already been defined, the Season ID cannot be changed.

Setting Up Book Types for a Season

In order to set up a subscription season, book types must be set up that have the Season field set to Yes. See Book Types in Setting Up Sales for more information. This is an important step, as only book types that have the Season set to Yes will be available when setting up the season ticket prices (Defining Season Ticket Prices).

Another important consideration when setting up the season book types is how the ticket price will be discounted. The pricing of season tickets is based on:

• The original price defined for the book type
• A discount applied based on the number of performances a patron subscribes to during the season

The discount can be set up in PatronBase in two ways:

• Book type level. The season ticket book type is created at the discounted price. If this method is chosen, no Discount Value is set in the Prices window when the season is being set up.
• Subscription level. The season ticket book type is created at the full price, and a discount is applied when the season itself is set up. If this method is chosen, a Discount Value is set in the Prices window.

The advantage of using the subscription level is that you create one book type per ticket type, e.g. one Season Adult, one Season Senior, one Season Junior, one Season Comp. A single price is set for each book type, and the discounted prices are based upon the Discount Value defined for the number of performances booked, which is set up when creating the season.

The advantage of using the book type level is that the book type directly reflects the number of performances the patron is booking in the season.