Checkfront

Easy software for Booking Tourist Activities / invoice

Comments: - I decided to say with checkfront, because their team is very helpful, there is a community and a forum to get inspired, to get help if you are a beginner in the tourism industry

Pros:

+ All in one place : Booking / customers / invoices + You can customize every detail of the Activity you are selling to your customers + The support team listens to your needs

Cons:

- During covid, the hibernation plan means that your website goes offline

Easy to use and customize

Comments: Excellent. Easy to use and customize.

Pros:

Being able to adapt for our individual needs

Cons:

Our pricing plan is excellent with Checkfront. But I recently received notice it was going to increase significantly. This is very disappointing. If we utilized of the abilities of the program I would pay more but we use a very minimal amount as I do most work in house. The program is great though.

Not Optimized For Marketing Or Conversions

Comments: Overall this has been a poor experience. The support is fine and responsive. The tech for it's core purpose is not bad. However they have completely forgone marketing optimization which is a massive flaw. Optimizing for marketing and conversion rate optimization seems to be at the back burner and does not take priority at their company.

Pros:

It does the job for bookings and storing information.

Cons:

Almost zero consideration has gone into the marketing aspect of bookings.They are currently not GA4 compatible, despite being under a month out from the UA sunset.Email automations and design are abysmal. It only allows for HTML design. Poor automation and flow.The booking interface is ugly and not well optimized. This goes for the widget and booking page.

Absolutely love Checkfront

Comments: When we first started out we took reservations in a paper book....yes you read correctly, on paper...knowing there had to be a better way I researched different software to use. Since then we have been so happy with Checkfront. The support from their team has been amazing. From setting us up to answering my everyday questions, their team is always friendly and helpful. I highly recommend them to anyone.

Pros:

We have been with check front for 7 years now and we love everything about it. It's simple to use, training new employees to use it is easy, the booking process just flows nicely so it makes sense. Customers also compliment us on how simple and straightforward it is to use. I also feel like they are there when I need them to help me out with any issues I'm having.

Cons:

I would like to use the waivers section but it didn't quite work for our set up. There's a couple of little things that would be nice to be able to do with the calendar etc. I also which the app was a bit more useful. I usually always send suggestions in when I come across something that I think would be beneficial for everyone.

Very responsive customer care

Comments: Very positive experience with Checkfront - nothing seems to be a problem, always supportive response from Support staff. Really very happy with product and overall support.

Pros:

The software has many really useful functions e.g. waivers; group waivers; integration with Xero. The developements in terms of the calendar and manifest are great improvements but little tweaks in layout would declutter the view. Some of the details functionality is brilliant - often not easy to find how to do something but just ask the Support folks and they usually have a very neat solution to offer. The customer support is fantastic, so responsive and are very wiling to take a suggestion/issue back to the developers.

Cons:

Find the Inventory calendar a bit cluttered and the mobile app could be done with a little refinement in terms of daily manifest. Integration with Xero needs a little refinement - would be excellent if an admin could choose which Payment Methods are integrated, at the moment every transaction creates a Xero invoice which is not always appropriate (e.g. gift vouchers, cash, face-to-face card payments) so there can be quite a bit of voiding in Xero to correct position. The Partner Accounts are too restrictive for the way we work with our partners so we had to provide User accounts to provide the functionality.

Eagle Wings Lodge

Comments: Generally good except when changes need to be made to bookings or refunds.

Pros:

The many reports and options available.

Cons:

Two calendars are confusing. Making changes to reservations. Difficult to figure out even with directions creating frustration and lots of time spent trying. Not user friendly- too many terms that are not easy to learn. Sorry to complain.

Great service for the small tour opperation like my business

Comments: Great, good service and most of the time I can figure things out without any help from customer service.

Pros:

At first it took some time to understand the platform, but their people made that process easier with various videos and instructions

Cons:

Kinda expensive on a monthly basis, and oftentimes I'll have no tours, but still have to pay Checkfront

Amazing value for money

Comments: We find it hard to change due to its value for money.

Pros:

It is quite user friendly and has intuitive features.

Cons:

It feels a bit clunky and dated with some features. It badly needs to catch up with other systems in some areas such as dashboard management, photo galleries and itinerary layouts.

Easy On Line Booking System

Pros:

The systems are in place to send email reminders and confirmations of items booked. The booking is easy to set up so your customers can go through the form themselves

Cons:

When checking on a customer name you have to be exact - it doesn't show similar names like it use to, would love that back

Pleasant end-user experience

Pros:

The reservation management feature is excellent as is the in-built facility to collect waivers from guests.

Cons:

We have two separate components to our business and whilst Checkfront works seamlessly for the standard rental letting element, it does require some manual manipulation for the other components.

Best small-medium hotel booking system I've come across...

Comments: Bookings for different room types, transport and activities is made easy through using Checkfront. I dont have to worry about double bookings and I know exactly who's coming in and out of my resort, even when I'm not there. My staff find it easy to use and we are able to amend things quickly and easily. For the customer it's also very clear to book what they are looking for.

Pros:

Ease of navigation and clear information layout especially on a laptop.

Cons:

Sometimes find a few features a little tricky to get my head around on my own but that doesnt matter because the customer support is amazing and they always find a solution.

My review

Comments: I like it.. I just don't like the app. I wish the app was better. I would prefer to use the app on my phone and for our employees - but it's limited and it kicks you out on a daily basis. Pretty frustating.

Pros:

Lots of great stuff about this. Pretty easy to use..

Cons:

The app is awful. Kicks me out daily. Needs to be improved big time.

Booking and Build With Ease!!

Comments: Great the support guys have been fantastic in helping me refine the application and adjusting it to our requirements.

Pros:

I managed to build an entire booking system from scratch and can maintain it without and army of tech prople.

Cons:

I was being billed for users i did not require but the team have now resolved that issue.

GCC review of checkfront

Comments: Easy to use and functionality is good.

Pros:

Checkfront have now added a how to section with images so you can pretty much work everything out just by following the very easy to use online guide.

Cons:

Initially it took ages to get support on how to perform certain tasks but that has been rectified by the online guide.

My love affair with Checkfront

Comments: I like the expert advise and help. Your support staff needs to be congratulated.

Pros:

if Checkfront was not available for me, I would be drowning in a sea of paperwork. For example, I started using the documentations app two years ago. It has allowed us to develop a social distancing booking system, that is touchless and COVID approved. After an initial setup and learning process, our customer response has been very positive because we have eliminated the paperwork "Hassel" at the boarding gate. It has cut our boarding time in half because all the insurance required documentation is now done at their home or office. It has eliminated filing of the paperwork. It has made documentation look up easier.

Cons:

I have been with Checkfront for almost 10 years. They have eliminate many of my concerns. However, currently my discount codes do not work like they use to. When I use multiple discounts on the same invoice. For example, I might have 3 or 4 rental booking on the same invoice, representing 3 to 4 days of rental for that week. We offer a 25% discount on weekday rentals and a 10% rental on weekends. I should be able to have different discount rates for each booking by using the "per item" discount code. Unfortunately, it does not work that way. The total is the same but the software prorates the discount on all items on the invoice. This is very confusing to my customer.

Versatile, Cost-Effective Platform with Good Customer Support

Comments: Checkfront helped us migrate from a very inefficient reservations system (email and paper) to one that is largely automated and this has vastly improved our customer experience, saved us a lot of staff time, and given us better tools to manage and understand our business. As a small non-profit tour operator with tight margins, we are not only very happy with Checkfront's pricing structure, but also grateful that they offer a non-profit discount. In spite of a few limitations, overall we are very happy with Checkfront and have been using it for 3+ years.

Pros:

Checkfront is very affordable relative to other tour booking platforms (they charge a flat annual fee rather than a percentage of sales - which I believe is the fair way to operate), and it works great for many purposes. There are lots of options for customization, and it is easy to learn how to configure and manage the platform using Checkfront's tutorials and documentation. There are lots of helpful integrations (Stripe, PayPal, Google Analytics, etc.) that are easy to set up. Checkfront support is always very responsive and helpful.

Cons:

Checkfront is designed to work across many types of booking environments including hotels, hourly tours, daily tours, weekly tours, etc. Because these types of businesses have different needs, Checkfront balances those but, in my experience, isn't perfect for any one type of business. As a tour operator, sometimes we have needed to come up with workarounds to meet our specific needs or live with certain shortcomings. Checkfront support is always helpful, but if there is a feature that you need, the best you can do is submit a "feature request" and hope that enough other people request the same feature for development.

Great System & Exceptional Service for my Rental Business

Comments: That said considering Checkfront is relatively inexpensive for what they offer and it's not a custom built program I can't really fault them. Some people complain about various needs not being met but unless you want to pay big dollars for a custom package you can't expect to have all your wish list met. I'm in the processes of resolving this by having my developer use Checkfront's API to integrate into my website. One of the things we're doing is adding Delivery and Collection as a separate step in the booking process. We've been very happy with Checkfront. I can't even imagine trying to run my business without them.

Pros:

I have used Checkfront for five years and the service has always been outstanding. They always reply very quickly to my emails. I've phoned them a couple of times but really there's no need to phone as their email response is so good. It also means you have a record of what's discussed. Having an inventory based rental system that allows my customers to book online and keep stock updated keeps me ahead of the competition. I love the customised notifications that are specific to the items booked. The free add-ons are amazing. Being able to link to my accounting software makes life simple.

Cons:

You have to keep a very close eye on products being returned. If something isn't returned it's very easy for it to "fall off the system" if it's not noticed on the due date. It would be good to be able to scan items back in or at the very least for the item to remain on the desktop until it's been checked off. I understand Checkfront are working on this. The only other concern for us has been that delivery and collection has to be booked as an actual item and not offered at Checkout. Our customers are confused by this no matter how many prompts we add. I believe it's because customers are used to an online retails experience where it is common practice for Delivery to offered after items have been selected and you are at the final stages before payment.

Helpful for Small Businesses

Comments: Overall we are very satisfied with Checkfront. Any time we have had to contact support for a problem, they respond quickly and provide satisfactory solutions.

Pros:

Basically Checkfront is fairly easy to use. As a tour operator, there is a lot of flexibility given to obtain the information we need from our passengers. We feel it is easy to maintain and fits our needs. For our guests using the software, we have never received any negative comments and feel it is user friendly. We like that we were able to link our liability waivers for the guests to complete ahead of time which saves a lot of time and paper. Another timesaver is the way the bookings are linked directly to our Quickbooks account. Overall, we are very satisfied with everything that Checkfront does for us.

Cons:

Reporting seems to have a fair amount of issues. We have contacted support about this and they are aware of the problem but just haven't figured out a solution yet. This is very time consuming to manually calculate monthly and yearly sales totals which are definitely incorrect in the Checkfront system.

Best and quick to reply!

Comments: I've been using Checkfront since day 1 and also have been one of the first companies that support their tour operator applications. I think it is now almost 11 years..
What can I say, just 'simply the best! I've met the team at a conference/travel technology event once and it just shows that this company is built and run by people - real people with a passion to make it easier for anyone to run their business without worrying about the technical details. Keep it up Team Checkfront!

Pros:

It's got it all.. from booking setup to distribution channels.

Cons:

Not easy to integrate and display various currencies. Or take payments in different currencies, but hey - they are working on that. Also not easy to hide certain products from the public and only allow access with an URL for special events or products that may only be viewed by some customers. Resource management feature is not live yet, but it sounds like this will be a complete game-changer; making it possible to manage all guides, transport, the hiring of equipment and even activities and accommodation required for trips and tours.

It can be better in mobile and discounts

Comments: It helps me into bookings, the UX is easy and trackable

Pros:

Easy to use, easy to create items. The support team helps a lot with videos and availability

Cons:

The info of an item, dates and everything about an item it doesn't look good in mobile, it didn't show a lot of info. Also you can't have two discounts in the same booking page

My Experience with Checkfront

Comments: I operate a charter yacht in the USVI. Checkfront is my booking calendar if record. I use it to manage availability, and as a direct booking channel. I've stayed with Checkfront for the past two years because it meets most all my needs at a reasonable price point. The addition of tipping functionality is important to me. It will likely drive my purchasing decision in the future, as I shift towards a daysailing business from a term charter operation.

Pros:

The software meets most of my expectations. I especially appreciate the flexibility I have when setting up inventory items. Perhaps more important is the quality of support you provide. Each time that I have had a need to reach out, my inquiry was handled by a knowledgeable and concerned person, who rapidly resolved my challenge and typically taught me something along the way. Thank you.

Cons:

My biggest issue with the service is that my clients don't have the option to tip while they are checking out. As a service provider, tipping is critical, especially for the crew. If the client was presented with the option to add a tip, I know that my income would increase significantly, perhaps 10%+

Great Customer Support

Comments: I wanted to make a few extra tweak's to my platform after 2 years. I contacted the support team and they arranged a special one on one hour meeting for me. It was all i needed. These folks are great. I appreciate the support.

Pros:

I'm not very good with computers. Checkfront support helped me implement my program and make changes when I first started. Once I spent time with the program, It became easy to use. After 4 years I feel very comfortable.

Cons:

I don't have anything that comes to mind.

Game changer for our rental business

Comments: Brilliant. Saved a ton of time. Better service for our customers b/c they can see what we offer and if we don't have it they can seek it elsewhere.

Pros:

This was the most significant change in our rentals in the 37 year history. Or at least, from my vantage point. It is much easier for the customer to see what is available. The way they interact with the software with images is excellent. I also appreciate how we could offer such a variety of kayaks, canoes and stand-up paddleboards, and a range of pricing. Super flexible. A bonus, was that even after we had taken rentals, we could make changes, and not affect the initial bookings. I have found this software to be excelent. Saving us a ton of back and forth with customers and allowing our customers to see what we have, literally because we have pictures on the site. Awesome.

Cons:

The initial learning curve is always tough. Though ultimately, the upfront growing pains have been waaay worth it. The customer services - and recordings that are sent after the session are really helpful.

Awesome, simply awesome

Comments: I book over a hundred volunteers each year and it's a one-person show here. I don't know how I did it before CheckFront, I really don't. So many steps are now automated for me and it's a breeze to keep track of bookings. I use notifications a lot to send volunteer handbooks, orientation videos and other important documents that I used to have to track and send manually. What a relief to be done with that and to be using notifications instead.

Pros:

I am able to integrate nearly my entire workflow in one place from reservation to payment, notifications and more. For me, it just works.

Cons:

Can't think of anything off hand. If it could take my volunteer application as well, that would have 100% of my work in one package.

Works Great, Great Support

Comments: We have used Checkfront since our inception in 2012. We have grown and so have they. They have done a great job making things better and their price is fair. Any issues we have had support has assisted in a timely manner. Reporting is great and notifications to customers is easy to set up.

Pros:

Great reporting, easy to use, well priced.

Cons:

My only slight issue I have with them, is I would love to attend a 2-3 day Checkfront "University". I get the feeling we can do more with Checkfront and are only using 75% of it. Of course, they have a great and very efficient configuration call that helps and this probably is the more efficient route to go anyway.