Pickup List: Set Up Hotel and Location Pickups for Your Tours

Overview

The Pickup List feature enables tour operators to establish pre-approved pickup locations. Rather than accepting free-text addresses, customers select from a dropdown menu during checkout. This approach reduces booking errors, speeds up the checkout process and simplifies driver coordination. Common applications include hotel pickups, cruise terminal departures and city-centre meeting points.

How to Set Up a Pickup List

Step 1 — Open Pickup Lists

Navigate to Customers in the left sidebar, then select Pickup List and Manage Pickup List. To begin creating one, click New Pickup List.

Step 2 — Name Your Pickup List

Assign a clear, descriptive name that reflects the list’s scope. Examples include:

All Products
City Centre Hotels
Airport & Port Terminals

You can create multiple lists and assign them to different products as needed.

Step 3 — Add Pickup Locations

Each list can contain multiple locations. For every entry, complete these fields:

Location Name The label customers see in the dropdown. Examples include Grand Hotel, Central Station and Cruise Terminal Gate 3.

Address Google Search powers this field. Type the location name and the address is populated automatically, with GPS coordinates saved automatically.

⚠️ All predefined addresses must be validated by Google. Free-form text such as “anywhere in the city centre” is not supported.

Minutes Before Offsets the pickup time from the tour start time. A 30-minute offset for an 08:30 start shows customers an 08:00 pickup. Set this to 0 to match the tour start time exactly.

Note Optional instructions shown to customers, such as “Meet at the main entrance, not the side gate.” Display this using the {pickup.note} Liquid tag.

Click New Location to add further entries. Click Save when finished.

Assigning a Pickup List to a Product

Open the product’s Settings page
Scroll to the bottom
Select your list from the Pickup List dropdown
Optionally enable Custom Pickup Locations — this adds a free-text field for customers whose locations are not listed

⚠️ Custom locations are not assigned pickup times automatically. Set the time manually from the booking’s order page. The customer receives an automated update email when you save.

Pickup Details in Email Templates

Use Liquid tags in your product’s Emails settings to display pickup information in confirmation and reminder messages.

Available Pickup Tags

Tag	What it displays
`{pickup.location}`	Customer’s selected location name
`{pickup.time}`	Calculated pickup time (offset applied)
`{pickup.note}`	Location-specific instructions
`{pickup.map}`	Google Maps link to the pickup address

Basic Template

Your pickup details:
Location: {pickup.location}
Time: {pickup.time}
Note: {pickup.note}
Map: {pickup.map}

Advanced Time Formatting

{{pickup.time | date: '%A, %B %d, %Y'}} at {{pickup.time | date: '%H:%M'}}

Renders as: Wednesday, June 04, 2025 at 08:00

Conditional Block (recommended)

{% if pickup %}
Your pickup is scheduled for {{pickup.time | date: '%A, %B %d, %Y'}} at {{pickup.time | date: '%H:%M'}}.
Location: {{pickup.location}}
Note: {{pickup.note}}
Map: {{pickup.map}}
{% endif %}

Viewing and Managing Pickups

Navigate to Customers → Pickups to view all upcoming pickups. The list defaults to today’s date. Filter by date when planning for the future.

From this view you can:

Add or edit pickup times for custom-location bookings
Delete a pickup
Override a predefined location with a custom one

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Pickup List in TicketingHub?

A Pickup List is a set of pre-approved pickup locations that you configure. Customers select their location from a dropdown at checkout instead of entering a free-form address, ensuring that every booking maps to a valid, serviced location.

How do I create a pickup list?

Go to Customers → Pickup List → Manage Pickup List, click New Pickup List, name the list, add locations with Google-validated addresses, set time offsets if needed and click Save. Then assign it to a product through that product’s Settings page.

Why does TicketingHub use Google for pickup addresses?

Google address validation ensures that every predefined location has accurate GPS coordinates, preventing driver navigation errors and supporting the map link feature in customer emails.

How does the “minutes before” offset work?

The offset subtracts a set number of minutes from your tour’s start time to calculate the customer’s pickup time. For example, a 30-minute offset for a 09:00 start shows customers an 08:30 pickup.

Can customers enter their own pickup address?

Yes. Enabling Custom Pickup Locations in the product settings adds a free-text address field, powered by Google Search, alongside the predefined dropdown. However, you must set the pickup time manually for custom locations from the order page.

Can I assign the same pickup list to multiple products?

Yes. You can apply a single pickup list to multiple products from each product’s individual Settings page.

Can different tours have different pickup locations?

Yes. Each product has its own Pickup List assignment, allowing your city tour to offer downtown hotel pickups while your wine tour covers a wider regional area.

A customer doesn’t know their hotel yet — what should I do?

There is no built-in “To Be Confirmed” option. The recommended workaround is to enable Custom Pickup Locations so customers can enter a placeholder, or add a custom booking question such as “Where are you staying? Enter TBC if unknown” and update it manually later.

Why is no pickup time showing for a custom pickup booking?

Custom locations do not have preset times. Open the booking’s order page, enter the pickup time manually and save. The customer receives an automated update email.

What pickup Liquid tags can I use in emails?

Available tags are {pickup.location}, {pickup.time}, {pickup.note} and {pickup.map}. Wrap them in a {% if pickup %} block if not all bookings include a pickup.

Known Limitations

Limitation	Status
Day-of-week pickup lists (different locations per day on the same product)	Not currently supported
Automatic pickup time assignment for custom locations	Not available — must be set manually
Built-in “To Be Confirmed” pickup option	Not available — use custom booking question as workaround