Pattern 3: Platform Integration for Weather Guarantees

Some partners are the technology providers of the platform that operators use to offer their experiences. In this case, the partner will support many operators through their platform and each operator will have their own lodging, or golf course, or amusement park onboarded to the platform. In this pattern, the platform will integrate with Sensible Weather and make functionality available to operators who choose to opt-in to offering Weather Guarantees.

Onboarding

We will generate API keys that the platform can use to make requests against the Sensible Weather API. Each operator that decides to offer Weather Guarantees will receive a unique Product ID that the platform can pass to us when making API calls on behalf of the operator. The Product ID ensures we know which operator the request is for. Each operator will have their own Product ID. Occasionally an operator may require multiple Product IDs. For example, a venue that hosts a Tulip Festival in the Spring and a haunted house in the Fall may receive two Product IDs because the events are distinct. This can help us more effectively optimize the coverages required for the two offerings. We will work with platform partners and their operators to create their Product IDs.

Where to offer a Weather Guarantee

Customers add Weather Guarantees to their booking at the highest rate when the Weather Guarantee is presented in a prominent position in the checkout flow. For most partners, this occurs after the customer has chosen their specific tickets/lodging/activity, but before they have paid. We strongly recommend that our partners proactively generate quotes based on the location, dates, and price of the booking so that the quote can be presented in the checkout page. This enables the partner to offer a Weather Guarantee without requiring any action by the customer.

Creating Quotes

The platform will call Create Guarantee Quote with the location, date, and cost of the booking, along with the corresponding Product ID of the operator. The platform will need to surface the price of the quote, the payout tiers, and use the plain language to correctly explain the Weather Guarantee. We strongly recommend that our partners utilize the provided plain language to explain the Weather Guarantee because we are constantly evaluating and improving copy to increase revenue.

Note: it is important to properly assess taxes on the price of the quote. Review the Taxes section to determine how to asses taxes on Weather Guarantees.

Accepting Quotes

If the customer adds the Weather Guarantee to their booking and proceeds to payment, then the platform will accept the quote on behalf of the customer. Payment flow will depend on the approach the partner is using as discussed in managing payments.

Declining Quotes

If a quote is generated and shown to the customer, but the customer decides to proceed without adding the Weather Guarantee quote to their booking, then the platform partner will call Decline Guarantee Quote. This lets us know that the customer viewed the quote but decided not to purchase it. This is important information so that we can optimize conversion and offer more compelling Weather Guarantees to customers.

Modifying Bookings and Weather Guarantees

See the Customer modifies their reservation section.

Cancelling Bookings and Weather Guarantees

See the Customer cancels their reservation section.