Using Access Codes to Expose Private Ticket Levels for Club Members

Have an event where you want to allow the general public attend, while offering special ticket levels to special guests?

Perfect example is a special event where you want to offer tickets to the general public and then offer a club member-only ticket level that is hidden by default, with perhaps different pricing, ticket purchase requirements and so forth.

Introducing Access Codes. Access Codes allow you to expose Private Ticket levels that are hidden to the general public to those customers that have been provided an Access Code, which can be either entered manually or automated with a hyperlink.

Understanding Differences Between Access Codes and Discount Codes
Be sure to not confuse the concept of Discount Codes and Access Codes as they are entirely different, but can be used together to expose a private ticket level and automatically apply a discount.

To create a new Access Code, click the "Add Access Code" button. You will then need to provide a name for the Access Code and choose which ticket types the code will apply to. You can also set the number of times the code can be used and the dates during which it will be valid.

Once you have created an Access Code, you can share it with your customers or members by providing them with the code. When they go to purchase tickets for the event, they can enter the Access Code and the hidden or private ticket levels will become visible to them.

It's important to note that Access Codes are not the same as Discount Codes. Access Codes provide access to hidden or private ticket levels, whereas Discount Codes provide a percentage or dollar amount off of the ticket price.

In summary, CellarPass Ticketing allows you to create and use Access Codes to provide access to hidden or private ticket levels for certain customers or members. Access Codes are created within the event and can be shared with customers to use during ticket purchasing.

When designing your Access Code, there are some basics to understand:

1. Access Code
The Access Code is a vital piece of the campaign, which is essentially the code that is used to trigger the system to expose a Private Ticket Level. Enter an Access Code value to be used for your campaign. We typically recommend something that is not easily guessed by your guests to protect your sales.

2. Applies To
This is an important step as you'll want to set the Ticket Levels that will be exposed when the Access Code is used. Note that you can only check the boxes to the left of Ticket Levels that have been marked as Private. If you need to mark a Ticket Level as Private, go back to Manage Tickets, click the Advanced button to the right of the Ticket Level. This will expand the details of the ticket. Locate the checkbox to the left of Private under Ticket Visibility.

4. Uses per Event OR Number of Orders OR Number of Tickets
The next important step to consider when designing a campaign is to determine if there will be limits, capping the number of times the Access Code can be used (total orders), Number of Tickets or setting it as Unlimited which is the default. If you elect to use the Number of Orders method, be sure to understand that this is not a limit on number of tickets sold, but number of orders.

5. Start/End Date and Time
CellarPass allows you to run multiple campaigns, so you can set up different campaigns to start and end at different times, offering different times of access to Hidden Ticket Levels. For example, you may create a promotional campaign 2-3 months before the event offering a select group access to a Hidden Ticket Level that ends 4 weeks from the Event Date. Then you may have another campaign that starts 4 weeks out to provide access to Hidden Ticket Levels, then ends 2 weeks before the event. So by creating multiple Access Codes, you can essentially control who has access to your different Ticket Levels, slowly exposing more levels as you get closer to your Event.

Once you have built your Access Code, be sure to click the blue Save Access Code button. Then Save the Event.

Test, Test, Test
We encourage everyone to review your Access Codes BEFORE ever sharing the campaign publicly. It's best to run a test order and make sure that you are getting the proper results- and have others in your company test it out for you and provide feedback.

Sharing Your Campaign
Now that you've tested the campaign and you're getting the expected access is being provided, now's the time to share it with your customers. There's a unique feature that CellarPass offers, making it extremely easy for Access Codes to be automatically applied to an order without the customer having to add it manually. We refer this as the Access URL.There is no other way to use this code as there is no field for customers to manually enter Access Codes. This was intentionally designed this way.

Once you have built your campaign, you'll see a list of all your Access Codes and to the far right of the screen (Marketing & Discounts tab on your Event), you'll see a button "URL". Clicking this button will display the Access Code URL. Highlight this URL, copy and paste and you now have your Access Code URL which can be used in email campaigns or simply an email directly to the customer. 

Now since Access Codes can start and end at different times, be sure to always check that the Access Code or URL you are about to share is valid and clearly communicated the limitations (End Dates) or the number of orders does apply, or you may end up with some upset customers.

KNOWN ISSUES
Do NOT include any special symbols or characters such as < > ~ + ! @ # $ % ^ * / \ ( ) ? & (these are just examples) if you plan on using our Access Code URL generator. These links will get corrupted and will NOT apply the Access Code correctly.

PRO TIP

Using Access Codes for ticketed events is the perfect way to provide a club-member only ticket level as you can send out an email to club members with this Access Code URL which can be exposed by clicking a button or text link. That way only those that have this link will see this ticket level to choose from.

Please note that anyone that shares this link with others can also use it. So it does not verify if they are a club member or not. If you need this capability, then we recommend contacting technical support as they can walk you through setting this up.