There is more than one way to create and manage your school trips in SchoolsBuddy. In this article, we compare the two most commonly used modules: Trips Portal and Instant Book.
While both are effective tools, and you might even use a mix of the two options at your school, each offers different features depending on the needs of your trip. See the comparison table below:
| Trips Portal | |
| Pros | Cons |
| Create trips and send invitations in one place | Unable to accept upfront payments or deposits |
| Collect parental consent easily and parents can simply give consent for mandatory trips | Parents must consent to each trip separately if multiple trips are available |
| Unique form and consent deadline for each trip | |
| Add meeting and pick-up point without hassle | |
| Instant Book | |
| Pros | Cons |
| Ability to charge for a deposit or full payment upfront | More steps to create a trip |
| Option to create registers for each day of the trip | One form for the entire container, not a unique form for each trip |
| Simplifies booking for parents when multiple options are available | |
Trips Portal is best for:
- Whole-school or year-group trips
- No upfront payment required
Please see the articles below for how to create/manage trips in Trips Portal:
Instant Book is best for:
- There are multiple trip destinations for parents/students to choose from
- An upfront payment/deposit is required upon booking
Please refer to the articles below if Instant Book is the better fit for your needs: