Introduction
A promotion code is a word a customer types when booking on your website, such as ZOMER15, that takes a percentage off the rental rate. You create and manage the codes on the screen headed Promotion codes, inside one of your price lists. The screen is a single table with a New button above it and a column for each part of a code: Promo code, Name, is active, Percentage, Booking from date and Booking to date. Every row ends in a pencil icon (edit) and a bin icon (delete). A second screen, headed Promotion code usage, lists the times your website accepted a code.
You come here when:
- Marketing is running a summer campaign and needs a code for the flyers.
- A code should only work for one or two vehicle classes, or only for rentals in a set period.
- A campaign has ended and the code has to stop working.
- A customer says their code did not work on the website, and you want to see why.
- You want to know whether anyone is using the code at all.
Terms used on this screen
| The screen says | It means |
|---|---|
| Promo code | The code itself, the text the customer types |
| is active | Whether the code works at all |
| Asset groups | Vehicle classes. The code only works for the classes you pick here |
| Booking from date / Booking to date | The dates the rental has to fall within, not the date the booking is made |
| Pricelist | Price list; the app spells it as one word |
Promotion codes are meant for your website. At the desk there is no box on a booking for typing a code. To give a customer a lower price at the desk, use a discount instead, as described in Adjust the price on a booking.
How to use
Configuration
The Promotion codes screen is itself the configuration. There is nothing to switch on elsewhere, but your website has to have a promotion-code box. Whether it does is part of how your website was built, not a setting in this app.
Before you start: creating, changing and deleting promotion codes, and opening the Promotion code usage screen, need the Company admin role. An ordinary Employee account can still see the Promotion codes tile, but the screen will not open for them. Codes belong to your own company only.
Using the promotion codes screen
From the main menu, open Admin, then Pricing. The screen headed Pricelist overview opens. Double-click the price list your website uses, which is usually the one marked Default?. On the list's tile menu, click Promotion codes.
1. Create a code. Click New above the table. A screen headed Promotion code opens. Fill in the left-hand column:
| Field | Starts as | What it does | What it accepts |
|---|---|---|---|
| is active | Yes | Set it to No to stop the code working without deleting it | Yes or No |
| One per customer | No | Locked. It cannot be changed and has no effect | Nothing |
| Promo code | Empty | The exact text the customer types | Text up to 200 characters. Do not put a space before or after it |
| Name | Empty | Your own label for the code, shown in the table | Any text |
| Description | Empty | A note for yourself and your colleagues | Any text |
| Percentage | 10 | How much comes off the daily rate | Whole numbers from 1 to 100 |
2. Link vehicle classes to the code. In the right-hand column, open the Asset groups dropdown and tick every vehicle class the code should work for. You can pick several. Leave it empty and the code works for every class. To take a class off again, untick it or use the clear button on the box.
3. Limit the dates, if the code is for a set period. Set Restrict dates to Yes. Two date boxes then appear underneath, Booking from date and Booking to date. Both start on the day you created the code, so always fill them in. The whole rental has to fall inside the window: the pickup must be on or after the first date and the return on or before the second.
4. Save. Click Save. The app does not check whether the code already exists or whether Promo code is empty, so check both yourself. Cancel closes the screen without saving anything.
5. Change or stop a code. Click the pencil icon on its row, change what you need and click Save. To end a campaign, set is active to No. The code stops working immediately and you can switch it back on later.
6. Delete a code. Click the bin icon on its row. It deletes at once, with no Are you sure? question. Switching the code off is safer.
7. See how often a code was accepted. From the main menu, open Dashboards and click the Promotion code usage tile. The table lists the newest first, with Created at, Promo code, from date, to date (the rental dates that were asked for) and PriceList.
Key details
What the website checks, in order. When a customer enters a code, the app looks for it in all of your company's price lists. The price list you created it in makes no difference. The code is refused if any of these checks fails:
| Check | Refused when |
|---|---|
| The code exists | No code has exactly this text |
| is active | It is set to No |
| Restrict dates | It is Yes and the rental starts before Booking from date or ends after Booking to date |
| Asset groups | Classes are picked and the booked class is not one of them |
What the code takes off. On a website booking, only the daily rental rate is reduced. Insurance, extras and mileage keep their normal prices. The lower rate is saved as the booking's own rate. The booking does not show a separate discount line or which code was used.
An example. ZOMER15 is set to 15%, with Restrict dates from 1 July 2026 to 1 September 2026, and Asset groups set to Compact and Estate. A customer books a compact car from 10 to 13 August at €60 a day, plus insurance at €12 a day:
| Without the code | With ZOMER15 | |
|---|---|---|
| Rental rate, 3 days | 3 × €60 = €180 | 3 × €51 = €153 |
| Insurance, 3 days | €36 | €36 |
| Total | €216 | €189 |
A rental from 29 August to 2 September is refused because it ends after 1 September, and the customer pays €216. A van is refused because Van is not ticked.
The last day of the window. Dates are compared with the time included, and Booking to date counts from midnight at the start of that day. A car returned at 10:00 on 1 September is therefore outside a window that ends on 1 September. Set the end date one day later than the last return day you want to allow.
Changes do not change existing bookings. A booking made with a code keeps its lower rate if you later switch the code off or change its percentage. Bookings made before the code existed do not get the discount either.
What usage records. A row is added each time your website asks the app whether a code is valid and the code is accepted. Refused attempts are not recorded. It does not show which customer asked or whether they went on to book, so it counts interest, not sales.
What to do next: once a code is saved, make one test booking on your website with it and check the price in the booking. Then tell marketing the code is ready.
Q&A
Why was a customer's code refused on the website when it is in the list? Go through the table under What the website checks from top to bottom. The most common causes are Restrict dates set to Yes with the default dates still in the boxes, a return on the last day of the window, and a vehicle class that is not ticked under Asset groups. Also check that Promo code has no space before or after the text. Fix the code with the pencil icon and ask the customer to book again. A booking that was already made at full price is not corrected by itself. Lower its price with a discount, as described in Adjust the price on a booking.
Why did a website booking go through at full price when the customer entered a code? A refused code does not stop the booking. The booking is made at the normal price and no message is kept. Check the code as described in the question above.
I made two codes with the same text. Which one is used? Only one of them, and you cannot choose which. Delete the duplicate, or change its Promo code, so that each code is unique.
How do I link a promotion code to a customer? You cannot do this from any screen. A price booked at the desk does take a customer's code into account: the app works the price out once with the discounts on the booking and once with the code, and keeps the lower total. That comparison is described in Adjust the price on a booking. But the link between a customer and a code can only be set by RentVisie support. To give one customer a lasting reduction, use their Default discount instead, as described in Set a customer's payment and invoicing terms.
Why did a customer's code make no difference to a booking at the desk? The customer has a Default discount above 0. This takes precedence over the code on the daily rate. See Set a customer's payment and invoicing terms.
Why can't I open the Promotion codes screen? Your account does not have the Company admin role. Ask your company admin to change your profile, as described in Add an employee and set their permissions.
Can I switch on One per customer? No. The option is locked on every code and has no effect, so a customer can use a code as often as they like. End a campaign by setting is active to No.
Related pages:
- Set up a price list: the tile menu that leads to Promotion codes
- Find out how a price was worked out: check a price step by step
- Set up a last-minute deal: a discount that needs no code
- Adjust the price on a booking: give a discount at the desk