Valet is a special kind of menu item. It has a fixed number of spots for each performance, and every spot a buyer pays for gets its own parking pass with its own QR code. The pass is not an entry ticket: the guest still needs their ticket to get in. Noctern counts the spots so you can never sell more than your lot holds.

Setting it up

1. 1Open the show and click Edit details.
2. 2Open the Menu & Merchandise (Optional) card.
3. 3Click Add Valet Parking. A new item appears in a Parking category.
4. 4Set the item's Name and Price. The price is per spot, and it starts at $0.
5. 5Set Spots per performance. It starts at 50. Every date of the show gets this many spots.
6. 6Set Max per order. It starts at 1.
7. 7Optional: change Pass label. It starts as "Valet parking" and is the name printed on the pass.
8. 8Optional: pick a time in Stop selling at (optional). Buyers no longer see the item after that time.
9. 9Optional: turn on Ask for a license plate. Buyers then enter one plate, and an optional make and colour, for every spot.
10. 10Click Save Changes.

The same Add Valet Parking button is on the create-event page and in your venue's menu templates. A template copies into a show the same way any other menu does.

What the buyer sees

Valet appears with the other add-ons on the event page. The buyer uses the plus and minus buttons. Once 10 or fewer spots are left the item shows N left, and at none it shows Sold out and the plus button stops working. The plus button also stops at your Max per order. After your Stop selling at time the item disappears.

A few rules apply at checkout:

• A valet order needs at least one ticket. Valet on its own is refused.
• If the lot filled while the buyer was deciding, they see "Valet is sold out" and are not charged.
• While a buyer is paying, their spots are held for 30 minutes. If they walk away, the spots go back on sale.
• Valet cannot be added to a free ($0) order online ("Valet parking can't be added to a free order online. Please contact the box office.") or to a multi-event cart.

After they pay, the confirmation email has a Parking pass block marked as not an entry ticket, with the line "Show this pass to the valet attendant. Your ticket is still required for entry." The PDF carries the pass on its own page, and the buyer can add it to Apple Wallet as a separate pass. It also shows under their ticket in My Tickets.

Selling valet at the box office

The web box-office sale screen lists the valet item under Add Menu Items with the same plus and minus buttons, N left and Sold out. If the item asks for plates, boxes for License plate and Make / colour (optional) appear for each spot. The sale reserves the spots the same way online checkout does. The Door POS app does not sell valet on its own.

Selling valet only with a ticket type (package)

On a general admission show you can include one valet pass in a ticket type. In the show's GA ticket pricing, tick Includes valet (one pass per order) on the tier and enter the Valet value ($). This part of the price is booked as valet and the rest as ticket revenue. Buyers see "Includes valet for one car" under the tier. The lot size limits how many orders can buy that tier, and the tier shows Sold out when the lot is full.

To stop valet being sold on its own, turn on Sell valet only with a package. Valet is then not offered at checkout or at the box office, and the only way to get it is that tier. Both controls only appear once the show has a valet item.

Running the valet stand on show night

1. 1Open the show's page. In the Day-of card, click Valet list & stand. The card only shows this link when the show has a valet item.
2. 2The list shows every spot with guest, order, qty, plate, make and colour, status (Valid, Used or Void) and the time it was redeemed. Use Search name or plate to find one. It refreshes about every 15 seconds.
3. 3Click Open valet stand to get the phone page.
4. 4Click Scan parking pass and point the camera at the guest's pass. Or type in Or search name / plate and tap the name.
5. 5Read the big result, then click Mark used when the car is handed over.
6. 6If you tapped it by mistake, click Undo within two minutes. The button shows the countdown.

The result is one of:

The top of the stand shows how many spots have been used out of how many sold, such as "3 / 40 used". The CSV button on the list downloads the same table; it needs the export permission on your venue.

A valet company signs in as box office staff on your venue. Add them on the Team page, as described in Adding Team Members and Managing Permissions. Staff from another venue cannot open your list.

On a reserved-style item the same pages read Open parking check-in and Parking check-in.

The door scanner and the Door POS refuse a parking pass with "This is a parking pass, use the entry ticket". Nothing is checked in, so a guest cannot get in on a valet pass.

Refunding valet

Refunding a ticket never returns the valet money. Open the order from the attendee list, click Refund tickets on this order…, and refund the valet from the passes listed under Valet parking with Refund valet. It returns that spot's price on its own, voids the pass and gives the spot back to the lot. See Attendees for the dialog.

If you refund the last ticket on an order paid wholly by one card, or wholly in cash with enough cash left, Noctern then refunds the valet for you. On any other payment type you see "Valet not refunded automatically on this payment type; refund it by hand or refund the whole order." A whole-order refund returns everything, valet included.