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Group Trip Syncing - in closed beta

How group trip itineraries sync to sub-trips in Tern, including what syncs automatically, what stays unlocked per sub-trip, how to push updates, and how to resolve sync errors.

Written by Molly Johnson

What It Does

When you build a group trip, each traveler or party that signs up gets their own sub-trip. Group trip syncing connects those sub-trips back to the parent itinerary. Shared content like the activity description, dates, room options, photos, and documents flows down from the group trip, while anything that needs to stay specific to an individual traveler stays editable on the sub-trip. This means you can update the itinerary once and publish those changes across every sub-trip instead of editing each one by hand.

Before We Jump In

This feature is in closed beta. We are actively improving it and welcome your feedback.

  1. New group trips use sync behavior automatically.

  2. Existing group trips created before syncing can be opted in. See "Opting In an Existing Group Trip" below before you do this, opting in is permanent.

  3. There is no way to opt a group trip out of sync behavior once it is on (let us know if you need that please!)

A few terms used throughout this article:

  • Group trip: The parent itinerary that holds the shared trip content. This is where you make changes you want every sub-trip to receive.

  • Sub-trip: An individual traveler's or party's version of the trip. A sub-trip is created when someone signs up, either self-service or manually.

  • Synced content: Content that flows from the group trip down to sub-trips. A sync icon appears on the sub-trip to show the content is linked to the parent.

  • Unlocked content: Content you can edit directly on a sub-trip. Unlocked content does not sync, so changes on the group trip will not overwrite it.

How It Works

When a sub-trip is created, it inherits content from the group trip and displays a sync icon on the linked sections. The following content syncs from the group trip to its sub-trips:

  • Activity descriptions

  • Check-in and check-out dates

  • Room and cabin options (pre selection)

  • Rooms (with some nuances called out below)

  • Media and photos

  • Documents

Additions and deletions sync too:

  • New items added to the group trip sync to all sub-trips. This includes new activities, new room options, new photos, and new documents. If a new item is not relevant to a particular sub-trip, hide it on that sub-trip.

  • Items deleted from the group trip are deleted from sub-trips.

Some nuances about what is locked/synced

  • You can still add new documents directly to a sub-trip. Any documents added on the group trip will also appear on the sub-trip.

  • The activity name is synced but unlocked to edit. So if you don't touch the name it will continue to stay in sync with the group itinerary name, but if you edit the sub trip itinerary name it will maintain it's own name.

  • Rooms in 'option mode' become unlocked once a selection is made.

  • Regular rooms can be unlocked by you, to make sub trips specific edits.

The Booking and Pricing tab is fully unlocked on every sub-trip. It does not sync. This is intentional, because booking and pricing details are usually specific to each traveler. On a sub-trip you can independently:

  • Mark an item as optional for that sub-trip

  • Update prices and per-person costs

  • Change payment and installment schedules

  • Edit commission information (received and expected)

  • Update booking information and confirmation numbers

How to Push Updates to Sub-trips

Use these steps when you want changes made on the group trip to reach the sub-trips.

  1. Open the group trip itinerary. Make your changes here, not on an individual sub-trip. For example, you can swap a room option, add a document and make it visible to travelers, set a photo to inactive, or add a new optional activity.

  2. Click "Sync to Sub-trips." Tern gives you two options. Choose Sync and publish to push the changes and make them immediately visible to travelers without publishing each sub-trip individually. Choose Sync to push the changes without publishing, so you can review and publish each sub-trip yourself.

  3. Let the sync run. Syncing happens in the background, so you can work on other tabs or other trips while it processes. Trips with many sub-trips take longer to finish.

  4. Check the Sub-trips tab for status. Each sub-trip shows its sync status: syncing, synced, or partially synced. Click a partially synced sub-trip to see exactly what succeeded and what failed.

You'll Know It Worked When

The synced changes appear on the sub-trip. For example, a swapped room option shows the new room, an inactivated photo no longer appears, and a document marked visible to travelers is now listed on the sub-trip.

What Does Not Sync

Some content stays specific to each sub-trip and will not sync from the group trip. Keep these in mind so you know when manual updates are required:

  • Booking and pricing details. Prices, payment schedules, commission, booking status, and confirmation numbers never sync. Update these per sub-trip.

  • Package updates. A package syncs to a sub-trip once, when the sub-trip is created. After that, changes to a package's deposit or total cost on the group trip do not sync. Update package pricing per sub-trip.

  • New packages. A package added to the group trip after sub-trips exist does not sync to those sub-trips in this version.

  • Room options where a selection has already been made. See below.

  • Regular rooms if you have unlocked them from the group trip. See below.

  • Activity titles with individual edits on sub trips.

When a Room Selection Has Been Made

If a traveler or you have already selected a specific room option on a sub-trip, that room is no longer locked to the group trip. You can edit it directly. For example, you can add a cabin number or tailor the room description to that traveler. After a selection is made, future room updates pushed from the group trip will not sync to that sub-trip.

Selections still draw from group trip inventory. This works even for inventory you added to the group trip after the sub-trip was created.

If you aren't using room options, you'll see the option to "unlock" the room from the group sync to directly edit those details.

Working Around Unlocked Content

Because booking, pricing, and packages do not sync, here are two ways to apply broad changes without editing every sub-trip by hand:

  • Use AI Chat for targeted updates. If you need to make the same booking or pricing change across multiple sub-trips, ask AI Chat to make those updates for you. It will not process hundreds of sub-trips at once, but it can handle a batch of changes that would otherwise be manual.

  • Replace an activity instead of editing it. New activities do sync, including any pricing and inventory you add. If you have a large pricing change on an activity and travelers have not booked it yet, you can add a new activity, sync it to all sub-trips, and delete the old one. Note: this approach works for activities, not packages.

Opting In an Existing Group Trip

Group trips created before syncing existed can be opted in. Opting in is permanent, you cannot opt a trip back out, so review the following before you confirm:

  • On the first sync, activities sync but trip dates do not. The group trip's activities copy to each sub-trip, but sub-trip dates stay unchanged. Activities outside a sub-trip's dates are skipped.

  • Activities you added to a sub-trip manually can duplicate. Review every sub-trip after the first sync.

  • Activities you previously copied from the group trip and then deleted from a sub-trip will come back, but they stay hidden from travelers.

Common Issues

"Couldn't sync sub-trips, review sync errors." At least one sub-trip could not receive the update. Click into the error to see which sub-trip failed and why. A common cause is an activity that falls outside the sub-trip's trip dates. For example, if a sub-trip leaves a day early, an activity scheduled on that final day cannot sync to it. Open the affected sub-trip from the error to adjust it.

A booking or pricing change I made on the group trip did not appear on the sub-trips. This is expected. Booking and pricing are unlocked and never sync. Update those details on each sub-trip, or use AI Chat to apply the change across sub-trips.

A package price change on the group trip did not reach the sub-trips. This is expected. Packages sync only once, when the sub-trip is created. Update package pricing per sub-trip.

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