How to Manage Incoming and Outgoing Legs for a Multi-Day Event

Most corporate events have two ground transport legs:

- Incoming: Airport → Venue (travelers arriving) - Outgoing: Venue → Airport (travelers departing)

These aren't just the same route in reverse. They have fundamentally different grouping strategies:

Incoming groups by arrival time, airport, and terminal pickup zone. Travelers must be at the same curb at the same time.

Outgoing groups by departure time and airport only. Everyone departs from the venue, so terminal separation doesn't apply. SeatMax adds a 2-hour buffer before flight departure time to ensure travelers arrive at the airport with time to spare.

When creating an event in SeatMax, you set incoming and outgoing dates independently:

- Incoming dates: Aug 29–30 (travelers arriving over two days) - Outgoing dates: Aug 31 (everyone departs the same day)

Each direction groups separately. A traveler arriving Aug 29 and departing Aug 31 gets two ride assignments — one for each leg. They can opt into one or both.

SeatMax also handles the common case where some travelers arrive a day early or stay an extra night. Each date is grouped independently, so early arrivals get their own vehicles on the first day.

For outgoing rides, SeatMax works backward from each traveler's flight departure time:

- Flight departs at 3:00 PM → Traveler needs to be at the airport by 1:00 PM → Ride departs the venue around 12:00–12:30 PM (depending on drive time)

Travelers with departures within a similar window are grouped together. Someone with a 2:30 PM flight and someone with a 3:15 PM flight would share a ride — the earlier flight has plenty of buffer, and the later flight is still on schedule.

This 2-hour buffer is the default and works well for domestic flights. For international departures (which typically require earlier check-in), Planners can adjust the buffer per event.

The savings from outgoing rides are often even better than incoming, because:

1. No terminal separation — Everyone departs from the same venue, so groups can be larger 2. More predictable timing — Departure times are known in advance with no delay risk 3. Easier coordination — The Captain can gather the group at the hotel lobby

SeatMax calculates and reports savings for each direction independently, so you can see exactly how much each leg saves.