This journey’s strategy. Customers who stall at the bid are not short of interest, they are short of confidence. Build it at the moment of doubt: the screen answers first, one message answers the rest. The full statement and the case: the campaign brief tab.
For the CRM team and the Braze developer. The journey as it runs today and as it should run by phase, then the Phase 1 build: one row per send Braze builds, with what starts it, what stops it and what it needs. The words per version are on the Design brief; the full logic per row, and the copy of record, sit on the Decisioning matrix.
Phase 1 ships on Braze and Analytics with no app release; Phase 2 is anything that needs engineering.
| The build | Fires on | Caps, and what stops it | What it needs, and what is open |
|---|---|---|---|
| The watched route opens Braze Push, Email: push where held, else email, one alert per opening Phase 1 | The route’s auction window opens or coverage goes live: a supply event, not a clock. Today’s send runs as a day-1 batch at 9:00am on the matched alert, live since 13 Apr 2026, with no exception events, no property filters and no quiet hours (console-confirmed 14 Aug 2026). | One alert per opening per customer. The episode is already closed: setting the watch closed it. Stops: Won, bought and closed suppressions added; never sends beside the bidding-has-started push for the same opening. | The existing matched-alert event (window-open fix, Braze only); a new coverage-live supply event for the coverage half (phase 2). Alert requests reach Braze daily, but nothing records a watch removed and their warehouse copy is unconfirmed, so a has-an-active-alert segment cannot be built yet: on the engineering record.
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| The abandoned search Braze Push, Email: push where held, else email Phase 1 | Search-episode read: the last search of the episode with no auction opened, no bid, no purchase and no new session since. Arm A next day (batch); arms B and C 30 minutes and two hours after the last search (real time). A later search in the episode resets the clock and replaces the earlier one. | One send per search episode; the episode's two-touch cap is shared with the recovery spine (rows 8 and 9); never more than one abandoned-search send per customer in seven days. Stops: Any bid, purchase, auction opened or new session since; the searched date passed with no alternative on the route (silence); a dead-end result (row 6 owns it); live disruption on the route; power users; an open support contact; any owned Journey 4 or 5 episode; quiet hours. The instant option never renders where the train carries no Buy Upgrade Now or the whole party cannot be seated: the bid-only copy sends. Every auction on the searched date has closed by send time while the train has not yet left: no send. Once the date has passed, the date-passed copy sends instead (Your {route} trip has been and gone). The walk-up line renders only where the walk-up is above the floor; otherwise the push and email carry the floor alone (bid from {floor}). | search event payload, episode stamp, buy upgrade now flag The search event with origin, destination, travel date, party size, results count, lowest opening bid, walk-up fare, session id and timestamp, into the warehouse (arm A) and Braze in real time (arms B, C); the search-episode stamp; the results deep link with the search restored; Analytics: the unaided-return curve, the holdout and minimum detectable effect, the depth and frequency traits for the later arm; the Buy Upgrade Now availability flag and the whole-party availability check (Journey 4’s engineering rows, consumed here) for the instant option.
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| The recovery message Braze Push, Email: push where held, else email Phase 1 | Still unfinished at the next-day batch read: no bid, no purchase, no new funnel session since the abandon. The deepest step reached stamps the episode (search-only is the shallowest and is owned by row 7b); a deeper abandon upgrades it in place, never opens a second episode. | Two touches per episode, then silence. Day 7 closes every episode and hands back to Journey 5. Stops: While the legacy abandoned-auction pushes still fire on this cohort, no recovery sends from this journey: replace, never stack. Power users suppressed from the whole spine. One owner per customer: a live bid means Journey 4 owns them. The auction has closed or the train has left by send time: no send (checked when each touch sends, from the episode’s auction close time). The recent-wins band renders only when its top is at or above the current opening bid; otherwise the no-band version (Sam Ayles, 13 Oct 2026). | episode stamp, legacy audit The deepest-step episode stamp (warehouse batch, buildable today; the funnel mart lags about six days so the batch rides the raw streams); the legacy-pair reach audit; the journey-ownership flag, an open decision that gates launch; the Analytics-sized holdout; the auction id and its close time on the episode record, so a closed auction cancels the send. The saved-bid store (and the bid-amount event, paused with the confirm screen on 5 Oct 2026): Sheran’s answer to Dirk of 29 Sep 2026, no message mentions a saved amount until it is built.
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| The second touch Braze Push, Email: the other channel, or again on the one held Phase 1 | Touch 1 unseen at the +22 hour check, in-canvas. | Two touches per episode, hard. Day 7 closes the episode and hands back to Journey 5. Stops: Any bid, purchase or new funnel session exits instantly at any point. The auction has closed or the train has left by send time: no send. The recent-wins band renders only when its top is at or above the current opening bid; otherwise the no-band version (inherited from row 8). | Nothing beyond row 8’s spine.
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| Permission at peak intent Braze In-App Message Phase 1 | Entering the lead, per the signed row. | Owned by the signed row. Stops: Owned by the signed row. | Nothing from this journey. |
Build paused until written sign-off. Every build carries its exit, cap and suppression; a control group is verified real, never assumed; Liquid never renders raw; a dependency that does not exist yet is flagged, not faked.
| The treatment | Who it reaches | Why it waits |
|---|---|---|
| The results banner Tooltip Card At The Price, Braze In-App Message | Everyone who reaches the search results, by customer state | Waits on an app release. |
| The cabin coachmark, priced Native Screen Or Modal | Customers on Avanti routes, the first time the Standard Premium and First Class toggle shows | Waits on an app release. |
| The price comparison on the auction screen Native Screen Or Modal | Customers dwelling or cancelling at an auction’s price view | Waits on an app release. |
| The enter-amount stall Native Card, Braze Copy | Everyone who opens the bid flow; the card forks by bid history: never bid, bid before, power user | An app surface (native card, braze copy), so an app build, not a Braze one. |
| The last-step check · native screen or modal Native Screen Or Modal | Everyone who reaches the confirm screen | PAUSED 5 OCT 2026 No change at the confirm screen for now: Journey 3 does not intervene at this step. Removed as a requirement for this journey. |
| The last-step check · Braze push, email Braze Push, Email: push where held, else email | Confirm-screen abandoners: about 10,300 a month on the assumed split | PAUSED 5 OCT 2026 No message is sent when a customer leaves at the confirm screen, for now. Removed as a requirement for this journey; the confirm-abandon event (D6) is parked with it. |
| The dead-end answer Native Screen Or Modal | Searchers whose route is not covered, or whose auction window has not opened | Waits on an app release. |
| The abandoned search Braze Push, Email: push where held, else email | Searchers who saw results for a route and left without opening an auction, and did not come back on their own | Waits on an app release. |