How To Use The ESA VACATION APP

The ESA VACATION app has a simple menu that puts relevant information about the lottery as well as your personal status and account information at your figertips.  Take some time to explore the features, such as round eligibility, viewing your existing selections, viewing the grid for available options etc.  Every aspect of the lottery can be carried out via the app on your phone.  Most Ipads and android tablets may be used.

The DASHBOARD is our “Vacation Grid” showing all options available for the entire calendar year.  It is scrollable and should look familiar to ESA providers who participated in previous lotteries.  The Dashboard has two views with a toggle icon in the upper right,  The default view resembles our traditional view for previous lotteries, where the entire grid scrolls as one piece.  On the alternate view, weeks scroll independently.  The alternate view has formatting built in on the left side of the screen showing, for each week, the # of slots available, weeks almost full (orange font), and weeks that are closed (shaded red) - without the need for scrolling.

The MENU drops down on the left and has the following options:

1.        Selections Summary (your picks thus far in the lottery – will display N/A initially)

2.        Lottery info (current active round, Pick # currently live, your pick #, your total weeks allowed, and weeks remaining to pick). Some of these will display as N/A or zero initially or between lottery rounds.

3.        Round eligibility (shows which rounds you will get to participate in- all show as ineligible before a lottery is set up)

4.   Account information (you can change your password here).  You cannot change your email or phone number - notify administrator if there is an error.

5.        Round #’s (only those YOU are eligible for are displayed- may not see any initially)

An email will be sent to kick off the lottery.  During an active lottery round, you’ll be prompted (when your turn arrives) to view the vacation grid and select a vacation week ASAP to keep the lottery moving along at an acceptable pace.  Tap on the active ROUND # to get a drop-down menu with available week numbers.  View availability on the DASHBOARD, but select a week in the drop-down menu after tapping on a ROUND #.  BEFORE you confirm your vacation week for the current round, you can also select an earlier round and change a prior vacation pick.  Future rounds will not be accessible and are not "tappable".  You have access to all GREEN cells in the grid during your turn.  All selections and changes will appear on the grid in real time (allow up to 1 minute for the grid to refresh). Once you confirm your pick for the current round, you still have 5 minutes to change your mind (OOPS! I clicked the wrong one!!). After 5 minutes, your turn is officially ended and the next person is alerted to pick.  If you don’t pick within 24 hours, the lottery moves on, and you must contact the lottery administrator to execute a late pick.

Below are step by step instructions with screen shots that may assist you, especially during ROUND 1, if using the app for the first time:

1) Check your status by viewing Lottery Info.  

2) Confirm that your Round Eligibilty matches your expectations.

3) When you receive an email or text indicating it is your turn to make a vacation selection, view the grid for open weeks displayed in green.

4) With the desired week # and dates in mind, tap on ROUND 1 in the menu and select that week from the drop-down list.

5) Remember to tap CONFIRM after making the selection.  Otherwise your turn has not ended and your name is not added to the grid.  A confirmation message will flash up at the bottom of your screen.  You can view the grid to visually confirm your name in the selected week (allow time to refresh).

6) You still have 5 mintues to change your mind before the lottery moves on the next provider.  LOTTERY INFO will still show your turn as active until that 5 minute grace period has ended.  At the end of 5 minutes, whatever week you last entered, if any, will become your official pick.