May 2026 - Release Notes

Here are the most recent enhancements to Spotnana’s Travel-as-a-Service Platform. The features are grouped by functional category (Content, Self-service, etc.).

Content

Air Canada direct NDC and Flight Pass integration

Spotnana has added a direct NDC integration with Air Canada, providing travelers with expanded content and fare options. We are also one of the first to offer a direct integration with Air Canada Flight Pass, allowing travelers to seamlessly redeem prepaid flight credits within Spotnana’s travel platform.

Through our direct integration, travelers can:

• Access lower prices – Benefit from continuous pricing, which offers additional and more competitive price points compared to traditional EDIFACT bookings.
• Redeem Flight Pass credits – View and book Flight Pass offers alongside regular fares, with Spotnana automatically selecting the best-fit flight pass for the journey.
• Shop corporate rates – Access all retail and private fares, including company-negotiated corporate fares.
• Manage trips via self-service – Perform flight exchanges and cancellations directly within Spotnana without agent involvement.
• View personalized seat maps – Access seat maps that reflect loyalty status for Aeroplan and partner loyalty programs, with support for pre-booking seat selection.
• Experience synchronized servicing – Choose to be serviced by either a TMC agent or an Air Canada agent, with all changes reflected on both the Air Canada website and Spotnana system.

For details on all our direct NDC integrations, see our NDC and Direct Connections - Overview.

Traveler Experience

Connecting airport filter for flight search

Travelers can now filter flight results by preferred connecting airports, making it easier to find routes that align with personal preferences or company travel policies. Simply select one or more layover locations to surface relevant itineraries and avoid unwanted connection options. When the Nonstop filter is applied, the connecting airport filter is automatically disabled to ensure a streamlined experience. This enhancement reduces the need to manually scan results to exclude unwanted layover locations and helps travelers identify ideal routes faster.

For more details on booking a flight, see Book a flight.

Filter settings retained for round trip flight searches

We’ve improved the flight booking flow by ensuring traveler search preferences carry over across flight selections in both round-trip and multi-city bookings. Previously, travelers had to reapply filters (such as preferred airlines or number of stops) for each segment of their trip. Now, we automatically apply compatible filters as travelers move forward through each leg of their itinerary.

Key capabilities include:

• Filter persistence – Selections for airlines, alliances, stops, fare classes, cabins, and flight credits are automatically applied to subsequent flight results.
• Smart time handling – Time-based filters (departure and arrival windows) are intentionally not retained, as timing preferences often vary by leg.
• Compatibility checks – If a selected filter isn’t available for a given leg (for example, a chosen airline doesn’t operate that route), we apply all compatible filters and notify travelers of any exclusions.
• Clear visual indicators – An on-screen message indicates when filters have been pre-populated from a previous selection, with a one-click “Reset all” option to start fresh.
• Traveler control – Travelers can modify or remove carried-over filters at any point without affecting previously selected legs.

For more details on booking a flight, see Book a flight.

Travel Management

Hotel policy configuration: Recommended maximum rate

We’ve introduced a new Recommended maximum rate policy rule that supports dynamic policy management for hotels. Unlike fixed rate caps, this rule dynamically adjusts hotel budget limits based on real-time market conditions at the traveler’s destination.

Key capabilities include:

• Dynamic, market-based budgeting: Set hotel limits relative to the average rate of available inventory. Budgets automatically adjust based on destination pricing, and hotels exceeding the calculated threshold are clearly marked as out of policy with corresponding messaging.
• Configurable budget buffer: Define a percentage or fixed amount above the average rate to designate the maximum allowed rate per policy.
• Customizable calculation criteria: Use star rating ranges and search radius settings to control which hotels are included in the average rate calculation.
• Flexible cost inclusion: Choose whether taxes and fees are included in the maximum recommended rate calculation.
• Traveler transparency: Ability to display the maximum recommended rate in search results, helping travelers understand budget thresholds when booking.

This update enables more flexible, scalable hotel policy management while ensuring travelers can book appropriate accommodations in any market.

To learn more, see Maximum recommended hotel rate.

Rules exception by preferred hotel tier

We’ve centralized hotel tier exception management into a single, dedicated section within the hotel policy configuration. Previously, administrators had to configure exceptions individually within each restrictive rule—such as property type or keyword blocking—resulting in repetitive setup steps and a fragmented view of policy overrides. 

This update introduces a matrix interface that allows administrators to manage exceptions across multiple rules from one location.

Key highlights:

• Centralized matrix interface: Easily manage exceptions using a grid where rows represent policy rules and columns represent preferred hotel tiers (tiers 1-6).
• Efficient configuration: Use "Select all" functionality for rows, columns, or the entire matrix to apply or remove exceptions instantly across your travel program.
• Automatic migration: Existing tier exceptions from property type and keyword blocking rules have been automatically moved to the new matrix, maintaining your current policy settings without interruption.
• Simplified rule management: Redundant exception controls have been removed from individual policy rules, providing a cleaner and more streamlined setup experience.

To learn more, see Set hotel policy rule exceptions by preferred tier.

Automated invoice delivery via email

Travelers can now receive invoices automatically via email, eliminating the need to manually download them from the Payment details module.

Key capabilities:

• Automated invoice emails: Invoices are sent as PDF attachments when generated, updated, or uploaded in Spotnana.
• Broad invoice support: Works for both Spotnana-generated invoices and TMC-uploaded invoices (via document upload API).
• Smart batching: Multiple invoices created within a short period of time are combined into a single email with multiple attachments.
• White-labeled delivery: Emails are sent from the TMC’s existing no-reply email address—no additional setup required.
• Traveler-controlled opt-in: Travelers must enable “Receipt and invoice updates” in their notification preferences to receive emails. To learn more, see Setting notification preferences.

This feature is available for organizations that have invoice generation enabled. For organizations where invoices are not currently generated through Spotnana, invoice generation must be enabled or the TMC must upload invoices via the document upload API for this feature to take effect.

For further details on enabling invoice generation for your organization, please contact your Account Manager.

Specialty Travel

Specialty travel: Flexible booking entry point

To ensure TMC agents have the necessary flexibility to manage complex travel scenarios for Specialty travel, they can now initiate flexible bookings directly from Specialty travel trips.

Key capabilities:

• Unrestricted booking flow: TMC-level users can now initiate a flexible booking directly from a Specialty travel trip, allowing them to bypass all predefined Specialty travel parameter restrictions (such as date, airport, or hotel constraints).
• Retained trip context: When using this fallback, all essential trip context—including PCC, legal entity, and existing overrides—is automatically applied, ensuring consistency across the booking flow.
• Seamless Integration: By starting from the trip details page, bookings remain linked to the correct trip throughout the checkout process, even when agents need to navigate outside standard constraints.
• Flexible entry point: From the trip details page, simply click any of the trip actions (e.g., Add Flight, Add Hotel) and select Make flexible booking from the dropdown menu to begin your search with the trip context already attached.

Specialty travel: Event level contacts

Managing the list of contacts responsible for supporting travel related to an event just got easier. Coordinators can now define event contacts once at the event level and automatically this information across all linked trips, eliminating repetitive setup and improving scalability for large events.

Key capabilities:

• Set once, apply everywhere: Event-level contacts automatically populate across all trips linked to the parent event within a group event.
• Flexible contact configuration: Control visibility (traveler vs. admin/agent only), assign a primary contact, add custom labels, and choose which details (email and/or phone) to share.
• Trip-level overrides: Individual trips can still customize contacts as needed without affecting the event-level configuration.
• Improved traveler visibility: Contacts appear on the trip details page and in invitation/reminder emails (when enabled for travelers).

This enhancement replaces the legacy event coordinator contact functionality, giving coordinators full control over which contacts are shown and what information is shared.

For details on how to view trip contacts, see View trips.

Specialty travel: Ability to upload event travelers in bulk

Coordinators can now quickly add large groups of travelers to events using bulk CSV upload, enabling scalable event management without manual entry.

Key capabilities:

• Bulk upload at scale: Add up to 5,000 travelers to an event in a single upload.
• Supports multiple traveler types: Upload existing users (matched by email) or create new company guests (e.g., candidates, spouses) in the same workflow.
• Clear, guided templates: Separate CSV templates for existing users and new guests make required fields easy to understand.
• Dynamic field support: Organization-specific required fields are automatically included in the template for new guests.
• Progress updates and results: Track the status of each upload directly in the product and receive an email notification when processing is complete, including a downloadable report with the status of each entry.

This enhancement makes it easy to manage large-scale events efficiently. To learn more, see Create, publish, and manage an event.

TMC Management

TMC Merchant of Record fee configuration

We have introduced a new TMC Merchant of Record fee capability within the TMC fee page, enabling TMCs to recover payment processing costs and monetize their role as the merchant of record (MOR) for bookings.

In most cases, a content partner (e.g., an airline) acts as the Merchant of Record (MOR), and the TMC simply passes the traveler’s payment to the supplier. However, when the TMC acts as the MOR, they incur payment gateway fees. This may occur, for example, when a travel provider does not accept credit cards or when a traveler uses split payment for a cabin class upgrade. With this enhancement, TMCs can configure a merchant fee to charge the traveler and automatically apply it to each applicable transaction.

Key capabilities:

• Cost recovery and monetization: TMCs can configure fees to recover transaction costs and optionally add a buffer for additional revenue.
• Flexible rule configuration: Modeled as a value added service, this feature allows TMCs full flexibility over how, when, and how much to charge.
• Configurable display names: TMCs can customize the name of the fee for each rule, allowing compliance with regional legal guidance regarding fee naming conventions.
• Consistent visibility: Once configured, the merchant fee is applied per transaction whenever the TMC acts as the merchant of record. Like other fee types, it is fully integrated across all traveler touchpoints, including checkout, the Trips page, trips API, consolidated itineraries and receipts.

This enhancement provides TMCs with a streamlined way to manage and pass on payment processing costs while maintaining full control over the fee structure and naming.

To learn more, see TMC fees for trips, transactions, valued added services, and agent contacts.

Agent Experience

Agent companion view enhancements

We’ve redesigned the Agent companion view to make it easier for agents to quickly access the information they need all in one place.

What’s new:

• Optimized layout: The Agent companion view now appears on the right side on each page of the Spotnana platform. Key details like traveler information and trips are more readily accessible, with a simplified structure replacing the previous multi-tab design.
• Streamlined navigation: Information is grouped into intuitive sections - Trips, Profile, Policies & more, and Notes - with collapsible views for easier navigation.
• Concise profile card: A new profile card surfaces the traveler's basic information and contact details at the top for immediate identification. 
• Trips summary: Agents can access a consolidated view of all upcoming trips and segment-level details at a glance. 
• Centralized notes: All traveler and payment notes are aggregated into a single location, making it easier to review a traveler's history and add new updates.

This update reduces complexity, improves visibility into key details, and helps agents respond to traveler needs faster and more confidently.

To learn more, see the Agent companion view resource within the Agent Training section in Spotnana University.

Developer Experience

Performance improvements for the Trips and Booking APIs

We have optimized our Trips and Booking APIs by streamlining authentication checks and reducing redundant backend calls. By migrating authorization logic directly to Trip and PNR IDs, we have eliminated multiple round-trips to the database, resulting in a faster and more responsive experience for developers and travelers alike.

Key performance improvements include:

• Faster Trips page loading – Reduced latency for the initial load of the Trips page.
• Streamlined checkout – Optimizations to the custom fields API reduce latency, with improvements of up to several hundred milliseconds in certain regions, while also laying the groundwork for further checkout enhancements.
• Improved cancellation flow – Faster retrieval of cancellation details and processing times.
• Efficient Trip creation – Improved processing speed for bookings made on behalf of others or for guest travelers.
• Enhanced Traveler Notes – Improved API response times for notes.

These optimizations have been applied across multiple core endpoints, including trip details, PNR management, and mid-office QC information. This helps deliver a faster and more responsive experience across the Spotnana platform.