September 2023 - Release Notes

Modified on Thu, 28 Sep, 2023 at 5:22 PM

September 2023 - Release Notes

Content

Deutsche Bahn (DB) Rail

Deutsche Bahn rail content is now available to travelers. Travelers can book all German domestic and international fares via Deutsche Bahn, apply any relevant railcards, and access both seat reservations and comfort options like quiet car seats and in-seat meals for all bookings. We also support bookings for Deutsche Bahn codeshares on OBB, SNCF, and SBB trains.

Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) Rail

Swiss rail content is now available to travelers. Travelers can book all Swiss domestic and international fares via SBB, apply any relevant railcards, and depart or arrive from all Swiss stations including bus terminals. In addition, we support bookings for codeshares OBB, SNCF, and Deutsche Bahn trains.

Traveler Experience

Rail: Enhanced fare rules

Travelers can now view all fare conditions, along with any amenities they will receive, for each leg of their rail journey, even when there are multiple rail carriers involved.

Rail: Seat reservations and preferences

Travelers can pay to reserve a seat and, where available, can provide their seat preferences when booking a European rail trip. Preferences can be set per carrier or by leg of a trip and can include preferred position (aisle, window, etc.), deck (upper or lower), seat type (normal, table, sleeper bed), seat direction (forward or backward), sitting near coach number, and sitting near seat number.

Rail: Comfort options

Comfort options are supplemental products for rail trips like an in-seat meal or a quiet cabin seat. Travelers can now purchase these options, where available from the carrier, for any leg of a European rail journey when booking their ticket.

Rail: Amenities

Dynamic amenity details are now available during the rail search process for all available rail providers, showing the details of what travelers can expect from each rail leg, such as Wi-Fi and cafe car access. Spotnana is the first to provide multi-carrier trips with support for accurate amenity details for each leg of a trip.

Traveler preferences for hotel, car, and rail

Travelers are now able to set their preferences for hotel, car, and rail bookings (previously, only air was allowed). Travelers can also set their preferred airports and rail stations, which makes it easy to add these locations to searches with one click. These settings are accessed within the traveler Profile.

Travel Management

Air unused credits report

Company administrators can now access an Air Unused Credits report to understand the state of unused credits within their organization. The report includes the value of used credits, unused credits, credits expiring next month, and more. This report can be found under the Analytics > Company reports menu.

Configuration options for service fee payment method and visibility

Company administrators can now select a payment method to be used just for service fees as well as set whether travelers will see the service fee amount on their Checkout page, Trip page, and email confirmation. These settings can be found under Program > Company > Service fee.

Customization of country-level restriction reason

Administrators can now customize the message that appears when travelers search for a restricted country. This setting can be found under Program > Company > Safety.

Correction of "allow if cheaper" cabin class upgrade logic

Previously our logic compared the most expensive ticket within a cabin class with the cheapest option in the next cabin class up. We've updated this based on feedback to compare the cheapest in-policy options for the two cabin classes.

Separate advance booking window requirements for domestic and international flights

The advance booking window policy rule for flights can now be set separately for domestic and international flights. This setting can be found under the Program > Policies menu.

Modified Lowest Logical Fare to allow 30 minute increments

Lowest Logical Fare layover and flight duration settings now allow 30 minute increments. This setting can be found under the Program > Policies > Flight menu.

Default logic for "allow if cheaper" refundable air tickets policy rule

When non-refundable air tickets are set as in policy, travelers can now book a refundable ticket if it is cheaper than the non-refundable ticket. Policy settings for cabin upgrades can be found under the Program > Policies > Flight menu.

SFTP Upload Option for Custom Field Responses

Admins can now create a custom field and use SFTP to send over response options mapped to the field ID in addition to uploading response options via CSV or manually entering them in the Spotnana OBT. Using SFTP can be beneficial for organizations with a long list of field options or field options that may need to be frequently updated.