March 2024 - Release Notes

Modified on Thu, 14 Mar at 4:26 PM

March 2024 - 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

Rail: New European rail content

We now have rail content for Italo Treno, NS, Renfe, and SNCB. Travelers can book either standard or first class, and also have the ability to cancel their reservation, across all carriers. For Italo and Renfe, we also support the ability for travelers to choose their seat and pay for upgrades such as in-seat meals.

Traveler Experience

Flights: Improvements to the process for modifying flights

We have made enhancements to the process travelers use when modifying their flights. Now, after clicking Modify, travelers will be taken to a new Change Flight(s) page that is even easier to use. Once on that page, travelers can select the checkbox for the specific flight they want to modify and change the origin, destination, or the departure time of the flight. Travelers can then click Search Flights to search for available flights. The Flights page will then show relevant flights.

Hotel: Experience improvements

We have made the following improvements to our hotel pages:

A new and expanded photo gallery is available for all hotel properties and rooms
Travelers are now able to change dates directly from the hotel details page
Simplified filters on the hotel details page, providing travelers with the ability to easily restrict the results and find the specific room they want

For more details, see Book a hotel.

Rail: New rail experience on mobile web

We’ve rolled out a new responsive web design on mobile, providing travelers with the ability to search, book, cancel, and view their rail trips on a mobile browser.

Car & Hotel: Loyalty ID validation error improvements

To ensure travelers can easily obtain their loyalty points when booking hotel accommodations or car rentals, we added loyalty number validation to the platform. Now, when a traveler adds their loyalty number to their profile or at checkout, the platform will automatically run a validation check. If the number entered is not a valid format, the traveler will be shown an error notification. Validation is applied for the top 20 hotel chains and 12 car rental providers.

Traveler Management

Different approval methods for domestic and international air bookings

Administrators now have the ability to set different approval rules for domestic and international air travel. To do this, select Policies from the Program menu (the Default policy page will be displayed). Then, expand the General section and scroll down to the Approval section. For Air, click on Custom. This will provide you the ability to set different approval rules for domestic and international air bookings.

Configure trip fee payment method by legal entity

When configuring the payment method for trip fees, company administrators can now set a different payment method for each legal entity and have the ability to choose to show (or not show) the trip fee to travelers. To set this feature, select Company from the Program menu (the Settings page will be displayed). Then, select Service fee from the Company section. From the Trip Fee tab, administrators can add custom settings for each legal entity
If the company administrator has set a specific trip fee payment method for one or more legal entities, that payment method will be used to pay the trip fee for those legal entities. Otherwise, the default company-wide payment method for the trip fee will be used.

Enhanced airline-specific UATP & United PassPlus card configuration

We have introduced new configuration settings to the Supplier programs page. Administrators can now add UATP Travel Cards and United PassPlus cards, along with the applicable airlines.

For UATP Travel Cards, administrators can select multiple applicable airlines. For United PassPlus cards, the applicable airlines are pre-populated based on the airlines that United PassPlus has contracts with. You can remove non-applicable airlines.
For both UATP and PassPlus cards, administrators have the ability to select which users can use the selected card – administrators and agents only, everyone in the organization, or travelers linked to a specific country, legal entity, department, or cost center.

To navigate to the page, select Company from the Program menu (the Settings page will be displayed). Then, select Supplier programs from the Company section. Scroll down to the Airline program section and select Add new.

Approval Dashboard (Personal)

We have introduced an Approval Dashboard that allows approvers to view pending approvals for future bookings, as well as approvals for past bookings. To view an Approval Dashboard, approvers can click the icon with their initial in the top right corner in the platform, expand the menu, and select Approvals.

Approval Dashboard (Company)

We have introduced a company Approval Dashboard that allows administrators and agents to view and act on pending approvals for future bookings or view approvals for past bookings. For future bookings with pending approvals, administrators and agents can choose to approve or deny bookings from the dashboard.
For historic bookings that required approval, administrators and agents can view past bookings. The past bookings are grouped into four statuses:

Approved - this also shows the approver
Denied - this also shows the approver
Auto approved (based on soft approval type)
Expired (based on hard approval type)

To view the Approval Dashboard, select Approvals from the Trips menu. For more details, see Approval Dashboard.

Default Approvers

When the approver type has been set to Employee’s manager (in the policy), administrators can now add Default approvers. The default approver will be used for employees who do not have a manager configured in the system as well as for guest bookings that require approval. The default approver also serves as a backup approver when the employee’s manager is unavailable.
To add default approver(s), select Policies from the Program menu (the Default policy page will be displayed). Then, expand the General section, scroll down to Approver type, select Employee’s manager, and click Add approver. For more details, see Assign approvers.