July 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.).

Travel experience

Rail: Travelers able to book UK and European rail in the mobile app

Travelers now have the ability to book UK and European rail trips within the Spotnana mobile app. This includes all rail providers on the Spotnana platform – UK Rail (UK), Deutsche Bahn (Germany), SBB/CFF (Switzerland), SNCB (Benelux), Italo (Italy), and Renfe (Spain).

To download Spotnana’s mobile app, use the link at the bottom of the homepage in Spotnana when on desktop or mobile web. Mobile app links are included for both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. For more details, see Book a rail trip (for Europe and the UK) and Download the Spotnana mobile app. 

Rail: Self-service cancellations for rail in the mobile app

Travelers can now cancel existing rail bookings on their own within the Spotnana mobile app. This includes all rail providers on the Spotnana platform in the US, UK, and Europe – Amtrak (US), UK Rail (UK), Deutsche Bahn (Germany), SBB/CFF (Switzerland), SNCB (Benelux), Italo (Italy), and Renfe (Spain). 

To do this, select the Upcoming tab within the Trips page in the Spotnana mobile app. Then, locate the trip that contains the rail booking you wish to cancel and select it. The trip details will be displayed showing the rail bookings included in this trip. Locate the rail booking you wish to cancel and click Cancel. For details on how to perform these actions in Spotnana’s web user interface, see Cancel a rail trip (U.S. - Amtrak) and Cancel a rail trip (for Europe and the UK). 

New currencies

In support of Spotnana’s global expansion, the following thirteen additional currencies are now supported in the platform: Argentina Peso, Colombia Peso, Poland Zloty, Saudi Arabia Riyal, Turkish New Lira, China Renminbi, Indonesia Rupiah, Japan Yen, Malaysia Ringgit, New Zealand Dollar, Philippines Peso, Thailand Baht, and Vietnam Dong.

Travel Management

Company trips page enhancements

To provide company administrators with a better view into trips booked by their employees, the following enhancements have been made to the Company trips page:

• Trips are now organized within a table view

• You can filter and view trips based on status (Upcoming, Completed, Canceled, Requires attention)

• You can add or remove columns from the table view

• You can share and download itineraries directly from the table view

• You can click into a traveler’s trip by clicking on the Trip name

• You can change the number of rows shown in the table and view up to 50 results/page

To view the Company trips page, select Trips from the Company section in the Trips menu. The Company trips page will be displayed. 

Policy: Passive approval on rail

Company administrators now have the ability to select Passive approval for rail bookings when configuring their company’s policy. Passive approval can be selected for both in- and out-of- policy bookings. When Passive approval is selected, the approver receives an email notification but no action is needed from the approver. Due to rail carrier restrictions related to void periods and refundability, hard and soft approvals are not available for rail. 

To configure passive approvals, select Policies from the Program menu (the Default policy page will be displayed). Select the Default Policy under Employee or Non-employee (on the left).Then, expand the General section, scroll down to the Approval section, and locate the Rail approval process settings. Then use the menus to select the approval type for in- and out-of-policy rail bookings. For more details, see Setting approval policies and Set approval type (for bookings).

Policy: Enhancements to lowest logical fare

Lowest logical fare (LLF) functionality compares a traveler-selected fare with the lowest in-policy fare available in the same set of search results after accounting for factors such as departure time, flight time, layovers, and more. For more details, see Lowest Logical Fare (LLF) - Overview.

We have made the following enhancements to LLF, making it easier for travelers to select the most cost-effective compliant flights:

• When calculating the lowest logical fare (LLF), we now only determine a single LLF itinerary and price for any given flight (based on the maximum allowed cabin permitted for the traveler). 

• Travelers will now see a LLF recommendation for every leg of their search, guiding them during the search process instead of waiting until checkout to provide recommendations.

• If a traveler selects an out-of-policy flight leg, a box opens showing in-policy options that adhere to the LLF policy rules. Travelers can toggle through the suggested flights with just one click to find the option that meets their needs. 

• When a traveler clicks on an out-of-policy label for a specific fare during their flight search, they will now see the option to view suggestions for in-policy flight options.

• If a traveler selects an out-of-policy itinerary and a lower fare option is detected, the traveler will now receive a notification during checkout. This notification includes a link to view suggested flights and choose a less expensive fare.

These LLF enhancements are only relevant if your company has an LLF policy enabled. To set-up your LLF policy, see Configure your lowest logical fare settings for step-by-step instructions.

Detailed reporting on LLF is also available to companies with a LLF policy enabled. To access reports, select Company reports from the Analytics menu. Then, select Lowest Logical Fare from the Savings category. The report includes metrics such as missed savings, the difference in travel time for the itinerary selected, and more.

Approval Dashboard: Traveler filter

The Approval Dashboard allows company administrators and approvers to act on pending approvals for future bookings or view past bookings and their approvals. When viewing pending approvals, company administrators and approvers are now able to search and filter by traveler name. To do this, select Approvals from the Trips menu. The Approval Dashboard will be displayed, along with pending approvals. Select Traveler and then type in the traveler’s name. For more details, see Approval Dashboard.

Unused credit tracking

Rather than relying on a third-party vendor, Spotnana has built its own in-house unused credit tracking system to track Sabre unused credits and MCOs. This provides the following benefits to Spotnana customers:

• If a traveler cancels their flight, the available credits are visible instantly in the Spotnana OBT and mobile app.

• Agents are able to manually create, update, delete, and mark credits used within Spotnana’s platform. This is available for all content sources that support unused flight credits (Sabre, NDC direct integrations, and Southwest direct connect). 

Agent experience

Trip notes at the trip level

Agents now have the ability to add custom notes for travelers at the trip level. Agents can add, edit, or delete these notes. To do this, the agent selects the Upcoming tab within the traveler’s Trips page. Then, they can select the trip they'd like to add a note to. The trip details will be displayed. In the top right corner of the page, locate the notepad icon and select View trip notes. A side panel will then expand from the right side of the screen. This will show the notes history and provide the ability to add a note, edit a note, or delete an existing note. 

Once a note is added by an agent, the traveler will receive a notification on their Trips page and on the mobile app. If they have any unread notes, the traveler will also see a blue notification alert next to the notepad icon in their trip details page. 

Approval Dashboard: Organization and Traveler filters

The Approval Dashboard allows company administrators and approvers to act on pending approvals for future bookings or view past bookings and their approvals. When viewing pending approvals, TMC agents now have the ability to view and filter for approvals that apply to specific travelers and organizations within their TMC. 

To view the Approval Dashboard, select Approvals from the Trips menu. The Approval Dashboard will be displayed, along with pending approvals. To search by traveler, select Traveler and then type in the traveler’s name. To search by organization, select the dropdown filter to the left of Traveler and then type in the organization’s name. For more details, see Approval Dashboard.

Lowest logical fare check on Manual Form and Shell PNR

When an agent adds an air reservation via Manual Form or Shell PNR that has been booked outside of Spotnana, the agent is able to click the Finalize button, which then triggers a policy evaluation on the reservation. This evaluation now includes the ability to do an automated check for lowest logical fare (LLF) based on the company-configured LLF policy, if the company has enabled LLF in their policy settings. 

To do this, the agent would first create the booking via Manual Form or Shell PNR, and then click Finalize. The system automatically evaluates the LLF policy that’s configured and determines if the booking is out of policy or not.