November 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

RyanAir direct connection

Spotnana has built a direct connection with RyanAir. This provides travelers with expanded content and fare options. With this integration, customers can:

• Access RyanAir content and fare options from all points of sales (POS)

• Book RyanAir flights without incurring a GDS fee, resulting in lower prices

• Access two additional fare options that are not available via GDS, namely Regular and Plus

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

Travel Management

Single sign-on (SSO) self-service setup

Company administrators can now configure Spotnana to connect to their Identity Provider (IdP) on their own. This allows them to support single sign-on (SSO) directly within the Spotnana platform. Once configured, your users will no longer need to enter a Spotnana-specific user ID and password and will instead use SSO to access Spotnana.

To configure your SSO connection, select Company from the Program menu. Then, select Integrations from the Configuration section in the side navigation. The Integrations page will be displayed. Then select the SSO tab. This will show three standard authentication methods supported by Spotnana:

• OpenID Connect

• SAML

• Google Standard

After selecting one of the above configuration options, you will see instructions relevant to setting it up. Once you have configured Spotnana to connect to your IdP (or have edited an existing connection), you will be prompted to test the configuration. For more details, see Configure Spotnana Single Sign-on (SSO) for your identity provider.

Note: If you do not connect to an IdP for SSO, your users will be required to enter their Spotnana ID and password. 

This feature is not automatically enabled. If no authentication methods are displayed on the Integrations page, this means that SSO self-service setup has not been enabled for your account. If you do not see it available and would like to enable it, please contact our client support team. 

CO2 emissions data from ATPCO

When booking travel in the Spotnana platform, travelers can view emissions data throughout the booking process to help inform their decisions. Additionally, company administrators can access analytics to track the carbon impact of their organization's travel. By default, Spotnana displays Atmosfair’s carbon emissions data for flights. Our open platform also allows integration with other carbon calculators.

Now, company administrators can select ATPCO for CO2 emissions data related to air travel. This option is available in addition to existing choices such as Atmosfair (air only), Google Flights (air only), and Thrust Carbon (for air, hotels, rail, and car rentals). 

For more details, please see Carbon emission calculations.

If you would like to enable CO2 emissions data from ATPCO or need further information, please contact Spotnana client support.

Preferred name standardization

When travelers specify their preferred first names in the platform, that preferred name is now displayed throughout the Spotnana platform. Their legal name is only displayed where required for agreement with travel documents. 

Preferred first names are displayed in traveler searches, booking processes, emails, and more across the platform. Legal names still appear in the Traveler details section in Checkout and on tickets. Travel administrators and agents can search for a traveler by either their legal or preferred first name. This improves the experience for arrangers, approvers, and agents who know travelers by their preferred names and ensures we respect the traveler’s preferences.

TMC Infrastruture

Traveler tier assignments (Standard and VIP)

TMC administrators now have the ability to designate travelers as either Standard or VIP within the platform. This allows TMCs to assign VIP status to premier-tier individuals and gives TMCs the ability to:

• Configure separate trip fees for VIP travelers

• Filter company reports by Traveler Tier

• Use the Show only VIP filter in the Travelers table to identify VIP travelers (on the Users page under the Program menu) 

To configure a traveler’s tier, select Users from the Program menu. The Travelers page will be displayed listing the company’s travelers. Select a traveler. Then assign the Tier (VIP or Standard) within the Traveler information section. Once a traveler's tier is set to VIP, both TMC admins and TMC agents will see a VIP status label in the agent companion view. This signifies the traveler’s VIP tier.

Agent Experience

Improved user interface for Manual Form

We have overhauled and redesigned the Manual Form, which is used by travel agents to create and manage bookings that occur outside of Spotnana. Now, agents can more easily make manual updates to a traveler’s trip in the Spotnana platform. With this update, the following enhancements have been made:

• There are now separate, dedicated processes for editing, exchanging, or canceling bookings.

• Manual forms now capture the name of the person requesting the update. Agents are now prompted to enter this information when making edits.

Limo Shell PNR

We are building comprehensive support for travelers and agents to book, exchange, and cancel limo reservations in the Spotnana platform. This functionality will be released in phases, starting with this first step.

Agents can now create a Shell PNR for limo bookings directly from the Spotnana Trips page. A Shell PNR allows an agent to manually create a booking through a GDS and ensure the booking is visible in Spotnana. 

Once a Shell PNR has been created in Spotnana’s platform, a new PNR record will be generated in the Sabre GDS. Key booking details, including the passenger’s name, address, contact information, and payment information, will be automatically filled in within the Sabre GDS and GroundSpan Sabre app. After completing the booking in the GroundSpan Sabre app, the reservation will be automatically tracked on the Spotnana Trips page. All relevant data will be captured in Spotnana’s Trips API and Analytics, and data is also shared with a TMC’s back office system. Additionally, any modifications or cancellations will be tracked automatically, eliminating the need for agents to use a manual form to record those updates.