December 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

British Airways Direct NDC Integration

Spotnana has added a direct NDC integration with British Airways, providing travelers with expanded content and fare options. Travelers can also:

• Book British Airways flights without incurring a GDS fee, resulting in lower prices.

• Access more competitive, lower fares via continuous pricing.

• Make self-service booking modifications and cancellations, without agent involvement.

• Easily manage flight changes in the case of a flight disruption.

• View personalized seat maps based on their frequent flier status.

In addition, travelers can now be serviced by TMC agents or by agents at British Airways, and changes will be reflected across both the airline and Spotnana.

For details on all our direct NDC integrations, see our NDC Overview. 

Travel Management

Site messaging: Expanded targeting options

Site messaging provides company administrators with the ability to efficiently display messages to company employees within Spotnana’s desktop UI, mobile app, and traveler emails. We have expanded the audience configuration options to include the ability to message users based on:

• Origin city - The city the traveler is departing from

• Origin country/region - The country or region the traveler is departing from

• Destination city - The city the traveler is heading to

  • In the case of a multi-city booking, the site message will be displayed if any of the destinations match the selected criteria.

• Destination country/region - The country or region the traveler is heading to

  • In the case of a multi-city booking, the site message will be displayed if any of the destinations match the selected criteria.

The above is applicable when messaging is configured to be shown on the Search result page, Checkout page, and Itinerary email. 

For more details, see Configure site messaging.

Booking restrictions: Restrict by user country

The Booking restrictions page allows company administrators to restrict specific users from being able to book travel. Previously, administrators could only set these booking restrictions per user or per legal entity (all users within that legal entity). We have expanded this to now allow administrators to also set booking restrictions per country (at the user or legal entity level). 

For more details, see Restrict users from booking.

Enhanced HR data upload monitoring with Activity Feed updates

We now provide clients with an enhanced way to monitor HR data uploads on the Spotnana platform. Clients can upload their HR data through several methods, including:

• Manual uploads via the platform (UI entry or CSV upload)

• Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP)

• HRIS integration

• Direct API integration

For HR file uploads performed through the UI (via CSV upload) or SFTP, company administrators can now view the upload status in an Activity Feed on the Travelers page. This provides real-time updates on the status of uploads, such as completed uploads or errors, along with the source of the upload (e.g., SFTP).

To view the Activity Feed, select Users from the Program menu. The Travelers page will be displayed. Click the Activity Feed icon in the top right corner. This will expand a panel on the right hand side of your screen, displaying upload activity. You can filter upload records to view specific statuses, including:

• Success

• Failure

• Pending

• Partial Failure 

For more details, see Upload user profile records.

New company report: Negotiated Savings

Company and TMC administrators are now able to view a new report named Negotiated Savings. This report provides insight into the savings achieved through company negotiated rates and TMC negotiated rates for Sabre bookings. The report features high level metrics on total negotiated savings while offering the ability to drill down into detailed information, such as savings by booking type, travel provider, and more. 

Within the Negotiated Savings report, administrators can gain insight into:

• Negotiated savings over time and negotiated savings per booking. 

• Effective discount obtained through negotiated savings across all bookings.

• Cumulative and monthly negotiated savings.

• Negotiated savings by rate type, including the percentage of company-negotiated savings vs TMC-negotiated savings.

• Spend, savings, and discounts by booking type (air, hotel, car, rail) and vendor name.

• Negotiated savings and effective discount by vendor and booking type.

• Detailed transaction-level data.

To view this report, select Company reports from the Analytics menu. Then expand the Savings category on the side navigation and select Negotiated Savings. You can use the menu and sub-filters along the top of the report to refine the data you are looking for. 

For more details, see Negotiated Savings report.

Events

The features below are only applicable to partners and customers who have Events enabled.

Enable TMC agents and administrators to manage client events

Provided the Events feature is enabled, TMC agents and administrators can now access, troubleshoot, and manage Events across all the organizations they oversee. This includes:

• Organization selector: Allows TMC agents and administrators to toggle between organizations on the Events listing page, with the default set to their own organization. Once the organization is selected, all information displayed will be for events associated with that organization (until a different organization is selected).

• Full management permissions: Upon selecting an organization, TMC agents and administrators gain permissions equivalent to an event coordinator within that organization – enabling them to create and manage events, diagnose issues, and provide comprehensive support.

• White-glove services: TMCs can manage setup and configuration for clients interested in premium service offerings.

For a quick overview of events, see Events overview.

Create shell PNR and/or outside booking for all booking types

TMC agents and administrators now have the ability to create Shell PNRs or outside bookings for all booking types, regardless of the permissions set within the Event. This offers greater flexibility, ensuring agents and administrators are not restricted when booking for travelers.

Configure allowed flight types

When creating an Event, event coordinators now have the ability to set Allowed flight types. This includes:

• One way

• Round-trip

• Return location can differ from departure location 

The last option above supports those travelers who need to book a multi-city flight. By default, all flight types are allowed. For more details, please see Create and publish an event (Administrators only).

Filter by booking status

When viewing the Travelers table within an Event, event coordinators now have the ability to filter by booking status for the allowed booking types. Travelers can be filtered by:

• Booked

• Not booked

• Opted out

For more details, please see Create and publish an event (Administrators only).

TMC Infrastructure

Self-service support page building

TMC administrators can now customize Support page(s) in their platform instance, tailoring content to specific audiences. This self-service functionality empowers TMCs to:

• Configure support information: Manage support and contact information at the TMC level across customers and at the organization level for individual customers.

• Customize page content: Use headers, labels, and rich-text editing to add elements such as detailed instructions for travelers and links to additional resources.

• Target support content based on audience: Ensure the right travelers see the appropriate information by targeting content according to:

  • Country: Determined by the traveler's legal entity.

  • Traveler tier: Standard or VIP.

  • Traveler type: Employee or Guest.

• Preview Content: Verify that the Support page displays correctly for the intended audiences.

To configure your Support page, select TMC Setting from the Program menu. The TMC Configuration page will be displayed. Then, select Support from the Customize section in the side navigation. The Support page configuration section will be displayed. 

For additional information on how to configure support pages, please contact your Partner Success Manager and they will provide you with instructions.

Agent Experience

Agent notes to travelers

We have improved the user experience for when agents need to leave a note for a traveler. To add a note, click on Trips from the main menu and select the appropriate trip, then click the notes icon in the top right corner.

The following updates have been made:

• Expanded note options: Agents can now add notes at multiple levels within a trip and its related bookings. This includes the Add notes feature at the following levels:

  • Trips

  • Flight bookings: Segment and leg levels

  • Other bookings: Hotel, rail, limo, and miscellaneous bookings

• Unified side panel: All notes are now displayed in a single, easy-to-access side panel, making it more intuitive for agents to add and review notes.

• Relevant canned responses: Canned responses have been enhanced to display only the most relevant options based on the booking type. This update also introduces new, context-specific canned responses tailored to various booking categories, ensuring agents have quick access to the right replies for each scenario.

• Audit history: Agents can now view an audit history of who added each note and when, enhancing transparency and accountability.

Optimized notifications: Travelers will now receive notifications regarding notes when opening their trip, as well as push notifications when opening the mobile app. Additionally, a 'read' state is maintained, so the notification will disappear once the traveler opens and reads the note in the side panel.

Developer Experience

Enhancements to the Spotnana Developer Portal

The Spotana Developer Portal contains API documentation and guides to help our partners integrate with Spotnana and develop custom solutions on our Travel-as-a-Service platform. We have upgraded our developer portal to include the following enhancements:

• Search functionality has been improved. We now support the ability to search by Documentation, API reference, or all in the search flow.

• The API testing functionality (the 'Try It' option) has been improved to enhance usability.

• Native support for API versioning.

• The overall design of the user interface has been improved. The site now supports both light and dark mode.

To view our API documentation, visit the Spotana Developer Portal.

Change log management

Developers can now access a Change log in the Spotnana Developer Portal. With each release, all updates to Spotnana’s public-facing APIs are automatically documented in the Change log, located in the portal's Releases section.

To view our API documentation, visit the Spotana Developer Portal.