August 2017 Travel Professional Edition Admin Summary
Last Update: 18 August 2017
Administration
MasterCard BIN RestrictionsMasterCard is expanding its BIN range to include new first 6-digit range 222100-272099. With this release, the Concur BIN restriction feature will accept these new numbers.
Business Purpose: This change provides additional card numbers for users.
Split Faring Engine Now Supports System-Wide Air DiscountsWith this release, Concur is pleased to announce support for the use of system-wide discount codes with Concur’s split faring engine. Now, for imperative split airlines, if a system-wide discount is configured, Concur Travel will apply the system-wide discount code to either or both airlines, if no airline-specific discount code has been configured.
Web Fares
Clarification about Travelfusion TF.PaySeveral years ago, Concur introduced a payment process called Travelfusion Merchant Payment (TF.Pay) where Travelfusion – instead of the airlines – acts as the merchant. On the Travelfusion Suppliers tab (in Travel Admin), the carriers that use this process appear with (TF.Pay) following their names.
In fact, (TF.Pay) should actually be (TF.Merchant). So with this release, the Travelfusion Travel Service Guide and the carrier list on the Travelfusion Suppliers tab will be updated to reflect (TF.Merchant) instead of (TF.Pay).
Hotel
Filter for Sold-Out HotelsWhen performing a search for hotels, users can now choose to hide sold-out hotels in the search results.
Business Purpose: Users will be able to see more relevant results.
Train
Support "View More Fares" for SilverRailBoth Renfe and Trenitalia have a wide range of fares available for each individual train trip. Currently we show all available fares in Concur. With this release, in order to improve the performance and make sure travellers can see their fares faster in the UI, Concur will change the behaviour as following:
- In the initial train results, travellers will see the lowest fare.
- When the traveller selects View More Fares, all applicable fares for the selected trains segments will be displayed.
Business Purpose: The shopping results performance will be significantly improved while travellers can still select any fare they desire.
Support Test Environment Switch for SilverRail in ProductionCurrently, for SilverRail, TMCs and clients have the option to enable the provider in a live environment only. Many TMCs and clients want to be able to test the functionality before requesting the setup. With this release, customers and TMCs will be able to enable SilverRail (Spain, Swedish and Italian train content) in test mode. This will allow customers and TMCs to test the booking flow as well as passive segments and finishing template formats without the restrictions of live bookings.
Business Purpose: This new option provides a better overall test situation for TMCs and customers.
Miscellaneous
Concur Locate Now AvailableConcur is pleased to announce that Concur Locate has successfully concluded an Early Access period and – as of August 21 – is generally available. Concur Locate is a billable service that is available to assist companies in meeting their duty-of-care requirements by providing employee location-related information. It is available to clients who also have Concur Expense and/or Concur Travel. Though it is available now with a basic feature set, it will be enhanced over time to meet all the needs of clients seeking employee location identification solutions within the Concur user interface.
Clarification – HTML Editor UpdatesIn June, the HTML editor used by admins for custom text and messaging was updated. The change was made to provide an up-to-date HTML editor utilising today’s standards including HTML5 as well as to increase the security of the HTML editor. The toolbar might contain two rows or three rows based on location, but the available options on the toolbar did not change. To clarify – all of the options on the previous toolbar are available on the enhanced toolbar. Depending on your task, you may see the three-row toolbar or you may see the two-row toolbar.
Quick Tips Section Removed from the Concur Home PageThe Quick Tips section of the Concur home page will be removed.
Business Purpose: This update removes content that may prevent the user from completing their travel and expense task with the greatest efficiency.
Microsoft IE v.10 Browser Support Ends 18 August 2017Support for Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) version 10 browsers under Concur products will end 18 August 2017. Concur strongly advises clients using IE v.10 to update to the latest IE browser version before that date, or to install and work with another supported browser.
New App Centre Connection Flow – Enterprise Application Self-Service ConnectionsConcur has added support for self-service connections to Enterprise applications from the App Centre. For applications that have enabled this connection flow, administrators can connect their Concur implementation to Enterprise partner integrations directly from the App Centre.
While connecting to an application, the administrator may see up to three types of terms and conditions. For more information, refer to this month's release notes.
Planned Innovations/Changes
The items in this section are targeted for future releases. Concur reserves the right to postpone implementation of – or completely remove – any enhancement/change mentioned here.
Administration: **Planned Innovations/Changes** Self Registration Page Settings to ChangeConcur is dedicated to protecting our customers from potential security issues. One area that requires updates is self-registration. Targeted for October, Concur will remove the ability to allow users to set passwords at registration for the self-registration pages. In addition, going forward, Concur will always require approval for new self-registrations. By removing the ability to set passwords and by forcing approval, Concur will help protect customers and their data.
Flight: **Planned Innovations/Changes** Compleat/Concur Travel Mutual CustomersAs announced last year, Concur plans to offer unique capabilities to our mutual customers using Compleat. The first step in this process is to identify the mutual Compleat and Concur Travel customers. When the PNR is populated with the configuration ID, Concur will be able to identify itineraries that will then be able to take advantage of new capabilities. The second phase will be to begin delivering the new capabilities. For more information, refer to this month's release notes.
Train: **Planned Innovations/Changes** SNCF – Improve Fare Name and Fare Rules Display for Multi-Passenger BookingsDuring 2016, Concur improved the user experience for SNCF multi-passenger bookings. The Companion page, which is displayed before the search, gives travel arrangers the opportunity to specify the companion information for the selected trips, including any discount cards that may be applicable for those travellers. This process results in having a multi-passenger booking that may include different fare types for each passenger, depending on their discount cards.
In a future release, we will improve the display to ensure that the exact fare name and fare rule information is easily identifiable for each passenger.
Train: **Planned Innovations/Changes** SilverRail – Support TrenitaliaConcur Travel currently provides rail content for US, Canada, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain and Sweden. Concur will add content for Italy (Trenitalia) to the portfolio of Concur Travel rail carriers via the existing SilverRail integration.
Trenitalia is the primary rail passenger carrier in Italy, formed in the year 2000. With Trenitalia services, users can travel almost anywhere in Italy. Trenitalia offers high-speed train services via classic intercity trains as well as regional trains.
Train: **Planned Innovations/Changes** SilverRail – Support Passive Segments for SabreFor Renfe and Swedish Rail, Concur delivered the basic features and will continue to add additional functionality in order to meet all market requirements. In the first release iteration, passive segments were not supported. To ensure that TMCs are able to view client rail bookings, Concur will start supporting passive segments for Sabre.
Train: **Planned Innovations/Changes** SilverRail – Support Passive Segments for AmadeusFor Renfe and Swedish Rail, Concur delivered the basic features and will continue to add additional functionality in order to meet all market requirements. In the first release iteration, passive segments were not supported. To ensure that TMCs are able to view client rail bookings, Concur will support passive segments starting with Amadeus, the primary GDS in Spain and Sweden.
Train: **Planned Innovations/Changes** SilverRail – Support "On Account" PaymentCurrently individual or ghost cards are supported for SilverRail bookings, with SilverRail being the merchant of records. In order to provide the option for the TMC to be the merchant of records, Concur will implement the "On Account" payment feature within Concur Travel. It allows TMCs to extend credit agreements with customers that enjoy this arrangement with other modes of transport.
Train: **Planned Innovations/Changes** Trainline – Support Mobile Bar Code Ticket Delivery TypeTrainline started supporting a new Ticket Delivery type – mTickets – which allows users to download the ticket directly on their Trainline mobile app.
mTickets can be downloaded on iOS (9.0 operating system and newer) and Android (4.1 operating system and newer). The Trainline mTickets are currently accepted by Virgin Trains West Coast, Virgin Trains East Coast, CrossCountry Trains, Greater Anglia, Northern Rail, First TransPennine Express, Heathrow Express and Great Western Railways.
For the current list of accepted routes, please visit: http://ehelp.thetrainline.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4208
Meetings: **Planned Innovations/Changes** Concur Meeting Discontinued as of 1 January 2018Concur will discontinue Concur Meeting on 01 January 2018.
Profile: **Planned Innovations/Changes** XML Profile Sync - Ongoing ChangesConcur will make adjustments to the XML Profile Sync so that it is more scalable as TMCs move from XML Profile Sync to Travel Profile API 2.0. Most of these changes involve rare cases, for example, where Concur receives unexpected data, such as alpha characters for numeric fields. As these adjustments occur, Concur will provide complete details in the release notes.
Miscellaneous: **Planned Innovations/Changes** Accessibility Setting in ProfileRecently, we stated that the accessibility feature will no longer be optional and that the feature will be defaulted to ON for all Concur sites. This change has been delayed. Additional details will be provided later.
Miscellaneous: **Planned Innovations/Changes** New Payment Option in Concur Travel: Virtual PaymentConcur Travel will be partnering with Conferma, a technology provider that works with banks and travel suppliers, to issue virtual cards for use with their network of travel suppliers across 184 countries. The first phase of the integration will apply to GDS hotels. Additional travel services (flight, train, etc.) will follow soon after.
Client Notifications
Concur Non-Affiliated SubprocessorsThe list of non-affiliated subprocessors is available here: Concur Non-Affiliated Subprocessors (English Only)
Monthly Browser CertificationsMonthly browser certifications, both current and planned, are available with the other Concur monthly release notes, accessible from What's New - Professional Edition