The hits keep on coming with AA! Our policy allows travelers to book outside of our TMC if they can prove a cost savings of at least $25 for Domestic travel and $100 for International travel. The comparison has to be documented at the time of booking. Unfortunately with NDC, travelers are noticing the price difference and are qualifying for the exception to book direct with the airline. If I get questions about pricing, I am relaying all of the information I can so that people can make fully informed decisions (and not just book based on price) but ultimately it's up to them to decide how to proceed. I just reached out to our TMC to see if they will be working to become a "preferred partner agency" or not. Travelers paying more University money for their airfare is one thing, but not earning frequent flyer miles when they travel will be a hard thing to overcome.

I anticipate that airlines will increasingly distance themselves from conventional TMC corporate programs. As a higher education institution operating without a mandated program, I have initiated conversations with airlines to establish a direct booking channel. Not all are ready but they are interested.

My aim is to secure direct to airline discount agreements that encompass ancillary fees such as complimentary seat selection, ticket name changes, and free checked baggage allowances. I have one Canadian airline so far where I use a government TMC traditional agreement and I'm starting to slowly roll out the direct channel agreement.

Given that travelers will continue to utilize a variety of channels to compare flight prices, including direct airline channels, particularly those with loyalty programs, it seems prudent to prioritize meeting their needs effectively while gaining visibility on their travel and hopefully providing value.

Although this approach may pose challenges in terms of managing data, I am confident that advancements in IT systems (internal/external) will facilitate the sorting and organization of actionable information across diverse channels.

Judith
The University of British Columbia

We here at UC San Diego are being faced with a very quick decision to make; do we allow Concur to show American Airline fares but not book (agent bookings only) or do we allow American Air bookings to take place in Concur but our TMC re-shops the ticket?

Neither option is ideal. Either way incurs additional agency service fees. NDC content will not display in Concur's Trip Library nor will it flow into Concur Expense. It adds layers of traveler confusion that we aren't sure we can communicate adequately for.

Does anyone in the SCTEM community have feedback about how they're handling this content right now, or what the plan is in moving forward?

Thank you!
Kelsey
UC San Diego

We're being asked to implement Travel Fusion while we await the ability to turn on the Evolution of Travel (we're on Apollo). This will pull NDC fares into Concur and make them accessible to the agents as well. It does come at an additional cost but this is quickly offset by the savings on NDC fares.

There are some considerations that you need to keep in mind regarding Frequent Flyer Accounts and enrollment in UCSD's AAdvantage Business account. I'm still waiting full clarification but there are differences between how long unused ticket credits last for and what service the TMC can provide to NDC tickets they book.

No easy answers here!

Travel Fusion will only pull certain carriers and fares, not all NDC content. We have it enabled with mixed results (we too are Apollo). NCD data and Edifact data cannot currently co-exist in Concur if your TMC is on Apollo. We have TripLink turned on and have found this is best current work around. We will be looking at all options in the near future to determine the one(s) that offer the best content while supporting our 3 main goals of savings, visibility into the disposition of tickets, and duty of care.