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5.7 Release Notes

Released 29 August 2021

Release Highlights

Status

Description

Product

FEATURE

Profile Summary Modal

PLATFORM

FEATURE

Platform Header Section

PLATFORM

FEATURE

Language Selector

PLATFORM

FEATURE

New Languages - German & English (US)

PLATFORM

FEATURE

Help Centre Platform Integration

PLATFORM

BETA

Trips (Itinerary) - Flight Status

TRIPS

Platform Administration

FEATURE

Travellers Import & Export

PLATFORM

FEATURE

Amadeus Profile Sync

SYNC

A Beta version is an early version of a platform product or feature that may be incomplete when compared to the final (production) version that is yet to be released. In consideration of this, results may require to be verified via other means to confirm their accuracy. Kudos agency partners are welcomed to share feedback via Kudos Support with specifics of the request(s) submitted versus the result(s) expected.

Profile Summary Modal

The current Profile Summary modal available in Requests and the Visa Check widget has received a design change as well as enhanced to present additional Profile data, if available.

The additional data present, if available, is designed to give greater context during the Requests flow or a Visa Check, as well as insights into elements such as a user’s access level (e.g. TM - Travel Manager) and VIP status. The following provides details of Profile data elements that will be displayed, if available.

Title, First & Last Names

Known As

Access Level

  • TM - Travel Manager

  • TA - Travel Arranger

A profile without any access level indicator is assumed to hold Traveller (TR) access only.

VIP Status (only if Yes)

Employee Type (Name)

Email Address (Primary)

Department~

Cost Centre~

Employee Number~

Passport (Preferred)

  • Includes Country of Issue, Passport Number, Expiry Date

A Passport expiring soon (within 6 months) or that has expired, will be appended with a label to indicate the state of the travel document, as shown in the example above.

~ The custom label for Department, Cost Centre and Employee Number, if configured, will be presented.

Platform Header Section

To allow enhancements to be implemented as outlined within these Release Notes, the following changes have been adopted for the header section of the platform.

OLD

NEW

1️⃣

REMOVED Credits icon

2️⃣

EXISTING Access to Credits still provided via the Welcome bar option

3️⃣

NEW Language Selector

4️⃣

NEW Platform Help Centre~

5️⃣

UPDATED Travel Advice icon will present a numeric counter for the total of Country Warnings and Do not Travel~

~ Currently not supported in mobile responsive view.

Language Selector

The Language selector has been enhanced, including a repositioning to the header section of the platform. A flag icon corresponding to the language currently selected is now presented.

Selection of the flag icon in the header section will display the Language selector droplist with the currently selected language as well as alternatives to switch to if desired.

New Languages - German & English (US)

Kudos’ platform language offering now includes German (Deutsche) and English (US).

British English vs American English

The following illustrates some common British versus American English words.

colour

neighbour

color

neighbor

symbolise

organisation

symbolize

organization

cheque

favourite

check

favorite

theatre

aeroplane

theater

airplane

programme

cancelled

program

canceled

traveller

apologise

traveler

apologize

User Language Selector

A user can set their own language preference of German or English (US), if not already the default~, via the Language selector now located in the platform’s header section.

~Default locale (language) is defined by the agency’s Kudos Administration user(s) at the Agency or Travel Office profile (level). ⚠ If none is set, English (United Kingdom) will be used.

Help Centre Platform Integration

To allow an agency’s end-users (e.g. travellers) to have a more seamless transition to a help centre (knowledge base) for their platform, a Help Site option has been added to the platform’s header section. The setup of an option in the Policy Info section of a platform may have been used to date.

The Help Site option will only be shown if the agency has configured as setup in Kudos Admin.
If no setup has been made, no icon will be presented in the platform's header section.

Review & Create

Field

Description

Help Site URL*

It is recommended to use the Kudos Knowledge Base.

  • If an agency has its own platform help centre or knowledge base they would prefer to use, its URL should be set here.

Help Button Label*

It is recommended a label name for the help site option in the UI of Knowlege Base or Help Centre be used.

Help Summary

Though an optional item, the verbiage set here should be brief whilst adding additional context to the Help Site option in the UI for the end-user (e.g. traveller).

Fields marked with an * (asterisks) are mandatory.

Trips (Itinerary) - Flight Status

BETA

Flight Status assists with questions such as:

  • Is my flight on time?

  • How long is the delay?

  • Is it cancelled?

Starting with this release, flight tracking with real-time Flight Status is provided in the Trips (Itinerary) UIs. Any flight captured by Trips is automatically subscribed to receive Flight Status information in our UI.

Flight Statuses are tracked via a global network of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) receivers. Benefits of ADS-B for the Aviation Industry include:

Wide surveillance coverage.

Improved safety.

Weather data can be displayed.

Reduced cost of surveillance infrastructure.

More efficient flight profiles such as air traffic spacing, separation, self-separation.

What is ADS-B?

ADS-B is a worldwide aviation system based on the 1090 MHz band spectrum. An aircraft automatically transmits its identity, precise location, altitude, velocity, and other information to receivers on the ground or in space (on satellites).

The following highlights some of the Flight Statuses that can be tracked and presented in the UI.

Flight Status

Description

ON TIME

The flight is not airborne. Departure and arrival times are according to airline's schedule.

DELAYED

The flight will depart or arrive 15 minutes or more after its scheduled time.

  • This could vary depending on the airline and is reliant on such information being provided. If the airline does not provide the data or a delay notice, the flight is still considered on time.

DEPARTED

The flight has left the departure gate but may not be airborne yet (off-blocks).

IN THE AIR

The flight is airborne and may be increasing or decreasing altitude.

  • Applicable only after take-off.

ARRIVED

The flight arrived at the destination airport.

CANCELLED

The flight has been cancelled (no longer operational).

Flight statuses relating to a Diversion are currently unsupported e.g. Sydney (SYD) to Perth (PER) flight diverted to Adelaide (ADL).

Widgets (Upcoming Trips)

Trips

A grey coloured progress line and aircraft (example below) may be presented for past (historical) flights. This includes any that were booked or flown prior to the availability of the Flight Status product feature.

Platform Administration

Travellers Import & Export

The Travellers Import is an admin feature designed to enable an agency to create and update Traveller Profiles in bulk (in mass). The Travellers Export option similarly allows an agency to export in bulk active and inactive Traveller Profiles. The following enhancements are included in this release for these existing features:

  • Eight (8) additional data elements

Approver

Online Access

Global Access

GL Code

EMS ID

Mobility Assistance

Vision Impaired

Hearing Impaired

  • Reordering of data columns to a more logical sequence

  • An export file now allows for ease of use as a re-import file of a company by simply removing the first two (2) columns - GuestTraveller & LastModified and adjusting data as required.

  • Terminate (date) field will now facilitate the bulk disabling and enabling of profiles

  • The following data and permissions are preserved (retained) for existing profiles when reimporting

Middle Name (toggle)1

Guest Traveller status (label)

Profile Custom Fields

Other Traveller Notes

Global Access (online)2

Arranger Permissions3

Approver Permissions4

1 If the profile has enabled the “I don’t have a middle name” toggle.
2 The profile must possess Online Global Access.
3 The profile must possess TA or TM access level.
4 The profile must possess Approver permissions.

Amadeus Profile Sync

Kudos’ Amadeus Profile Sync enhancements include the following items.

Profile Transfer Indicator

  • Transfer Indicator A for all Traveller data elements

  • Transfer Indicator A for the majority of Company data elements

    • Only Company Address data elements will be sent with S to avoid conflict with the associated traveller’s data, at the time of transfer (e.g. PT)

This change is designed to not only allow Kudos to control the transfer indicator for critical data elements for our systems but should also minimise setups (e.g. PDO settings) by Amadeus or an agency’s LSA (Local Security Administrator) needed as part of an agency’s onboarding to the Travel Platform.

  • Previously <transferIndicatorData> was not sent, therefore warranted PDO settings to be implemented in line with Kudos’ recommendations.

As a result of this change, the aforenoted Kudos Help Centre article has been updated. Existing information and guidelines related to PDO settings have been retained for informational purposes only.

Example - Company Profile SK Element
CODE
<pnrElements>
<pnrElementInformation>
<pnrElementIdentification>
<textSubjectQualifier>3</textSubjectQualifier>
<informationType>P08</informationType>
<airlineCode>QF</airlineCode>
</pnrElementIdentification>
<longFreeTextData>QCID XYZ</longFreeTextData>
</pnrElementInformation>
<pnrElementTransferIndicator>
<transferIndicatorData>A</transferIndicatorData>
<sequenceNum>1</sequenceNum>
<providerCode>QF</providerCode>
</pnrElementTransferIndicator>
</pnrElements>
Example - Traveller Profile RM Element
XML
<remarkSection>
<miscellaneousRemark>
<miscellaneousRemarkInformation>
<type>RM</type>
<longFreeText>*TID:KD19876543</longFreeText>
</miscellaneousRemarkInformation>
</miscellaneousRemark>
<remarkTransferIndicator>
<transferIndicatorData>A</transferIndicatorData>
<sequenceNum>15</sequenceNum>
</remarkTransferIndicator>
</remarkSection>

SSR CTCM & CTCE

In line with the IATA Resolution 830d, effective since 01 June 2019, Kudos has automatically sent the following Profile data via the required industry-standard SSR (Special Service Request) elements:

  • Mobile Number - CTCM

  • Email Address - CTCE

This important data element has been enhanced to now be sent using the status of HK (confirmed), previously NN (need need).

The sending of status NN was problematic for selected airlines, which meant they were unable to process the data received.

Work, Home and Postal Addresses

The following outlines the updated Profile address data sent and its corresponding mapping to Amadeus, should it exist in the Profile.

  • Work Address sent as AM (Mailing Address) EXISTING

  • Home Address sent as AM/H (Home Address) NEW

  • Postal Address is sent as AM/M (Miscellaneous Address) NEW

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