6.3 Release Notes

Released 18 Jun 2023

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Trips

Sabre Bookings

Originally styled as SABRE, Sabre is an acronym for "Semi-automated Business Research Environment". While Sabre has continuously developed since the 1960s, its integration with the Kudos Travel Platform takes it to new levels.

This fusion of Trips provides travel agencies (e.g. TMCs) and their clients with extensive data points, including government travel advice, flight status notifications, and CO2e monitoring. Both travel agencies and travellers will benefit from an enhanced user experience (UX), improving the booking and overall travel experience.

Agencies are recommended to consult the relevant Admin Help article:
_{Admin Help > Platform Administration > System Integrations > Trips > Sabre (1S)}

Google Places Hotel Lookup

While the game "Where's Wally" (or "Where's Waldo" to some) can be entertaining, it is far from enjoyable when it comes to guessing the location of a traveller staying in a hotel. The lack of accurate information regarding the traveller's whereabouts poses a significant challenge in promptly responding to potential risks like natural disasters, political unrest, or security threats in the area.

To address this concern, our travel platform has been enhanced. Itinerary data received through any of our Trips services without a hotel location code can now benefit from our advanced capability to determine the location or find the nearest one by leveraging a reverse look-up of the hotel's address using Google's Places API. This enhancement enables better duty of care and traveller tracking, ensuring their safety and well-being.

^{^ When address information provided is limited or due to potential limitations in Google's Places API, we cannot guarantee 100% accuracy in determining the location code of the traveller’s hotel. The provided example gives a simulated representation of the approximate actions carried out using the Google Places API.}

Profiles

Sabre Profiles

Through the seamless integration of Kudos' "master" profile with Sabre Profiles, travel agencies (e.g. TMCs) and their clients gain access to a variety of data touchpoints and features. This includes Travel Check, conversations with Zeus, and platform messaging specifically designed to provide advanced notice ocredit card and passport expiration.

By combining the capabilities of Kudos Profiles and Sabre Profiles, travel agencies can establish a centralised hub for comprehensive data, resulting in streamlined operations and a consistent, enhanced experience for travellers throughout the entire booking and trip journey.

Both travel agencies and travellers stand to benefit from the enriched functionalities and improved user experience (UX) made possible by this integration.

Platform Administration

Company Sync - Sabre

We are excited to introduce Sabre Profiles as a recent addition to receive Kudos' comprehensive profile data.

The platform's Company Sync settings now include “Sabre GDS” as a selectable Sync Service.

Agencies are recommended to consult the relevant Admin Help article:
_{Admin Help > Platform Administration > System Integrations > Profiles > Sabre (1S)}

GDS Agnostic Terminology

Various changes have been implemented to the Platform Administration that aims to be more inclusive and agnostic across various GDS providers.

🙋‍♀️ While some Amadeus specific terminology might still be present, the goal is to gradually modify them wherever feasible.

Furthermore, there are forthcoming enhancements specifically designed for the Sabre integration. These will enable the inclusion of Third Party Data like the 5 Field (Remark) and DK element (Customer Number or ID).

Meanwhile, the platform has improved its Service Remarks (system-level) to ensure their compatibility with Sabre, as demonstrated in the following example showcasing Serko company-level remarks for both Amadeus and Sabre.

Agencies are recommended to consult the relevant Admin Help article:
_{Admin Help > Platform Administration > Companies > Third Party Data}

Export - Trips CO2

With the growing emphasis on Sustainable Travel, agency administrators are the first users to utilise the Trips export feature of the platform. This feature primarily centres around providing CO2e emissions data.

The admin functionality will continue to develop along with the data provided. Currently, the CSV export offers the following data as an example of what is available.

^{* The emissions measurement is expressed in kilograms (kg). The Co2 column indicates the cumulative emissions for the Trip, which may include flights, hotels, car rentals, or any combination thereof.}

🍃 In an upcoming release, users will have the chance to engage with Zeus for Sustainability conversations and will be able to export the available data. This feature will empower users, particularly Travel Managers, to access emissions data related to trips taken by their travellers.

^{* The provided Zeus Emissions conversation is for illustrative purposes. The possible conversation paths and the final design of the response are subject to potential changes until the enhancement is deployed to the production environment.}

Infrastructure

AWS has made upgrades to improve speed the speed and security of DNS (Domain Name System) using a service called Amazon Route 53. Kudos implemented changes to benefit these improvements that mean users will experience faster and more secure access to the travel platform. It's like upgrading the system that connects travellers to their desired destinations online, ensuring quicker loading times, less waiting, and better protection against potential online threats.

Furthermore, we made significant upgrades to our travel platform's database to improve performance and efficiency. Our team prioritised designing these enhancements to benefit our users in every way possible. By optimising the platform's performance, users can now enjoy faster response times, smoother navigation, and an enhanced overall experience.

These upgrades ensure that our platform operates at its best, effortlessly handling higher user traffic while enabling seamless interactions. Our commitment to being the preferred travel technology partner is evident through these database enhancements, demonstrating our dedication to delivering unparalleled service to our valued users.

Bug Fix

Travel Check - British Nationalities

To improve the available information for individuals holding United Kingdom passports, a temporary modification was made to improve the data presented by IATA Timatic during Travel Checks. This modification involves assuming the document type as "British Citizen" due to its prevalence among passport holders.

Document Type Selector

🎉 The next release will provide users with the option to select the appropriate travel document type using a Document Type selector. This enhancement will enable users to make informed choices regarding their specific travel document, thereby enhancing the data provided by IATA Timatic during a Travel Check.

^{* The Travel Check UI example provided is for illustrative purposes. The final design of the Document Type selector may undergo changes until its deployment to the production environment.}

Terminated Departments/Cost Centres

Improvements were made to the profile sync process with selected services to ensure better handling of "Terminated" Departments and Cost Centres. As a result, any terminated entities will no longer be included in the synchronisation.

Additionally, changes were implemented to:

• The platform’s UI to ensure that "Terminated" Departments and Cost Centres of a Travel Arranger (TA) are no longer visible in the Profiles > Permissions tab, and

• Admin Exports for Arrangers and Approvers were adjusted to exclude "Terminated" Departments and Cost Centres.

For a comprehensive list of users who are designated as Approvers, regardless of their Department or Cost Centre assignments, it is recommended to utilise the Export > Travellers option.

Agencies are recommended to consult the relevant Admin Help article:
_{Admin Help > Platform Administration > Import & Export}

What’s Coming

Admin - Manual Trips

Administrators will soon have the ability to create and manage Manual Trips via the Platform Administration site. This enhancement specifically caters to agencies' requirements for handling manual trips like charter flights, which cannot be accommodated by the platform's automated Trip services (e.g. GDS). This aims to provide greater flexibility and control, empowering agencies with comprehensive trip management capabilities that meet diverse travel needs. Future updates will extend this functionality to the platform's UI (e.g. Consultant Desktop), further enhancing the UX.

Branding - New Company and Agency Themes

Additional themes that offer agencies enhanced branding opportunities will soon be added. These themes not only allow for extensive customisation of the client's platform but also empower agencies to align the Consultant Desktop with their distinctive brand identity.

Sustainability - Multiple Methodologies

While Thrust Carbon will remain the preferred method for calculating CO2e emissions on the platform, a future update will offer the choice for agencies and platform configurations to utilise different methodologies. This will allow for a dependable baseline of carbon emissions across all your travel expenses. This flexibility aims to cater to the unique requirements of platform users, including government entities that prefer to employ emissions methodologies commissioned by their respective governments, such as the approach used by New Zealand's Ministry for the Environment.

^{* Admin UI example provided is for illustrative purposes.}