SAP Concur Resources Aid Travel During COVID-19

Those of us in the SAP Concur organization are committed to responsible travel that protects the health and safety of travelers and the communities they visit. As companies plot the course ahead, here are several resources for SAP Concur customers that will help with travel when the time is right.

TripIt Traveler Resource Center

TripIt from Concur recently launched a Traveler Resource Center, making it easy for travelers to find the latest information on issues that are especially relevant today. From public health and safety advisories to cancellation policies and new travel guidelines, this information will help travelers make the best decisions for their next trip.

Booking Switch

A key consideration in permitting both domestic and international travel is the destination, including whether it is perceived as safe or risky to travel there and the latest local health and safety requirements that must be met. Booking switch allows companies to define which trips can be self-booked or require travel manager approval via Concur Request based on these factors. The Concur Request approval workflow can then be configured with a rule to check whether a specific country will be visited, then route to or skip approval. This enables companies to allow their employees to self-book within Concur Travel for “safe” trips but triggers a specific process via Concur Request otherwise.

Air Reassurance

Air Reassurance in Concur Travel, currently available for select major carriers, includes a message about each airline’s response, procedures, and guidelines for COVID-19 to encourage safer, more confident trips.

Unused Tickets

Situations and travel restrictions can evolve at a moment’s notice, and travelers’ plans must follow suit. For convenience, Concur Travel can display unused ticket credits in users’ profiles. Ticket credits typically expire within a year of purchase, so this feature can help employees stay on top of them and apply toward essential or future travel. TripIt Pro—TripIt’s premium membership —also features a newly redesigned Point Tracker with an improved view of traveler point balances, history, and expiration dates to help users stay on top of their rewards programs in a rapidly changing environment.

Amadeus Ticket Changer

Amadeus customers with reservations can make changes through self-service, instead of contacting their travel management company (TMC). Note: Both the customer and the TMC must have this feature enabled to use it.

Concur FAVR by Motus

Private vehicles have become an essential mode of transportation in the current travel climate. We have partnered with Motus, a recognized leader in the mobile-enabled worker sector, to offer Concur FAVR by Motus—an end-to-end mileage spend solution that fully integrates with Concur Expense. The solution customizes reimbursements based on the actual costs employees incur as they drive their own vehicles for work-related purposes. Scalable and cloud-based, it adjusts for fluctuations in location, vehicle type, and other factors, allowing organizations to reimburse drivers fairly and accurately, while keeping company transportation costs in check.

Require Approval Policy

Many companies have adjusted their travel policies, including requiring approval for non-essential or international travel. Concur Travel’s Require Approval Policy can be set to pop up when an employee books travel, showing a message that states approval is required.

Customized Messaging

There are several additional opportunities for companies to incorporate customized messaging in Concur Travel that helps ensure employees are fully informed when planning their next trip:

• Company Notes: Companies can include notes for employees’ reference within Concur Travel. These work well for general communications, such as a change to policy or a clear message to employees about how they will be supported as they return to travel.
• Pop-up Messages: Companies can insert messages that pop up for employees during the travel shopping process. The Log-in Warning feature provides a pop-up travel alert to all users upon log-in, and through Configurable Messaging, travel managers can define specific criteria to trigger a pop-up message based on an employee’s search.
• Inline Messages: Travel managers can also define specific criteria that will trigger a message at the top of a search results page. This is a good opportunity to share information specific to a vertical search (e.g., airport changes, hotel cleanliness policies).

Duty of Care Network

Duty of care has rapidly evolved, and SAP Concur customers are seeking specialized solutions that not only track and allow them to message travelers, but also provide critical security and medical assistance services when needed. This requires a more comprehensive approach, powered by the most robust, timely data set to enable duty of care for all companies and organizations. We recently announced the expansion of our duty of care partners within the SAP Concur App Center to take advantage of the rich data stream that SAP Concur travel booking produces. This rich data enables customers to provide the level of duty of care their employees expect.

While it is uncertain when travel will resume in full swing, it is important that companies and travelers are prepared with certainty when it does. In the meantime, we are doing what we can to help. For additional information to better navigate the future of travel, please join us at the first-ever virtual SAP Concur Travel Industry Summit on Thursday, September 17, 2020. This free summit will bring together the travel community to reconnect, recover, and reimagine the world of business travel. 

Learn more and register at https://www.concur.com/travel-industry-summit.