Purpose
This article aims to facilitate a smooth deployment of your new TravelBank travel booking platform, particularly if you come from an open booking environment.
Audience
This article applies to all TravelBank administrative users (admins) with access to TravelBank travel management.
Background
Change management goes a long way in affecting the travel experience of an organization’s employees, admins, and leaders. We encourage you to keep the following best practices in mind when using the TravelBank booking platform.
Traveler profile
Before users can book on the TravelBank platform, they are required to first activate their TravelBank account and complete their traveler profile. Failure to do so results in an error during the booking process.
Encourage users to ensure that the name on their TravelBank traveler profile matches exactly as it appears on their government-issued photo ID, passport, TSA PreCheck, and loyalty programs.
Loyalty programs
For reporting accuracy and adherence to your organization’s travel policy, users must book travel using the TravelBank platform. However, users can continue earning loyalty points (see Figure 1) even while traveling for business as long as they book a loyalty-eligible flight or hotel. You may want to inform users of the following details regarding loyalty programs and program interaction with TravelBank:
Most flights are eligible for loyalty points.
If users want to earn loyalty points when booking hotels, they should double-check that they are selecting hotels that are loyalty-eligible.
Users’ loyalty numbers listed in their TravelBank traveler profile are included in their reservations and are passed on to airlines and hotels.
Some loyalty programs do not seamlessly integrate with the TravelBank system, so loyalty information may not be visible within TravelBank in the same manner users are used to when booking directly with vendors. Although users must book through TravelBank, they will also get a confirmation number from the airline and hotel, and then they can go directly to the airline or hotel website/app to get their loyalty program benefits.
On most US airlines, passengers with elite status who have booked an economy class fare ticket receive complimentary access to more desirable seats, including preferred rows at the front of the plane or exit row seats.
However, if users do not have eligible status, the airline may cancel their preferred seat selections without prior notice.
TravelBank offers both prepay and pay-at-hotel rates for hotel bookings.
When booking a prepay rate, a user’s card is charged the full amount at the time of booking.
When booking a pay-at hotel-rate, a user’s card is only used to guarantee the reservation at the time of booking. Then when the user checks in to the hotel, they present a physical card to pay the full amount for the reservation.
Note that if your organization allows users to book pay-at-hotel rate types and users don't have a physical corporate card, they’ll need to use one of their own physical credit cards and get reimbursed, or the organization will need to complete a credit card authorization form for the hotel. Some users do not prefer to use their own credit card, and the credit card authorization process is a manual process, sometimes including faxing or emailing the paperwork and delaying the user’s check in. If your organization decides to allow this type of rate, it’s important for you to be aware of these details so you can proactively address them.
Some hotel room options include a "Hotel Loyalty Points" tag on the room details (see Figure 1) indicating that a user can add their loyalty membership number to the reservation. However, it is important to note that the majority of prepaid contract room rates do not qualify for the rewards program.
Earn hotel loyalty rewards
Earn hotel loyalty rewards
A user may be eligible to earn hotel loyalty points if they are a hotel loyalty member and select a room that is eligible for hotel loyalty points. When they select “View Rooms”, if a hotel has a rewards and loyalty program and has eligible rooms, a “Rewards and Loyalty” filter appears, as well as a “Hotel Loyalty Points” tag (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Hotel Loyalty Eligible filter and Hotel Loyalty Points tag
Functionalities available in web and mobile app
Users can cancel any flight reservation and modify reservations for select airlines in the web and mobile app. Visit the flight modifications frequently asked questions page for more information on flight cancelation and modification.
Airline rules and policies can vary. For further assistance or clarification, users can contact our travel support team by:
chat within the app,
email at reservations@travelbank.com, or
phone at 866-682-8785.
Travel approvals
For flight reservations requiring approval, the booking process is not complete until an admin approves the booking request, which will issue the tickets. Once tickets are issued, the fare and preassigned seats are guaranteed. Additionally, airlines retain the right to cancel or modify preassigned seat selections without prior notice. If a user’s preassigned seat selection is canceled and they need assistance, they can contact our travel support team by chat within the app, email at reservations@travelbank.com, or phone at 866-682-8785.
Managers should approve requests as soon as possible, as airline inventory can fluctuate without prior notice. Failure to promptly approve a request may result in an error and require the user to rebook the reservation and resubmit the request.
Mitigating issues
To effectively manage any travel-related issues, it's essential to establish a feedback mechanism for users and address potential issues early. Establishing a feedback mechanism can offer several benefits:
Streamlines the process of reviewing and addressing concerns by:
allowing you to review feedback in an organized and thoughtful manner
helping you differentiate between perceived and actual issues, and
facilitating effective communication and problem resolution
Allows you to serve as an escalation point rather than a starting point in assisting users
Empowers users to resolve issues efficiently while optimizing your time and resources (for example, by mitigating the influx of emails and calls to you)
Fosters a culture of transparency and continuous improvement
Feedback system suggestions
Here are some suggestions for setting up a centralized feedback system:
Centralized email address: Create a dedicated email address where employees can send their feedback. You can then regularly review and respond to these emails.
Support ticket routing: Implement a support ticketing system where feedback submissions automatically generate tickets for you to address. This ensures that feedback is tracked and managed efficiently.
Online form: Set up an easy-to-use online form on the company's intranet or website where employees can submit feedback. This form should include fields for capturing relevant details and categorizing feedback for streamlined review.
Note about basic economy fares
Basic economy fares are the cheapest fares but tend to have tacked-on fees. These fares are not flexible, and most companies view them as more of a risk than a cost saver. Basic economy fares are disabled for TravelBank customers unless you request to enable them. (If you’ve enabled basic economy fares, you can disregard the rest of this paragraph.) Due to these fare types being disabled, users may notice cheaper fares outside of TravelBank. If users have any concerns regarding fare discrepancies, they should reach out to the travel support team by chat within the app, email at reservations@travelbank.com, or phone at 866-682-8785.
Handling flight cancellations
Flight cancellations can present challenges, particularly due to the timing and lack of advance notice provided. When an airline notifies TravelBank of a flight cancellation, TravelBank promptly informs travelers through email. However, TravelBank’s ability to relay this information hinges on the airline's notification, which may not always be as timely as travelers desire. Airlines also directly communicate with travelers, similar to how travelers receive notifications when traveling personally.
In cases where an airline cancels a flight within two hours of the flight’s departure or when the traveler is already at the airport, it's often most effective for the traveler to liaise directly with the airline agent on-site. For last-minute cancellations, we recommend that travelers engage with the airline directly, as airlines typically extend their support services to all affected travelers, regardless of booking channel. Nonetheless, travelers can still contact TravelBank agents for assistance, as we may be able to expedite support. You can reach us by chat in the app, email at reservations@travelbank.com, or phone at 866-682-8785.
If you’ve purchased TravelBank group travel service, a dedicated group travel support team will monitor flight cancellations and weather delays throughout the event date. They will be on standby, ready to assist.
Going live
TravelBank strongly encourages all users, including admins and managers, to activate their profiles as soon as possible. If a user attempts to book a trip and their manager has not yet activated the manager’s TravelBank account and completed their profile, the approval request will be routed to an admin instead. All users need to have their accounts activated to ensure seamless processing of travel requests. This practice aligns with standard procedures.
Your TravelBank subscription includes access to the TravelBank dedicated travel support team who are available 24/7 to assist users. We encourage all users to continue working closely with the travel support team for any travel-related assistance. While reaching out to internal admin teams might be a natural habit for users, it's important that you emphasize to users the role of the dedicated support team, especially while implementing the TravelBank travel platform. You and your internal admin teams may become overwhelmed during the transition to TravelBank, as TravelBank is a new platform for you as well. By leveraging the expertise of the TravelBank travel support team, you can promote a smoother transition to using TravelBank and get more efficient assistance for all users.
TravelBank travel agents are thoroughly trained to assist end users efficiently and prioritize their travel needs based on urgency. Urgent matters, specifically those concerning travelers en route or on the day of travel, are categorized as the highest priorities. In these scenarios, a live agent begins communication with the user within minutes. In addition, TravelBank adheres to a service level agreement (SLA) that guarantees consistent response times.
Need help?
If you need help, contact the TravelBank travel support team by:
chat within the app,
email at reservations@travelbank.com, or
phone at 866-682-8785.