SAP Concur will begin automatic upgrades to the new Concur Travel experience in most markets for Sabre users next month, with Amadeus users to follow in July, according to a notice published this month.
Automatic upgrades to the new booking experience for Sabre users in the Canada, Mexico and the US began last year, and starting April 25, that will expand to "all supported markets" with the exception of 12: Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand, according to the notice, reported by BTN Europe stablemate The Beat on Thursday. Automatic upgrades for Amadeus users, excluding those same 12 markets, will begin July 25.
Concur has not set a date for automatic upgrades for the customers in the excluded countries nor for Travelport Plus users, but the notice indicated that would happen sometime this year.
A London-based travel manager recently confirmed to BTN Europe that they have been alerted to the automatic upgrades, but has yet to receive confirmation as to when this will begin.
The upgrades apply to both direct and indirect customers, with Concur noting travel management company opt-out status would no longer apply after a targeted market and GDS' upgrade date has passed.
In the note, Concur identified "high-impact limitations" that could delay an upgrade until those are addressed. However, air, car and hotel verticals will migrate independently, so if one of those verticals qualifies and the other two do not, that one vertical will still be upgraded, according to Concur.
The London-based travel manager, who spoke to BTN Europe on the basis of anonymity, said they have already implemented the upgrade in the US and parts of Europe “where it works”. While the buyer noted an improved look and feel, faster system speed and a clearer display of fare rules compared to the previous iteration, the rollout has been riddled with challenges.
“Every time we’ve rolled something out, there’s something that doesn’t work as expected,” they said. This includes missing air content, unserviceable rail bookings and “flip-flopping” back to T1 during a booking if not all verticals have been migrated – which the buyer likened to “giving a shiny new toy to a child and then taking it away”.
As a result, this buyer has resisted rolling out T2 in its Amadeus markets until all verticals have been migrated.
“We're quite an early adopter [of T2] and we've been pushing forward because of the [proposed] advantages, but every step of the way has been a real struggle for us,” they said.
Another global travel and events leader who uses both Concur Travel and Expense tools across their programme said they have delayed transitioning to T2 due to the risk of reduced functionality.
This buyer, who also requested to remain anonymous, described Concur’s “broad brush” approach to the upgrade as “frustrating” because “if people are unsatisfied with the online booking tool and they come off being online, because they're either going outside of the programme or they call the agency… that will absolutely have an impact on our organisation and our TMC,” they said.
In an interview with BTN earlier this month, Concur Travel president Charlie Sultan said that while "the list of what to do always keeps growing," most [global distribution systems] in most geographies have gone live in the new experience.
"The transition so far is going great," Sultan said. "The new Concur Travel was launched to address a lot of the customer suggestions and issues over the last five years or so, and they're excited, because they have a modern UX, they have the same capabilities on mobile as they do on the desktop, and they're still integrated into expense."