Unused Ticket Inventory

[mtrela]

Hi, how are you managing your unused ticket inventory at this time? Can your TMC provide historical ticket data when exchanges are made, especially when name changes on tickets are being done?  We are trying to monitor the reuse of these tickets.

[Maymie_Mc · Accepted solution]

Good morning. Our TMC provides us a monthly unused ticket report. It will house the purchase date as well as the expiration date for use. It will aso show the original value and the estimated penalty for use. When the traveler is booking thier trip it, they will receive an alert that they have unused ticket funds that can be used and do they want to use them. The  TMC will use them when ticketing the trip before invoicing. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!

[tvarner · Accepted solution]

We were already receiving an exchanged ticket report. However, the report doesn't address if the exchange was associated with a name change. I have asked my agency if they could provide this and have not heard back. This is something new for all TMCs and may require a change in their scripting to record the name of the original ticket holder. Hopefully a solotion can be found soon.

[rward2 · Accepted solution]

Hi @mtrela ,

Our TMC can provide us a report of all our unused tickets and it usually indicates the PNR, the Agency Record Locator, and the expiration date. The only time data about an exchange isn't availalbe is when the employee changes the flight directly instead of through our TMC. (Which is prohibited) For reporting purposes and in order to manage the data employees must make changes like you referenced (name change) by contacting our agency. I believe this answer will vary from TMC to TMC as it depends on the systems they are using and how they talk to Concur. We currently use AMEX GBT and have had issues with information updating from their system back to Concur. Another way I manage our unused tickets is through the TRAVEL REPORTS in Concur. I am not sure if you have that feature or not, but the data that is pushed into Concur from our TMC is always availalbe, but more detailed information is only recorded if an employee contacts the agency and doesn't do it on their own directly with the air carrier. I suggest reaching out to your TMC account manager and setting up a quick call to go over what you need and what they can do to support the fulfillment of your request. This was a bear when I first began managing it but once you develop a system and communicate to employees what you need from them, it becomes much more manageable.

Best Regards,

Rosalie Ward

[mtrela · Accepted solution]

Thanks so much for your response but will CWT let you know who reused that unused ticket if it was not the same person? 

[Maymie_Mc · Accepted solution]

Good morning. Our TMC provides us a monthly unused ticket report. It will house the purchase date as well as the expiration date for use. It will aso show the original value and the estimated penalty for use. When the traveler is booking thier trip it, they will receive an alert that they have unused ticket funds that can be used and do they want to use them. The  TMC will use them when ticketing the trip before invoicing. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!

[mtrela · Accepted solution]

Thanks so much for your response but will CWT let you know who reused that unused ticket if it was not the same person? 

[tvarner · Accepted solution]

We were already receiving an exchanged ticket report. However, the report doesn't address if the exchange was associated with a name change. I have asked my agency if they could provide this and have not heard back. This is something new for all TMCs and may require a change in their scripting to record the name of the original ticket holder. Hopefully a solotion can be found soon.

[mtrela]

Yes, that is our issue. I do hope the TMCs can come up with a solution for this as you stated. We use CWT and they do not have this programming available yet. Can you tell me what your TMC advises? Thanks

[rward2]

Hello @mtrela ,

Our company has recently decided to switch our TMC for various reasons and I have already had two calls with potential TMC's and my eyes are OPENED to much of what wasn't availalbe to us before. One of them being, the management of Unused Tickets! I almost couldn't believe the words I was hearing, I asked again "Are you telling me that your agency will manage, monitor and see to the re-use of those unused tickets even when a name change is involved?" and the response was, "YES, we do all of that for your travelers and we even send them emails starting at 90 days, all the way down to 30 days!" Confirms that each travel agency has it's own way of operating, he said it falls into "Duty of Care" and I hope once you speak with your TMC they can offer you a solution. I am no in anway implying to start looking for another TMC, just thought I would share since I had that call two hours ago, what I learned. There are some BIG pain points and that is what we go to first on these calls we have set up. Unusued Ticket management is my first question as no company wants to lose that money or that data.

Hope all goes well for you!

Best Regards,

Rosalie

[mtrela]

That is interesting Rosalie. That TMC by chance wouldn't be TripActions? I was recently on a webex and they were talking about this automated feature. They are more of an OBT and TMC but if you are now hearing about it through your calls, I am guessing eventually all TMCs will get to the same place. Who will get there first is the question? 

[rward2 · Accepted solution]

Hi @mtrela ,

Yes, actually the TMC's that we have calls with are all top partners with Concur and use all their systems to streamline Concur. You are right, hopefully one day they will all arrive at the same place to offer the same services. Thus far, we have had calls with GANT travel and Direct Travel.  The differences between those partnered with Concur (using their systems) have more advantages then those who use other systems (other than Concur.)

Best Regards,

Rosalie

[mtrela]

Thanks Rosalie. Very helpful info. What size is your business? We have over 30,000 employees and about 10,000 travel. Thanks.

[rward2]

Hi @mtrela ,

Glad to hear it was helpful info. Our business is much smaller, 500 employees 100 travelers around the globe. There is no way one person could manage all those unused ticket credits for a company your size so I really hope your TMC can assist in that management and reuse of tickets!

Best Regards,

Rosalie

[mtrela]

Thanks so much for sharing your information. Very helpful. Have a great day.

[jennymc79]

I am a CTD, so we manage every aspect of the business in house. We easily can search by the ticket # in Trams and report on who the ticket was exchanged for in the case of a name change. Another suggestion is that you ask the TMC to create a UDID (I use N) for name change tickets that is added to the record when the ticket is exchanged. You will then be able to report on that specific UDID code when looking for those name change tickets- its pretty simple. I house all unused tickets in Concur and also keep a running teams file (we have 2 agents). The unused tickets show up in Concur and in Sabre for the agents to see. We have around 2500 travelers and right now 550+ unused tickets / southwest credits to give you an idea of our size.     

[rward2 · Accepted solution]

Hi @mtrela ,

Our TMC can provide us a report of all our unused tickets and it usually indicates the PNR, the Agency Record Locator, and the expiration date. The only time data about an exchange isn't availalbe is when the employee changes the flight directly instead of through our TMC. (Which is prohibited) For reporting purposes and in order to manage the data employees must make changes like you referenced (name change) by contacting our agency. I believe this answer will vary from TMC to TMC as it depends on the systems they are using and how they talk to Concur. We currently use AMEX GBT and have had issues with information updating from their system back to Concur. Another way I manage our unused tickets is through the TRAVEL REPORTS in Concur. I am not sure if you have that feature or not, but the data that is pushed into Concur from our TMC is always availalbe, but more detailed information is only recorded if an employee contacts the agency and doesn't do it on their own directly with the air carrier. I suggest reaching out to your TMC account manager and setting up a quick call to go over what you need and what they can do to support the fulfillment of your request. This was a bear when I first began managing it but once you develop a system and communicate to employees what you need from them, it becomes much more manageable.

Best Regards,

Rosalie Ward

[mtrela]

Thanks for responding!