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Note: To request help with the configuration, please enter a support case (see Entering a Support Case). 

Consider the following before configuring pre-trip approval:

• If all trips are funneled through the pre-trip approval process, approvers may not fully analyze the trips. Consider making pre-trip rules focus on specific rather than broad situations to minimize travel impact. Not every trip should fall into the process.
• Decide which email address to use for notification or approval emails. You can use the email stored in the approver's profile, or default addresses you can define (for primary and secondary approvers) in a pre-trip approval custom field described later in this topic.
• Decide the criteria you want to use to trigger the pre-trip approval process, such as international trips, itineraries without hotels, or out-of-policy reservations. You create each criteria as a custom field with JavaScript that triggers the pre-trip approval process.
  Note: Please see our JavaScript sample scripts for these criteria (see Entering a Support Case). 
• Decide whether to send notification-only emails to approvers, or emails that require the approver to approve or decline the trip before it can proceed. 
• Identify which processing queues you want to use (for details on setting up queues, see Adding or Changing Agency Settings):
  • Pending Queue: Best practice is to use a queue where itineraries awaiting approval are placed, to assure itineraries awaiting approval are not ticketed.
  • Approved or Ticketing Queue: Best practice is to use the ticketing queue where approved bookings are placed for ticketing.
  • Declined Queue: Queue where declined bookings will be placed.
  • Expired Queue: Queue were expired bookings will be placed.
• Define any necessary passenger name record (PNR) format(s) that may be required for pre-trip approval reservations in the global distribution system (GDS). You can add or edit fields in the PNR as described in Customizing the Passenger Name Record, and choose Pre Trip Approval for the PNR Field Type. You can then include your PNR edit configuration in the agency configuration, as described in Adding or Changing Agency Settings.

Note: Your Deem implementation manager must enable pre-trip approval before you deploy this for live sites. To contact Deem to start this process, enter a support case (see Entering a Support Case).

Customizing the Passenger Name Record (PNR)

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• Name the configuration something meaningful, such as "PTA PNR", so that it is recognizable when selecting the PNR edit configuration while creating the agency configuration (as described in Adding or Changing Agency Settings).
• After adding the PNR line, choose Pre Trip Approval from the PNR Field Type dropdown menu, choose Script from the Requirement Type dropdown menu, and enter the appropriate JavaScript in the Custom PNR Requirement box.
• Note: For assistance with JavaScript for scripts, enter a support case (see Entering a Support Case) and request configuration assistance with PNR edits.
• Be sure to click Save to save the new PNR configuration, so that you can select the PNR configuration while creating the agency configuration (as described in Adding or Changing Agency Settings).

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Create a custom field for each separate criteria for triggering the pre-trip approval process. You can include a custom field to enable the user to enter a reason for the trip (to send to the approver). You can also define a tooltip that appears when the user hovers a pointer over the field, providing a hint about how to enter the reason.

To create a custom field for pre-trip approval, choose PTA (pre-trip approval) from the Field Type dropdown menu, as described in "Field Type: Pre-trip Approval (PTA)" in Creating and Managing Custom Fields. Keep in mind the following: 

• Decide whether or not to require approval or to send a notification only: Click the radio button for "Approval required" or "Notification only".
• Decide whether to send the approval email to the email address in the approver's profile, or to a default approver email address defined in this custom field. Click the radio button for Yes to use the email address in the approver's profile. If you click No, the default approver email address will be used.
  Note: If the approver does not reply within the defined timeframe, the secondary approver default email address will receive a notification or approve-decline email regardless of the setting for "Send approval email to traveler’s profiled approver". 
• Enter the email addresses for the default approver and the secondary approver.  If the default approver has not approved or declined the itinerary within the defined timeframe, an email is sent to the secondary approver default email address.
  Note: if  If the setting for "Send approval email to traveler’s profiled approver" is used, the default approver email value is ignored unless the traveler doesn't have a profiled approver (secondary approver field is still applicable).
• Decide whether or not to automatically cancel declined itineraries; click the radio button for Yes to do so.
  Note: Offline-generated or offline-changed PNRs and itineraries with expired approvals are not auto-cancelled.
• Click the Advanced link at the bottom of the Field Type Preference section to enter the JavaScript criteria for this field. 
• Note: Please

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• see Pre-Trip Approval Use Cases and Scripts for a variety of PTA scripts.

Changing the Display Order of the Custom Fields

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