Travel policies clone from your template site. You can edit any cloned policy, create a new policy by cloning from an existing policy, or create a new policy without cloning. This page details how to edit and create travel policies, assign them to a travel policy set, and then assign that travel policy set to one or more user groups.

Benefits and Need to Know

Travel policies are configured rules around travel criteria, such as cost, vendors, locations, etc., that a user-selected itinerary must meet to be considered “in policy.” You can configure travel policies to prevent users from booking trips that are not in policy, or allow users to book out-of-policy trips if they select a compliance code or provide reasons for booking the trip.

To apply a travel policy to users, it must be assigned to a travel policy set, which you then assign to one or more user groups.

Deem uses the following terms in creating and assigning travel policies:

• Policy List: A list of individual policy criteria.

• Travel Policy Set: A group of travel policies, allowing you to assign multiple policies to user group/s.

• Service Rules: A set of rules configured elsewhere in Deem, including travel policy sets, that you assign to one or more groups.

Add, Edit, or Clone a Travel Policy

The first step is to either edit or create a travel policy and select or edit the policy criteria.

1. From the Partner Dashboard home page, click the Settings link to the right of the site you want to update.

2. At the top of the partner dashboard, click the Services tab.

3. Click the Travel Policy link.

4. On the Travel Policy Management page, click the Policy List link.

5. Take one of the following steps as appropriate:

   • To create a new policy by cloning an existing policy, click the Copy link to the far-right of the name of the policy you want to clone.

   • To create a new policy without using an existing policy, click the Add A New Travel Policy link.

   • To edit an existing policy, click the name of that policy.

   • Any of the above actions open the Services | Edit (or Add) page. Remaining steps are the same for all above actions.

6. For easier references, the sections on this page are detailed separately below, including recommendations for best practices. Follow the steps below as applicable for the policy you want to create or edit.

7. After making all desired selections, click the Save button at the bottom of the page and move to the next section to add this policy to a policy set.

Flight Policy

This section allows you to set options around airfare cost, class of service, unused tickets, and change fees.

Airfare cost

Enter the maximum allowable difference between the lowest policy compliant airfare and the user's selection: Use this to set a numeric amount parameter around airfare cost: Enter the maximum amount over the lowest compliant airfare that users can select for the trip to be considered in-policy; also select a currency from the dropdown.

Enter the maximum allowable percentage difference between the lowest policy compliant airfare and the user's selection: Use this to set a percentage parameter around airfare cost: Enter the maximum percentage over the lowest compliant airfare that users can select for the trip to be considered in-policy.

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Unused tickets and change fees

Set the following options for policy around unused tickets and change fees.

Apply lowest policy compliant airfare to unused ticket add collect: Select Yes to apply policy criteria to add collect fees if charged when a user exchanges tickets. Yes applies the new ticket additional collect amount to the original ticket’s value for policy compliance. The system provides the estimated cost of changing the trip for each available flight option and applies minimum cost savings to the lowest available price based on the ticket exchange. In the event the system recommends a new ticket be issued, policy will be based on the cost of the new ticket as compared to other similar options where the original unused ticket is not part of the exchange solution.

Enter the maximum allowable airfare change fee: In addition to the possible ticket price increase, enter the maximum change fee allowed for policy compliance and select the currency.

Enter the maximum allowable airfare cancellation fee: Enter the maximum cancellation fee allowed and select the currency.

Enter the minimum advance purchase time range: Enter the minimum number of days before departure that a ticket purchase is allowed. For example, if set to 7 days, a trip would be out of policy if booked less than 7 before the departure date.

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Apply policy window to users search window?:

• Yes: Policy is applied to the search parameters the user selects on the Trip Planner page.

• No: This is referred to as dynamic air policy.  Policy applies to the flights selected rather than the times searched.

Select the earliest limit of the time range that will be used to evaluate policy compliance for itineraries with flights: Select between 1 and 24 hours. 2 hours recommended

Select the latest limit of the time range that will be used to evaluate policy compliance for itineraries with flights: Select between 1 and 24 hours. 2 hours recommended

Class of Service

For each type of airline class of service (first, business, and premium), if you want to allow users to book tickets in that class, select Yes for Travelers are permitted to book type of class. The following options are displayed for any Yes selection:

Limit type of class to international flights: Select Yes to apply limit to international flights; select No to apply only domestically.

Minimum flight time for type of class: Select the hours and minutes of flight time required before a user can book a policy-compliant ticket in this class.

Apply minimum flight time per flight segment:

• Yes: Flight time applies to each flight segment.

• No: Minimum is applied to the total flight time including connecting flights.

Minimum flight distance for first class: Enter flight distance required before a user is allowed to book a compliant ticket in this class, and select the unit of measurement.

Cost Reduction Options

The following cost reduction options are available.

Must travelers always search for lowest available fare?:

• Yes: The traveler must always search by fare. Any trip displayed as the result of another search method (refundable or non-restricted tickets) will be out of policy. Recommended option is Yes.

Are connecting flights allowed when non-stops are available? Select one of the following:

• No: If both connecting and non-stop flights are returned, a traveler must select a non-stop flight regardless of the savings of a connecting flight.

• Yes, but not required: If both connecting and non-stop flights are returned, users may select either connecting or non-stop flights and remain in policy regardless of any price difference.

• Yes, required when cheaper and when journey time not significantly increased: Select to set policy to select connecting flights when available and cheaper than non-stop, subject to the following parameters:

  • Minimum savings required to accept connecting flights: Enter the amount lower that the connecting flight would save over the nonstop flight to be in policy. Select the currency.

  • Maximum time a connecting flight could add to a trip: Enter the allowed number of hours and minutes that the connecting flight can add to this leg of the trip over a nonstop flight to be in policy.

• Require connecting flight on same day travel: Select Yes to require user to select a connecting flight for policy compliance even when the departure and return dates are the same. Recommended to select No.

Maximum connecting time required when no non-stops are available: Recommended to set to 2 hours.

If no flights are available within the maximum connecting time window, what is the next time window (if no flights are available within this time window, then all flights are considered for policy evaluation)? : Recommended to set to 4 hours.

Are double connecting flights required to reduce cost? Recommended to select No.

Are interline flights required to reduce cost? Recommended to select No

Must travelers select an airline for which there are wholly unused e-tickets: Select Yes to require user to select an airline on which they can use any unused tickets, when unused tickets are available.

Must travelers select an alternate airport to reduce travel costs? With any Yes selection, specify the following (recommended to select No):

• If yes, what is the minimum savings to require alternate airport: Enter the amount of savings and select the currency.

• Apply policy to alternate airports for: Select Departure, Arrival, or Both.

Preferred Airlines Options

The following options apply to preferred and/or restricted vendors (see Preferred and Restricted Vendors for more details):

Require selection of preferred airlines: With any Yes selection, specify the following; recommended to select No:

• If yes, lowest required airlines preference ranking: Select All, or one of the following to weight preferences: First (most preferred), Second (highly preferred), or Third (preferred).

• Are travelers allowed to fly direct flights on other airlines? Select Yes to allow users to book non-stop flights on non-preferred airlines.

• Are travelers allowed to fly other lower cost airlines? Select Yes or No; lower cost airlines refers to non-preferred airlines:

  • If you select Yes, enter minimum savings for this option: If Yes, enter the minimum savings required to permit selection of other airlines.

  • If you select No, choose Yes or No for Restricted vendors, if any, are flagged as out of policy?. Select Yes to mark any restricted airlines as out of policy. Recommended to select No.

Flight Payment Card Options

In this section, you can restrict the type of card a traveler may use for payment.

Only the following options can be selected by the user as a valid form of airline payment: Select from the list as appropriate; also see Site Payment Cards.

Web Fare Options

Note: Applies to TravelFusion carriers only.

If WebFare options (such as VMI Baby, Ryan Air, and EasyJet) are enabled in the display configuration (see Display Configuration for details), you can set this additional option.

•  Require selection of Web Fare airlines: Select No, or one of the following:

  • Yes, It is allowed only if the web fare is cheaper: With this choice you must also enter the amount of savings allowed and select its currency.

  • Yes, it is required if the web fare is cheaper: With this choice you must also enter the amount of savings required and select its currency.

Train Policy

Set options about train policy here.

• First Class Policy: Select Yes to allow travelers to book first class train travel.

• Business Class Policy: Select Yes to allow travelers to book business class train travel.

Rental Car Policy

Set options about car rental policy here (see Preferred and Restricted Vendors for more details).

Require car rentals for trips with flights: Select Yes or No.

Maximum Car Size Allowed:  Select max car size. If no car size is selected, the default is Intermediate.

Maximum daily Rental Car rate allowed: Enter the maximum amount for a daily rental car charge to be considered in-policy, and select the currency for that amount. Note:

• A weekly rate will be divided by 7 to compare the rate to the maximum allowed daily rate. 

• The value entered here applies to the base rate + estimated taxes.

Require selection of preferred car vendor: Select Yes to require users to select a preferred car vendor for the rental to be considered in policy.

Restricted vendors, if any, are flagged as out of policy? Select Yes to flag any restricted vendor as out of policy.

Out of policy car types: Select one or more car types to mark as out of policy (CTRL-click to make multiple selections). 

Mark hybrids as out of policy: Select Yes to mark hybrid vehicles as out of policy.

Hotel Policy

Set the following options around hotel policies (see Preferred and Restricted Vendors for more details).

Require hotel reservations for all overnight trips: Select Yes or No.

Require user to select properties with private rates: Select Yes or No. Private rate hotels are specific properties with pre-established discounted rates. They appear above any preferred hotel chain on the results page.

Require user to select properties with preferred hotel chains: Select Yes or No.  

For private rate hotels, limit room rate to private rate rooms only: Select Yes or No.

Limit room price to company per diem, if available: Select Yes or No. Company per diem room prices are defined by location; see Hotel Per Diems. If Yes, the trip is considered out of policy if the selected rate is higher than the per diem. If No, the rule is not enforced.

Maximum Room Rate when company per diem is not available or available but not enforced: Enter the maximum room rate allowed if the per diem is not available or not enforced, and select the rate's currency.

Select one or more restricted room types: Select one ore more room types to restrict; CTRL-click to select multiple.

Restricted vendors, if any, are flagged as out of policy? Select Yes or No. Recommended is No.

Itinerary Parameters (optional)

Itinerary parameters are optional, and allow you to apply this policy list for only a specified time period, or for airline trips originating from certain locations.

Tip: You can set up international flight policy or travel to a convention by selecting originating or terminating countries in the Itinerary Parameters section.

Select the start and end dates to which this policy applies: Optional. Select a Start Date and End Date from the dropdown menus if the policy should be in effect for only a specific time period. You can leave the end time blank to apply the policy until you change or remove it.

The remaining options apply to airline travel locations, first the departing location (From Location), the arrival location (To Location), and any connecting location (Through Location). For any or all of these three locations, select on of the following options:

• by airport codes: Select and then enter one or more originating, arrival, or connecting airport/s where this policy applies, separated by semicolons. For example, SFO;SJC;OAK applies these policy settings for trips originating from the San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland, California, airports. Click the Airport Code link if you need to look up an airport code.

• by states: Select to specify originating, arrival, or connecting states from the dropdown that appears. CTRL-click to select multiple.

• by countries: Select to specify originating, arrival, or connecting countries from the dropdown that appears. CTRL-click to select multiple.

• anywhere: Select to apply these policy settings to any originating, arrival, or connecting location.

Policy Message

You can set up custom messages to display to users if their trip selections do not comply with policy. Enter text only; HTML is not supported here.

Non Compliant message displayed to the traveler: This message is displayed on the Trip Review page when selections are out of policy.

Non Compliant message displayed on confirmation emails: This message is displayed trip confirmation email when selections are out of policy.

Policy Behavior

You can set system behavior for trips that do not comply with the policy criteria in this policy list.

Select a system behavior for non-compliant trips: Choose one of the following:

• Require user to explain non-compliant trip: User will be asked to select from a list of Compliance Codes.

• Require user to reselect compliant trip: User will not be allowed to book a non-compliant travel and must re-select travel that is in policy.

Require user to provide purpose of trip? Select Yes to require user to provide a purpose for the trip. If you select Yes, also enter a name for the label of this field in Label for Purpose of Trip Field.

Host Agency (Queues)

If you don't want to use the default queue information (pseudo city code and queue designation as set up in Queue and Delivery Options), you can enter queue information specifically for out-of-policy bookings.

Enter the pseudo city code where a non-compliant booking will be queued: Enter the PCC to override the default PCC setting.

Enter the queue designation where a non-compliant booking will be queued: Enter the queue to override the default queue setting.

After making all selections as needed, click the Save button at the bottom of the page.

Add a Policy to or Create a Travel Policy Set

After creating or editing a travel policy, you should add it to a travel policy set so you can apply it to user group/s as part of the group’s service rules per the next section below.

1. At the top of the partner dashboard, click the Services tab.

2. Click the Travel Policy link.

3. On the Travel Policy Management page, click the Policy Sets link.

4. As needed, either add the policy to an existing set or create a new set:

   • To add a new set, click the Add a New Travel Policy Set link.

   • To edit a set, click the set name.

5. Provide or update a name for the set in Set Name as necessary.

6. To add a policy to this set, click the Add Policy link.

7. On the Policy List page, select the radio button next to the name of the policy to add to this set.
   
   

8. If you want to add another policy to this set, click OK & Add Another.

9. After adding all policies, click OK.

10. Click Save to save the policy set.

Add Travel Policy Set to Service Rules for a User Group

The last step is to assign a travel policy set to the service rules for a specific group, as follows:

1. At the top of the partner dashboard, click the Rules tab.

2. Click the Service Rules link.

3. On the Service Rules page, next the name of the group to which you want to assign a travel policy set, click the Edit or Add link as applicable.
   
   

4. Scroll to the Travel Policies section. From the Policy Set dropdown, select the policy set to assign to this user group.

5. If you have not also applied your Compliance Codes, also select the appropriate Compliance Codes in the section below.
   
   

6. At the bottom of the page, click the Save button.

7. Repeat the above steps if you want to apply the same or other travel policy sets to other groups.

8. After making all updates, click Save Priority Changes at the bottom of the page.

9. Commit all changes (click the # changes not applied link at the top-right and click Commit).

10. Test the site to ensure the travel policy is working correctly for each user group.