Concur Travel and Expense (CTE) Corporate Travel Site
Jan 26, 2012, 1:45 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: ORD, MKE
Programs: Bonvoy LT Gold, Hilton Silver, Hyatt Discoverist, Hertz PC, National EE
Posts: 710
Concur Travel and Expense (CTE) Corporate Travel Site
I searched but did not find any threads discussing Concur Travel and Expense (CTE), the required online travel booking website from my employer. It is used primarily because of easy integration with our expense reporting system.
1) Anyone else here use it? Any general advice on best practices for getting more efficient results? I find it slow and cumbersome and difficult to compare or even recall results from previous searches.
2) More specifically, I usually use other sites (Kayak, ITA, airlines') to get a broad lay of the land as far as potential itineraries (I fly multi-city alot) then try to recall the same thing in Concur but often have trouble finding, much less booking, legitimate legs. Any thoughts on how to massage CTE to be more flexible?
3) CTE is set up to direct us to lower cost options but I can often find cheaper legitimate options on the outside thanks to what I'm learning on FT. In fact, sometimes our negotiated corporate rate is more expensive than the best outside price. I manage my own travel budget and need to stretch even more this year, so any advice on price hacking CTE appreciated.
1) Anyone else here use it? Any general advice on best practices for getting more efficient results? I find it slow and cumbersome and difficult to compare or even recall results from previous searches.
2) More specifically, I usually use other sites (Kayak, ITA, airlines') to get a broad lay of the land as far as potential itineraries (I fly multi-city alot) then try to recall the same thing in Concur but often have trouble finding, much less booking, legitimate legs. Any thoughts on how to massage CTE to be more flexible?
3) CTE is set up to direct us to lower cost options but I can often find cheaper legitimate options on the outside thanks to what I'm learning on FT. In fact, sometimes our negotiated corporate rate is more expensive than the best outside price. I manage my own travel budget and need to stretch even more this year, so any advice on price hacking CTE appreciated.
Jul 7, 2012, 9:45 am
#2
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: ATL/TLV/SDF
Programs: AA EXP, UA LT Ag, Marriott LT Ti, Hyatt Glob, Avis PC, Busted-Knuckles Club Grand Poobah.
Posts: 2,590
Searched and dredged this up. I also have to use it for work travel. It is possibly the worst booking engine on earth. I've wasted several hours already trying to book a simple BOS-DFW trip on UA; it shows me maybe 1/3 of the flight options that ua.com does, and the prices keep changing even when I repeat the same search, or it'll only show me Virgin and Spirit airlines. Right, I want to go to DFW via LAX.
For all the supposed cost saving they neglected to calculate lost time and anger... wish I had some tips but that's why I looked here in the first place. Hacks might exist if the experience was consistent, but it's completely unpredictable. Right now I'm still waiting for it to return a list of flight options and it's been like 10 minutes already..
I hate Concur with the intensity of a thousand burning suns... and good luck trying to call anyone.
For all the supposed cost saving they neglected to calculate lost time and anger... wish I had some tips but that's why I looked here in the first place. Hacks might exist if the experience was consistent, but it's completely unpredictable. Right now I'm still waiting for it to return a list of flight options and it's been like 10 minutes already..
I hate Concur with the intensity of a thousand burning suns... and good luck trying to call anyone.
Jul 7, 2012, 10:22 am
#3
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: NYC
Posts: 302
My company uses it too. It does have alot of limitations, some of those that may be set by your employer (having preferential rates with a specific provider) or by the agency that runs it.
Have you spoken to your HR person or whoever is responsible for it? I found that my company mostly likes the software for capturing expenses and it can easily be tracked and paid by A/P. If you register all of your alliances and credit cards on the site, then no matter who you book with, it shows up in Concur and makes the A/P team happy.
I have used plenty of other travel sites for booking hotels and flights and as long as the expense shows up on Concur, I have never been dinged for it by my company.
Have you spoken to your HR person or whoever is responsible for it? I found that my company mostly likes the software for capturing expenses and it can easily be tracked and paid by A/P. If you register all of your alliances and credit cards on the site, then no matter who you book with, it shows up in Concur and makes the A/P team happy.
I have used plenty of other travel sites for booking hotels and flights and as long as the expense shows up on Concur, I have never been dinged for it by my company.
Jul 8, 2012, 6:43 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: ORD, MKE
Programs: Bonvoy LT Gold, Hilton Silver, Hyatt Discoverist, Hertz PC, National EE
Posts: 710
Only a thousand...?
Yea, I wish I could be compensated for the time and aggravation Concur causes. We have no choice but to book EVERYTHING through Concur or at the least getting flagged as out of policy or at worst requiring a corporate officer to sign off on our expense report. I'm flying to DCA in a couple of weeks and wanted a hotel nearby. For whatever reason all our DC-area preferred properties are far flung in MD (Bethesda, Gaithersburg, etc) and I was flagged for choosing a non-preferred property, even though my choice was cheaper than most and much closer than all of them. Grrr...
I did speak to our corporate travel office about Concur, and even pointed out some of the places it costs me time and money. They acknowledged the issues but assured me nothing will change because they perceive it as helping to control costs. I'm just surprised there is not much more discussion on FT as my impression is Concur is pretty widely deployed (Concur claims 60% of Fortune 500 use it).
I did speak to our corporate travel office about Concur, and even pointed out some of the places it costs me time and money. They acknowledged the issues but assured me nothing will change because they perceive it as helping to control costs. I'm just surprised there is not much more discussion on FT as my impression is Concur is pretty widely deployed (Concur claims 60% of Fortune 500 use it).
Jul 8, 2012, 7:15 am
#5
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Your problems are not with Concur, but with your employer. Concur can show and book almost anything. But, it is expressly designed as a corporate website and can block or allow all kinds of transactions.
.
For instance, some employers allow you to book anything, but a screen requiring a written justification pops up when you are booking other than the cheapest fare or perhaps within $200 of the cheapest fare or in a non-permitted cabin or fare bucket.
Concur can also handle different authorizations for different employees. A senior executive might be able to book in F, while you are in a low bucket steerage.
Concur saves large companies a ton of money because, as others note, it works seamlessly with most major A/P systems. If the software is set up to only allow "cheapest fare" and transmits directly to A/P, there's no need for an A/P person to audit the transaction to determine that it was the cheapest fare.
You also do not likely know the specifics of corporate deals which your employer may have cut. There might be cost savings on a given ticket, but overall the savings may be significant. Corporate deals may also include treating discounted fares as Y for -UP purposes, may offer discounts on F travel, GS for certain employees and the like.
The culprit in OP's situation is likely his employer and it's a decision for OP to make as to whether the issues are sufficient enough to warrant follow up with the people responsible.
.
For instance, some employers allow you to book anything, but a screen requiring a written justification pops up when you are booking other than the cheapest fare or perhaps within $200 of the cheapest fare or in a non-permitted cabin or fare bucket.
Concur can also handle different authorizations for different employees. A senior executive might be able to book in F, while you are in a low bucket steerage.
Concur saves large companies a ton of money because, as others note, it works seamlessly with most major A/P systems. If the software is set up to only allow "cheapest fare" and transmits directly to A/P, there's no need for an A/P person to audit the transaction to determine that it was the cheapest fare.
You also do not likely know the specifics of corporate deals which your employer may have cut. There might be cost savings on a given ticket, but overall the savings may be significant. Corporate deals may also include treating discounted fares as Y for -UP purposes, may offer discounts on F travel, GS for certain employees and the like.
The culprit in OP's situation is likely his employer and it's a decision for OP to make as to whether the issues are sufficient enough to warrant follow up with the people responsible.
Jul 8, 2012, 7:17 am
#6
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Orlando, FL, US
Programs: DL-Dirt Medallion;US-Cast Iron Preferred; HH-Gold; Avis First
Posts: 3,617
I work for a small company, and our Amex affiliated travel agency uses it. We have the option of using Concur or talking to an agent by phone, the TA fee is cut in half we we use Concur rather than a live agent.
I agree that Concur is the pits, but I use it on simple itins to save a few $$.
I agree that Concur is the pits, but I use it on simple itins to save a few $$.
Jul 8, 2012, 7:58 am
#7
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
My assistant can book F, J and of course economy. She can book refundable or non-refundable, multi-city and most carriers. If she books in F/J, she needs to provide a written explanation meeting our booking policy and if she isn't using a prefered carrier, she needs to provide a justification for that. But, I've yet to find something which can't be booked on a standard carrier. Oddballs such as WN are broken out so that they are handled on a separate PNR, but that's not about Concur.
Last edited by Often1; Jul 8, 2012 at 8:43 pm
Jul 9, 2012, 6:29 am
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: ORD, MKE
Programs: Bonvoy LT Gold, Hilton Silver, Hyatt Discoverist, Hertz PC, National EE
Posts: 710
Actually, I have many problems specific to Concur, hence the thread. I don't doubt some problems are related to Concur trying to parse our travel policies, but others are glaring limitations compared to what's common on other Internet booking sites. (Not being able to search across more than +/-9 hours for starters.)
Then there are bugs like when I click on just one airline's search results (to apply an unused ticket) and it refuses to display anything, and I have to restart the search.
I know what deals we get and don't get because as I stated, I usually pre-search using ITA or Kayak to get a lay of the land. Our "deals" on domestic flights are usually just dimes to dollars. (Int'l C deals can be sweet though.) I was made aware of our company volume discounts, but that never makes it back to my travel budget.
The advice I'm looking for is how to use Concur to build more time- and cost-effective multi-city itineraries. I find Concur has difficulties to even get decent connections sometimes.
The bigger aggravation is hotels. *W.com will show both our corporate rate and their "best rate", which is sometimes cheaper, and I don't mean the pre-paid rates. Concur doesn't always pick up the cheaper rate. In one of my regular destinations the Sheraton Corporate rate is $40 more than the standard rate. Concur doesn't pick it up and wants me to stay at a "cheaper" (but more expensive than the Sheraton standard rate) Courtyard further from my worksite. I elevated this to our travel office but they couldn't figure it out.
And that's if it even finds a hotel at all. The Sheraton FRA is a preferred property for us but rarely <€200. The Sheraton Franfurt Congress is just 10 min train ride from FRA and can be >1/2 the price, but Concur doesn't know it exists. Go figure.
Anyway, you sound like you either work for our deployed Concur. Would you mind being the Concur Lurker? :-)
Then there are bugs like when I click on just one airline's search results (to apply an unused ticket) and it refuses to display anything, and I have to restart the search.
I know what deals we get and don't get because as I stated, I usually pre-search using ITA or Kayak to get a lay of the land. Our "deals" on domestic flights are usually just dimes to dollars. (Int'l C deals can be sweet though.) I was made aware of our company volume discounts, but that never makes it back to my travel budget.
The advice I'm looking for is how to use Concur to build more time- and cost-effective multi-city itineraries. I find Concur has difficulties to even get decent connections sometimes.
The bigger aggravation is hotels. *W.com will show both our corporate rate and their "best rate", which is sometimes cheaper, and I don't mean the pre-paid rates. Concur doesn't always pick up the cheaper rate. In one of my regular destinations the Sheraton Corporate rate is $40 more than the standard rate. Concur doesn't pick it up and wants me to stay at a "cheaper" (but more expensive than the Sheraton standard rate) Courtyard further from my worksite. I elevated this to our travel office but they couldn't figure it out.
And that's if it even finds a hotel at all. The Sheraton FRA is a preferred property for us but rarely <€200. The Sheraton Franfurt Congress is just 10 min train ride from FRA and can be >1/2 the price, but Concur doesn't know it exists. Go figure.
Anyway, you sound like you either work for our deployed Concur. Would you mind being the Concur Lurker? :-)
Your problems are not with Concur, but with your employer. Concur can show and book almost anything. But, it is expressly designed as a corporate website and can block or allow all kinds of transactions.
.
For instance, some employers allow you to book anything, but a screen requiring a written justification pops up when you are booking other than the cheapest fare or perhaps within $200 of the cheapest fare or in a non-permitted cabin or fare bucket.
Concur can also handle different authorizations for different employees. A senior executive might be able to book in F, while you are in a low bucket steerage.
Concur saves large companies a ton of money because, as others note, it works seamlessly with most major A/P systems. If the software is set up to only allow "cheapest fare" and transmits directly to A/P, there's no need for an A/P person to audit the transaction to determine that it was the cheapest fare.
You also do not likely know the specifics of corporate deals which your employer may have cut. There might be cost savings on a given ticket, but overall the savings may be significant. Corporate deals may also include treating discounted fares as Y for -UP purposes, may offer discounts on F travel, GS for certain employees and the like.
The culprit in OP's situation is likely his employer and it's a decision for OP to make as to whether the issues are sufficient enough to warrant follow up with the people responsible.
.
For instance, some employers allow you to book anything, but a screen requiring a written justification pops up when you are booking other than the cheapest fare or perhaps within $200 of the cheapest fare or in a non-permitted cabin or fare bucket.
Concur can also handle different authorizations for different employees. A senior executive might be able to book in F, while you are in a low bucket steerage.
Concur saves large companies a ton of money because, as others note, it works seamlessly with most major A/P systems. If the software is set up to only allow "cheapest fare" and transmits directly to A/P, there's no need for an A/P person to audit the transaction to determine that it was the cheapest fare.
You also do not likely know the specifics of corporate deals which your employer may have cut. There might be cost savings on a given ticket, but overall the savings may be significant. Corporate deals may also include treating discounted fares as Y for -UP purposes, may offer discounts on F travel, GS for certain employees and the like.
The culprit in OP's situation is likely his employer and it's a decision for OP to make as to whether the issues are sufficient enough to warrant follow up with the people responsible.
Last edited by megalab; Jul 10, 2012 at 8:38 pm
Jul 9, 2012, 7:04 am
#9
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Anyway, you sound like you either work for our deployed Concur. Would you mind being the Concur Lurker? :-)[/QUOTE]
Rather than attacking others, better to raise your frustrations with your company's decisions with the people who made them.
Lots of other software packages and systems out there and you certainly can use one of those if it gets you the same overall savings.
Rather than attacking others, better to raise your frustrations with your company's decisions with the people who made them.
Lots of other software packages and systems out there and you certainly can use one of those if it gets you the same overall savings.
Jul 10, 2012, 8:35 pm
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: ORD, MKE
Programs: Bonvoy LT Gold, Hilton Silver, Hyatt Discoverist, Hertz PC, National EE
Posts: 710
Lots of other software packages and systems out there and you certainly can use one of those if it gets you the same overall savings.[/QUOTE]
I apologize if it sounded like an attack. That's what the old-school punctuation mark emoticon was supposed to mitigate. Couldn't use a graphic one on the mobile app.
Seriously, you were the first to speak about Concur with some sense of authority, and it would be useful to have someone around who knows how it works. There are policy quirks, then there's bugs, though I admit one may not be able to tell the difference.
I had two different problems on my last two trip searches. One was a trip to DCA, where for some reason Concur found, but would not let me select, the cheapest fare (from FL). This happened multiple times; all I could see were fares a couple hundred dollars more and way out of policy. (I just repeated that search and same problem. FL is half the price of UA, DL, AA, and B6, but it is not selectable on this itinerary. Weird.)
On another trip, it was allowing me to reserve "in policy" two nearly identical 6 segment itineraries that were nearly $2000 apart in price. The more expensive was all Y/B fares, even though our policy is not to be able to book refundable fares if there are cheaper options.
What I would like to know is how to take that Y/B itinerary and just keep the B fares for the overnight flights on SQ, so I can use some miles to upgrade to C, while not paying through the nose for the other segments. In general it would be helpful to be able to specify fare class so I can downgrade from itineraries where I'm eligible for but don't want to pay for C, so I can use miles or SWUs instead. Alas, no such functionality, even though it is a basic part of most airline websites.
Jul 11, 2012, 2:23 pm
#12
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: CLD
Programs: US CP, HH Gold
Posts: 190
I have no problem trying to keep my company's travel expenses to a minimum but I think the ROI for this tool is limited if not negative.
My company recently started using Concur. A couple of years ago we previously used Axiom, but when the economy tanked we dumped it. Unfortunately we're back on the AMEX travel bandwagon with Concur. Does it seem like I don't like it? Here are two reasons:
For the flexible traveler it's the pits. I can fly on just about any day of week and my trip lengths are flexible, but with Concur I must search each day combo individually. I find that my time and effort is much better spent utilizing other tools that can show options for multiple days quickly, rather than having to tweak the filters / re-search on Concur to find a decent option within policy.
Concur is unable to book exit row seats on my preferred carrier, Concur just always shows those seats as occupied. which means that if I know that I can find a flight on my carrier within policy I still have to scope it out on the carrier's site to verify seat availability, then go back to Concur and book it, then return to my carrier's site to select the actual exit seat I'm eligible for. And for this my company gets to pay a booking fee.
The only benefit for this tool is to the people watching the overall travel expenses. For the dozens of people that have to actually use it, it is limiting, frustrating and time consuming.
My company recently started using Concur. A couple of years ago we previously used Axiom, but when the economy tanked we dumped it. Unfortunately we're back on the AMEX travel bandwagon with Concur. Does it seem like I don't like it? Here are two reasons:
For the flexible traveler it's the pits. I can fly on just about any day of week and my trip lengths are flexible, but with Concur I must search each day combo individually. I find that my time and effort is much better spent utilizing other tools that can show options for multiple days quickly, rather than having to tweak the filters / re-search on Concur to find a decent option within policy.
Concur is unable to book exit row seats on my preferred carrier, Concur just always shows those seats as occupied. which means that if I know that I can find a flight on my carrier within policy I still have to scope it out on the carrier's site to verify seat availability, then go back to Concur and book it, then return to my carrier's site to select the actual exit seat I'm eligible for. And for this my company gets to pay a booking fee.
The only benefit for this tool is to the people watching the overall travel expenses. For the dozens of people that have to actually use it, it is limiting, frustrating and time consuming.
Sep 28, 2012, 7:37 pm
#13
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP, DL Silver, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Gold, HHonor Gold, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 352
Will Concur show reservations cancelled through carrier's website
For example, if I booked a United flight via Concur, and cancelled it on United.com. Will it automatically be reflected on Concur?
Sep 29, 2012, 12:22 am
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: ORD, MKE
Programs: Bonvoy LT Gold, Hilton Silver, Hyatt Discoverist, Hertz PC, National EE
Posts: 710
Concur Travel and Expense (CTE) Corporate Travel Site
I have not seen my Concur itineraries updated to accurately reflect changes I made outside of Concur. Sometimes AMEX will send me a cryptic e-mail about a change to my reservation when I get a upgrade, but that's about it.
Oct 5, 2012, 4:54 pm
#15
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: CMH
Programs: DL, AA, HH
Posts: 19
Your problems are not with Concur, but with your employer. Concur can show and book almost anything. But, it is expressly designed as a corporate website and can block or allow all kinds of transactions.
.
For instance, some employers allow you to book anything, but a screen requiring a written justification pops up when you are booking other than the cheapest fare or perhaps within $200 of the cheapest fare or in a non-permitted cabin or fare bucket.
Concur can also handle different authorizations for different employees. A senior executive might be able to book in F, while you are in a low bucket steerage.
Concur saves large companies a ton of money because, as others note, it works seamlessly with most major A/P systems. If the software is set up to only allow "cheapest fare" and transmits directly to A/P, there's no need for an A/P person to audit the transaction to determine that it was the cheapest fare.
You also do not likely know the specifics of corporate deals which your employer may have cut. There might be cost savings on a given ticket, but overall the savings may be significant. Corporate deals may also include treating discounted fares as Y for -UP purposes, may offer discounts on F travel, GS for certain employees and the like.
The culprit in OP's situation is likely his employer and it's a decision for OP to make as to whether the issues are sufficient enough to warrant follow up with the people responsible.
.
For instance, some employers allow you to book anything, but a screen requiring a written justification pops up when you are booking other than the cheapest fare or perhaps within $200 of the cheapest fare or in a non-permitted cabin or fare bucket.
Concur can also handle different authorizations for different employees. A senior executive might be able to book in F, while you are in a low bucket steerage.
Concur saves large companies a ton of money because, as others note, it works seamlessly with most major A/P systems. If the software is set up to only allow "cheapest fare" and transmits directly to A/P, there's no need for an A/P person to audit the transaction to determine that it was the cheapest fare.
You also do not likely know the specifics of corporate deals which your employer may have cut. There might be cost savings on a given ticket, but overall the savings may be significant. Corporate deals may also include treating discounted fares as Y for -UP purposes, may offer discounts on F travel, GS for certain employees and the like.
The culprit in OP's situation is likely his employer and it's a decision for OP to make as to whether the issues are sufficient enough to warrant follow up with the people responsible.
+1. I dont work for Concur, but a TMC (agency) focusing on corporate travel. I have had many accounts use it, and other tools (resx, rearden etc). No tool is with out its problems.. but really in terms of what it can do, it is a best in class product. There is so much more running behind the tool in terms of programming besides being a gds interface to pull availability and book. you have rules, programing, air, car, hotel and rail contracts. you have to look at days advance puchase, preferred and non preferred, all your rules (and there can be hundreds) based on management level, clearance, policy etc..
The performance of the tool is dependent on who set it up, and what your company mandated or required to set it up. i have seen some that are set up well, and others that are not. it all comes down to what was put into setting it up for your company.
Your companies want you to use their tool to manage the travel program. they negotiate airline contracts, hotel rates, discounts etc. and they have a policy in place to maximize savings.
Another huge reason is data. they cannot get travel data from commercial sites. by booking through their agency (which the booking tools like concur and resx feed back into), they can gather data for tracking spend, savings, booking trends, buyer behavior as well as analytics. we can use the data for consulting, identifying gaps, savings initiatives etc.
also, the really big reason is security. companies want to know where you are in case something big happens. they want to know if travelers are impacted in case of an incident or event. were you on a plane that had an emergency landing? are you one of the travelers impacted by this airline strike and do we need to move you to another flight or carrier? are you in a country that is having a coup and do we need to get you out? are you traveling to a dangerous or 3rd world country, so we can provide advice or travel consulting on what to do or what not to do?
its all about having a well managed travel program.
