Concur adds Amadeus NDC content as new platform roll-out continues

Concur Travel is now providing Amadeus’ NDC content to customers who have switched over to its upgraded booking tool following its launch in Europe for Amadeus users.

The company, which began rolling out its long-awaited upgrades to users of the Sabre GDS in North America last October, went live with the ‘new Concur’ at the end of Q2 to Amadeus users in Europe.

Concur said in a statement that “improved content is a key element in the new Concur Travel” and that NDC content from 27 airlines is now available to corporate customers via Amadeus in addition to the GDS’ EDIFACT air content and car rental content.

“Our integration of Amadeus’ NDC content and capabilities with new Concur Travel is a testament to SAP Concur’s commitment to enhancing the business travel experience with leading industry technology standards,” said Charlie Sultan, president of Concur Travel.

“With an abundance of retail and merchandising options through Amadeus, Concur Travel users will have greater flexibility and a richer, more personalised experience when planning for travel.”

Amadeus said the arrangement provides “more choice and opportunities to personalise a trip, creating better experiences for travel managers and employees.”

In notes published last month, Concur said “a handful of features” would not be immediately available in the new roll-out. This includes Travelfusion content for low-cost carriers which is due to become available by the end of July.

In a recent BTN interview Sultan commented on corporate adoption of Concur’s upgraded tool, noting that “anytime you’re rolling out new technology, you’re not bringing everything that you had in the past available at once” and “that there are some customers that have been waiting for some features that weren’t available at launch”.

He added: “We continue to see growth pretty much every week in the number of bookings coming through the new Concur Travel. And once we enable a few more of those features later this quarter [Q2], we expect to see another big jump in activity.”

The release is now available to companies whose TMCs use the Amadeus GDS
in Austria, Benelux, France, Germany, Italy, Nordics, Portugal, Spain
and Switzerland in addition to those using Amadeus in points of sale
that had already been activated for Sabre users, namely the UK, Ireland,
United States, Canada and Mexico.