Navan has rolled out an updated multi-city booking engine that the travel management company says is designed to handle the “most complex travel scenarios” without human agent intervention.
Powered by a new algorithm, the AI-powered engine integrates modern content sources, such as NDC, and can manage multi-ticket checkouts across multiple carriers, the company said.
The new interface is available to all existing clients worldwide and is consistent with Navan’s existing platforms, so “users get the same visual cues and targeted guidance”.
Additionally, a redesigned checkout process allows for multiple bookings in a single transaction. If one part of the trip cannot be ticketed, the remaining segments will still be processed and users will be offered alternative options for the portion that failed to ticket, according to Navan. The tool also provides a fare breakdown for each flight included in the transaction.
“Multi-city booking is one of the hardest engineering challenges in travel, which is why legacy T&E platforms haven’t been able to offer it,” said Ian Fette, vice president of engineering at Navan. We rebuilt our multi-city engine from the ground up, aiming to make booking a five-leg international trip as straightforward as a one-way flight home.”.
Navan, in a statement, said future enhancements will see the engine offer contextual booking guidance and AI-powered ticketing optimisation, which will automatically find better combinations to “optimise” savings and the traveller's experience.