SAP Concur to Start Automatic Upgrades to New Travel Experience

SAP Concur in November will begin automatically upgrading customers in the U.S., Mexico and Canada using Sabre to the new Concur Travel experience and "limit support" for legacy Concur Travel, according to an update document published by Concur this week.

It's been about a year since the launch of Concur's new booking experience, and to date, corporate and travel management company customers have been able to opt out of the upgrade to the new experience. Beginning Nov. 1, "opt-out status will no longer apply" for "eligible" customers on Sabre—the launch global distribution system for the new Concur Travel experience—with U.S., Mexico and Canada points of sale. That eligibility also will include additional criteria to ensure "no major limitations" with the new booking experience, according to the document.

A Concur spokesperson said the upgrades would "be rolled out in phases over the coming months" and that "SAP will only upgrade eligible clients where the new Concur Travel offers equivalent capabilities to the legacy platform."

The spokesperson added that "the majority of our TMC partners have already opted in and are actively migrating customers."

Customers being upgraded will be notified both via direct communication and with in-product messaging to admins at least 30 days in advance of the upgrade, according to the document. They will not have any additional configuration steps with the upgrades, Concur said.

Concur continues to expand the content and reach in its new booking experience, with the third-quarter release beginning to roll out next week, SAP Concur senior marketing manager Whitney McLellan said in a release recap published on Wednesday. The newest release includes expansion to "all remaining [Europe, the Middle East and Africa] markets" as well as Travelport Plus hotel content in select markets and air content with "limited low-cost carriers" through Travelfusion, she said.