We are happy to announce our latest TripBuilder release. Please see these release notes for the most significant changes. Let us know if you have any questions, feedback, or ideas for features or improvements!

We've enhanced the accommodation search speed in the Planner with two new configurable features to give you more control over your hotel search experience.

Extensive Data Optimization: Over the last sprints, we have been working on comprehensive data optimization to ensure that only required data is used and processed. The goal of these actions was to lighten as much as possible the internal processes needed to build up the accommodation result page, delivering faster search results.

Search Pool Size allows you to set the maximum number of hotels to include in your initial search pool (1-1000 hotels). This setting works with your Search Priority to determine which hotels are sent to suppliers for pricing. A smaller pool can result in faster searches, while a larger pool provides more options but may increase the loading time of results in Planner.

Search Priority lets you choose how hotels are prioritised before the pool size limit is applied. You can select "Closest First" to prioritise hotels nearest to your search location, or "Highest Rated First" to prioritise hotels with the best guest review scores. This is a preliminary filter that creates a high-quality candidate list but it doesn't control the final sorting order displayed on Planner.

For new distribution channels, the default settings would be 250 hotels with "Highest Rated First" priority. Existing Distribution Channels will continue using their current search behaviour (Pool size of 1000 hotels with “Closest First”). We encourage you to reduce the Search pool size and switch to the “Highest Rated First” to get enhanced results.

Note: These settings are available in your Planner configuration under Distribution Channels settings. These are not the ultimate actions to improve the performance - in upcoming releases, more improvements should come as part of the Hotel Search enhanced experience project.

To reduce user confusion and improve booking clarity, we’ve introduced a modal that appears when users attempt to proceed to checkout without adding any flights to their itinerary. The modal, shown only from the Flights tab and booking summary, informs users that no flights have been selected and offers two clear options: search for flights or continue without flights.

This feature is controlled via feature flag.

We've introduced a new feature that allows you to upload a global list of recommended hotels that will automatically be applied across all your itineraries, complementing template-level recommendations. This eliminates the need to repeatedly configure recommended hotels on each template and ensures consistent hotel prioritization for all itinerary creation methods.

You can upload a CSV file with your preferred hotel properties using Nezasa property IDs. The global recommended hotels list will not override any recommended hotel selections you've made in your modules or templates - it serves as a fallback when no specific recommendations are configured.

Note: This feature can be found in the Supply section under Recommended Hotels in your settings. A detailed knowledge base article will provide step-by-step configuration instructions once the new Hotel Search Experience becomes generally available.

We're excited to announce the BETA launch of AskNez, an intelligent AI assistant designed to enhance how you interact with our knowledge base and API documentation.
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AskNez leverages AI to provide quick and relevant answers to your queries, making it easier to find the information you need. Whether you're searching for details on a specific feature in our knowledge base or looking up API endpoints and parameters, AskNez is here to help.

What AskNez can do:

To use AskNez, go to TripBuilder Cockpit, click on the question mark icon on the header bar, and select “AskNez”.

Give AskNez a try and experience a smarter way to access information!

We have enhanced the agent centre actions list by enabling easier access to the travel registration form, addressing agent feedback for improved usability. When the feature flag is enabled, Travel Agents can now access the travel registration form directly from the agent centre, not just during Checkout. This new feature is available for all agencies, all itineraries, and across all DC’s. The "Travel Registration" link is accessible for all itinerary statuses, providing agents with the flexibility to print the form at any stage of the booking process. This update resolves the issue of agents struggling to locate the travel registration form, providing a more seamless workflow and saving time. By allowing access from the agent centre, agents can manage travel documentation more effectively, improving their productivity and service to customers.

We've improved how date and time information for generic adhoc components is provided in the Nezasa API to ensure greater accuracy and clarity, especially for international bookings. Previously, startDateTime and endDateTime fields were provided in UTC, which could lead to confusion when converting to local times in different time zones.

Now, the API will provide timezone information for all startDateTime and endDateTime fields (e.g., Asia/Bangkok). This ensures that the times accurately reflect the local timezone of the service location.

Furthermore, for ad-hoc services where no specific time is provided, startDateTime and endDateTime will now correctly represent midnight (00:00:00) in the local time of the selected date, instead of the previous default of 17:00 UTC. This aligns the date and time reporting format across all services, including those from specific suppliers like HOLIDAYTAXIS, which already provided correct timezone offsets.

The Booking API now includes a new field `travelAgencyShortName`, mapping directly from the agency short name in the Midoco XML. This improves downstream data access and visibility.

We've added comprehensive documentation of the existing filtering, paging, and include parameters to the BookingAPI specification. These went missing when the Booking API documentation was ported to the OpenAPI format. The updates include:

Filtering options for date-based searches (creation and modification times, itinerary end dates), external case IDs, booking states, client types, and customer email addresses.

Paging parameters that control the number of results returned and page navigation.

Include parameters for retrieving additional data like amenities, product references, and payment transaction details
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These additions ensure the API documentation accurately reflects all available functionality, making it easier for developers to implement advanced booking queries and retrieve the specific data they need for their applications.

We’ve enhanced the Planner API with regards to the General Ad Hoc Components by adding a ‘hidden’ boolean field to the response payload. This flag allows consumers to identify whether a component is visible (i.e. not marked with the eye icon in the UI) and filter accordingly.

The ‘?include=all’ parameter remains unchanged, and the API documentation has been updated to reflect this new visibility attribute. This improvement enables more precise data handling and presentation control in custom applications.