Avenir

Score7.6 out of 10

11 Reviews and Ratings

What is Avenir?

Avenir: Travel Edition by Direct Travel is a global travel platform built on Spotnana’s cloud-native infrastructure and delivered through Direct Travel’s unified service model worldwide.

Categories & Use Cases

Travel Management

Product Demos

Reuses Traveler Information
The service offers a means of saving and reusing individual traveler information to make it easier to book future travel for the same traveler.
Category average: 7.1
Loyalty Programs
The service implements its own loyalty program and/or allows users to participate in established hotel/airline loyalty programs.
Category average: 7.5
Travel Alerts
Alerts when travel changes along an itinerary with SMS, a messaging application, and/or other phone channels
Category average: 7.4

Collaborative Booking
Users can collaborate to create and edit itineraries as well as share booked itineraries for others to see.
Category average: 6.5
Readily Available Support
Support teams readily available to help resolve any booking-related issues, or general questions about the product.
Category average: 6.2
Customizable Approval Workflows
Customizable approval workflows allow itinerary approvals for anything that falls outside of the preset travel policies.
Category average: 6

Pros

Centralized platform for all business travel reservations and costs
User-friendly and intuitive online booking interface for flights and hotels
Effective enforcement of company travel policies through customizable restrictions

Cons

Inconsistent customer service responsiveness, especially for off-hours requests and email
Difficulties with booking modifications and applying flight credits
Frequent and uncommunicated changes in account managers

Richard Clowes View profile

Senior Director, Travel Operations in Customer Service at SAS Institute (10,001+ employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Avenir by Direct Travel is a massive upgrade over Concur Travel. The truth in one place. The gap between the GDS and what you see in Avenir by Direct Travel has finally be removed. No longer dealing with profile issues (is the GDS at fault, is the TMC at fault, is it the booking tool). One tool for agents, travelers and EA alike. Management visibility from the single source of truth. Near real time reporting. Global visibility no matter the source. I wanted this 20 years ago! No longer dependent on the GDS as the backbone of the tool - rightly so.

Pros

Transparency - one source of truth - shared by agents, travelers, EA's, managers
Content - access to NDC, Direct Connect, Trainline (most of Europe), Travel Fusion, Kyte, Cleartrip, etc... including Marriott direct connect
Modern Platform - simple, modern, relational database structure that makes sense. Intuitive, clean and responsive

Cons

More Direct Content - it's coming but I'm impatient. I want it all and I want it now
Service Letdowns - despite the modern architecture there are still gaps either where Avenir by Direct Travel doesn't have access to the necessary API feature (because the vendor hasn't published them or the platform has not added yet). Want to be able to do even more in the tool
Want Via Rail for Canadian Rail, Eurostar channel, SNCF rail

Return on Investment

More content in a single source
Reliable reporting in near real time
Access to Snowflake data views
One profile (no profile gaps)
Central source of truth
Instant global visibility
Online adoption was better immediately
Invoice access

Usability

Alternatives Considered

SAP Concur, Deem and Sabre GetThere

Other Software Used

Cvent Event Management

Frederique Nijenhuis View profile

Travel Manager in Human Resources at Conrad N. Hilton Foundation (51-200 employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We have now used Avenir for a little over a year and are very happy with it. It is much more intuitive and easier to navigate than our previous travel booking platform. It is very responsive, and accurate and we get real-time data. Finding detailed info on airplane equipment, the various rates, seating, etc is easy to find. Supported by ISOS and Sherpa (duty of care and visa info). One of the best parts is that you (the Admin) can adjust the policy and settings, add employees, etc. without having to talk to the TMC to handle that.

Pros

Avenir is visually pleasing and easy to navigate
Workflows work well and travelers can have 'arrangers', 'aprovers'
Direct Travel's agents are competent, responsive and friendly. DT is going all in on Avenir and have hired more, and trained their agents.
You can purchase seat assignments in the platform, it recognizes loyalty status.
The app and the desktop mirror each other and can be used interchangeably.

Cons

While they have a large inventory of flights and hotels (we book remote destinations), agent assistance is sometimes needed to ticket flights on small carriers.
DT is working on expanding their inventory. Rail service in the US or Europe is lacking.
Details on their itineraries can take too many scrolls or downloads to find. PDF itineraries should be better titled.

Return on Investment

Lower and simpler booking fees than our previous TMC
Happier travelers and arrangers as this is more intuitive, similar to consumer booking platforms
Strong reduction of hours spent on phone w/ TMC to problem solve by both Admin and travelers.
Short hold times on phone and they have a chat function.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

SAP Concur and American Express Global Business Travel Neo Platform

Other Software Used

UKG Ready, Salesforce Agentforce 360 for Nonprofits, Namely

Melissa Stone

Executive Assistant + Travel Program Manager in Corporate at HGA (1001-5000 employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our organization started using Avenir by Direct Travel to move towards an online travel management program. Before that we were using a small, 2-person travel agency and as our business scaled to 1,200+ people we realized we needed a different system. We've now been using Avenir for almost 1 year and have gotten great feedback from all our users. Specifically for its ease of use, great customer support and accessibility from a phone or computer.

Pros

Easy to review travel options and book online.
Accessibility to travel agents via email and phone.
Detailed options when it comes to hotel options with the ability to choose your preferred hotels and have local rates loaded directly into the system.

Cons

Adding hotel address to automated calendar appointments.
Improved sorting functionality on flights - like Google Flights. I often use Google Flights to source flights then go to Avenir to find/book the flights. Example: can't apply multiple sorting functions like Duration + Departure Time.

Return on Investment

It has taken out the middle man in travel planning, so now employees are empowered to book their own travel whenever they want.
It's a cost savings for our company since we're now paying one trip fee which includes changes and modifications to all pieces of a trip. Versus when we had travel agents and were charged a fee for every change made within a trip.
It's great for safety, being able to see when and where our travelers are at any given time.
It has streamlined our internal event planning process so the event planners can see when people are traveling and how much their flights are.

Usability

Other Software Used

Deltek Vantagepoint

Malin Luca View profile

Chief of Staff in Information Technology at Victory Live (51-200 employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are a growing organization of about 150 people that needs a centralized travel solution. The Avenir product provides management reporting and condition-based results by employee type, making the process much more streamlined than before.

Pros

Quick response times.
Solid management reporting.
Open to feedback.

Cons

Some flight and hotel results do not appear despite falling within the price and availability parameters.
Last-minute changes during off-hours are not immediate with customer service - understandable, but can be problematic.

Return on Investment

Streamlined reporting.
Centralized invoicing and payment via corporate card.
Customer service.

Usability

Verified User

Manager in Human Resources (10,001+ employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Avenir has proven to be a valuable resource for the firm, offering expanded content that supports a broader range of travel and booking needs. Its enhanced capabilities provide greater flexibility and a more comprehensive user experience, streamlining the booking process for our professionals. Additionally, the tool’s ability to adapt to the firm’s evolving needs is a significant strength. Its flexibility allows it to align with changing business requirements, support policy updates, and better serve the diverse needs of our teams. Overall, it is an effective solution that continues to add value through both its expanded functionality and adaptability.

Pros

Whenever I bring an issue to the attention of my account manager, it's quickly in front of support or development. The response is always fast, with expectations clearly set.
With enhanced content, I don't get the "I found it cheaper on xxx.com" emails.
I now have people using the tool who were previously "tool-averse." People I expected to continue using agents FOREVER.

Cons

We have a different approval process for international travel. I wish there were a more direct way for leadership to receive those itineraries without me having to intervene.
I would love to be able to simply process exchanges with a name change. We have multiple airline contracts that allow name changes. The process with Avenir is arduous. Wishing big here, it would be nice to have bookings that meet certain parameters. If all conditions are met, the canceled ticket is automatically applied to the new ticket.

Return on Investment

Faster bookings. Our professionals are busy! The less time they spend booking travel, the more time they have to do their job.
Improved reporting over our former agency. I have much better visibility into our travelers' activity, spend, and airline contract performance.
Improved user satisfaction in the booking process. I have a countless number of our professionals contact me to compliment the new processes.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

SAP Concur, Deem, Egencia and Amadeus cytric Travel & Expense Management

SAP Concur

Navan

American Express Global Business Travel Meetings & Events

American Express Global Business Travel Neo Platform

Avenir

What is Avenir?

Categories & Use Cases

Product Demos

Avenir Key Features

Top Performing Features

Reuses Traveler Information

Loyalty Programs

Travel Alerts

Areas for Improvement

Collaborative Booking

Readily Available Support

Customizable Approval Workflows

Avenir Reviews

Pros

Cons

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

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Cons

Return on Investment

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Other Software Used

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

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Cons

Return on Investment

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Other Software Used

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

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Cons

Return on Investment

Usability

Other Software Used

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

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Return on Investment

Usability

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

Cons

Return on Investment

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Avenir Alternatives