Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently asked questions on how the HotelService API content is leveraged in the SAP Concur Travel hotel online booking tool.

General

Q: What are the expectations of PrimaryLangID and AltLangID?

A: Language codes are obtained from the user profile setting. For possible values, see the Canonical List of Preferred Language Values in Travel Profile v2 - Resource. AltLangID will be set to the same value as PrimaryLangID.

Q: What are the expectations of ISOCurrency and returned currency?

A: For endpoints such as Search, Cancel and Detail, the currency code in the SOAP header is irrelevant as response content does not contain any pricing information.

For the Availability, RateDetails, and Reservation endpoints, the currency in the SOAP header is defined by the traveller’s travel configuration.

For the Itinerary endpoint, the currency in the SOAP header is based on the currency recorded in the PNR. In most cases, it is the currency specified in the reservation request.

If the response does not give rates in the currency requested in the request SOAP header, the rate will be converted to the currency specified by the travel configuration.

Q: What is the maximum value possible for Distance and DistanceMax?

A: Concur Travel can be configured to allow up to a 100 mile / 100 km search radius. The distance unit is based on the traveller profile setting.

Availability & RateDetails

Q: How does Concur Travel select the HotelRef/HotelCode to be included in the Availability request?

A: The first n hotels from the Search response will be specified in the Availability request.

Q: What is the maximum number of hotels automatically rate searched?

A: The number of hotels priced is set by Number of hotel results to shop from the Travel Configuration. This setting can be up to 100.

Q: If a property does not have availability based on the request, what is the expected value for the RoomStays element?

A: RoomStays is optional. When not included, it indicates the hotel is not available.

Q: How is AvailabilityStatus value ChangeDuringStay handled?

A: The AvailabilityStatus value ChangeDuringStay does not have an effect in the display of rates in the shop workflow. Although one may expect there to be multiple Rate items when AvailabilityStatus is set to ChangeDuringStay, the vendor must return just 1 Rate object to cover the full stay in the OTA_HotelAvailRS object. This is documented in the rate info section of the API Reference.

For the RateDetails, Hotel Service accepts multiple Rate objects for the case where AvailabilityStatus is ChangeDuringStay, however, it is optional. These details are available to the user in the Rules and Cancellation Policy dialog. Please see the rate info section of the API Reference for additional details.

Q: What is the usage of EffectiveDate and ExpireDate?

A: When the AvailabilityStatus value is ChangeDuringStay the dates are used to indicate the start and end dates for when the rate is in effect.

For example:

<Rates>
  <Rate RateTimeUnit="FullDuration" EffectiveDate=“2020-10-25" ExpireDate=“2020-10-27">
    <Total AmountAfterTax=“220.00” AmountBeforeTax=“200.00" CurrencyCode=“USD”/>
  </Rate>
  <Rate RateTimeUnit="Day" EffectiveDate=“2020-10-27" ExpireDate=“2020-10-29">
    <Total AmountAfterTax=“440.00” AmountBeforeTax=“400.00” CurrencyCode=“USD”/>
  </Rate>
</Rates>

The nightly rate breakdown (after tax) is computed as:
10/25: $110 (Note that RateTimeUnit is FullDuration so the indicated amount is over 2 nights, or $110 per night)
10/26: $110
10/27: $440 (Note that RateTimeUnit is Day so the indicated amount is per day)
10/28: $440

Q: What is the usage of GuestCount/AgeQualifyingCode?

A: This value indicates whether the guest is a child or adult. Concur Travel only supports the value of 10 which represents an adult guest.

Q: What comprises the content of a rate description in the rates listing?

A: The rate description is made up of the RateDescription, RatePlanDescription, RoomDescription, and MealsIncluded (breakfast) from the Availability response.

Q: What content is used to populate the Rules and Cancellation Policy?

A: The text is generated using the content from Availability (or RateDetails when used). Including the following:

  • From Rate/Total the total cost.
  • From PaymentPolicies, the accepted credit card types.
  • From RatePlan/CancelPenalties, details for the cancellation deadline and the penalty description.
  • From RatePlanDescription and RoomRateDescription text descriptions for the rate.

HotelDescriptiveInfo

Q: Where is the content of HotelInfo displayed?

A: This text will be displayed as the last paragraph in the Hotel Details dialog.

Q: How should hotel descriptive info be provided via TPA_Extensions/Description if the sentences are greater than 64 characters in length? Should they be chunked into 20 segments? How would sections/paragraphs be represented?

A: The Description name attribute is used as the header. Each Description corresponds to a new paragraph, and the value of each Text element will be concatenated to form the paragraph. This will be used as content in the Hotel Details dialog.

Reservation

Q: What is the maximum possible length for PersonName/GivenName and PersonName/Surname?

A: The names are defined on the Concur Travel profile and can be up to 60 characters in length.

Q: What is the difference between the value Committed and Reserved for ResResponseType?

A: Both indicate a successful reservation. They are treated in the same manner.

Q: What are the maximum lengths possible for PersonName/NamePrefix, PersonName/GivenName, and PersonName/Surname?

A: 60 characters.

ReadItinerary

Q: Will ReadItinerary be invoked if my connection is lost during the reservation request?

A: If the connection is lost (for example, browser closed) before the reservation request is completed, the ReadItinerary request will not be invoked. The request to twShopTrip.asp occurs after the reservation completes and it is for this page that the ReadItinerary request is invoked.

Cancel

Q: What is the expected response for an already cancelled workflow?

A: The response should match the response of a successful cancellation request.

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