As a Payhawk Administrator, you can configure the settings of the trip request for business trips directly within the Payhawk portal.
Based on the defined settings, the Travel AI Agent will collect all the required details from your employees, display all available options (flagging the ones that are out-of-policy), and trigger an approval workflow.
Configuring settings
You can configure the general settings for the trip requests of your employees.
To configure settings:
Go to Settings > Trips > Travel > Settings tab.
Under Name, enter the name of the trip request in free text, for example, Travel.
Under Description, enter the trip request description to help explain the difference between types to employees.
Click on Save changes.
Configuring field settings
The field settings for trip requests are built-in and can be viewed from the Settings > Trips > Travel > Fields tab under Request details.
They include the following information:
Description - The settings of the Description field for trip requests cannot be modified. The Description field will always be displayed in the trip requests and employees will be expected to provide a reason for submitting the trip request.
Trip details - The Trip details field will always be displayed in the trip requests. Here you can configure it as required for submission or/and required for review. None of its other settings are modifiable. The Trip details field will always be displayed in trip requests and employees will be expected to provide their desired trip details, such as, inbound and outbound dates and destination.
Payment method - The settings of the Payment method field for trip requests cannot be modified. Employees will be expected to provide information about which Payhawk card the Travel AI Agent must use for the booking. If the employee doesn't have an active Payhawk card, the Travel AI Agent will automatically issue them a new virtual card that will be used for the specific trip request.
Configuring travel policies
By default, Payhawk suggests a travel policy, which you can modify according to the requirements of your company. Once you configure the desired travel policy, it will apply to your entire company or group of entities.
To configure travel policies:
Go to Settings > Trips > Travel > Policy tab.
Under Policy Description, enter the desired details of your company travel policy in plain text format. You can define the following details:
Preferred airlines, for example, Lufthansa and British Airways.
Maximum budget for domestic flights, for example, up to EUR 150, where domestic flights are the ones within the same country.
Maximum budget for short-haul or long-haul international flights, for example, up to EUR 300 for the former and up to EUR 1000 for the latter.
If the flight is within the same region and the total airborne time across all segments is up to 7 hours, it's considered a short-haul flight. A long-haul flight in the same region is more than 7 hours of total airborne time.
If the flight is across different regions and the total airborne time across all segments is up to 6 hours, it's considered a short-haul flight. A long-haul flight in different regions is more than 6 hours of total airborne time.
Maximum hotel rate, for example, up to EUR 200 per night.
Preferred hotel ratings, for example, 3-star or 4-star hotels only.
Country-specific rates, for example, up to EUR 250 per night in France or up to GBP 250 per night in the United Kingdom.
You can configure a travel allowance as part of your travel policy. A travel allowance automatically increases the employee's card limit, allowing them to cover meals and transportation expenses during their trip based on the travel policy. The Allowance setting supports the following options:
Disabled - No allowance is included in trip requests.
Enabled with limit - An allowance is added automatically to every trip request, up to the amount you define in the policy.
Enabled without limit - An allowance is added automatically with no cap on the amount of the trip request. When enabled, the allowance is applied to trip requests by default based on the policy configuration. Travelers can adjust the allowance amount on their individual requests if needed.
Click on Save changes.
Configuring workflows
You can configure approval workflows for the trip requests of your employees. Note that these approval workflows are only available for Payhawk users.
To configure workflows:
Go to Settings > Trips > Travel > Workflow tab.
Click on Edit workflow. Alternatively, click on Go to workflows and you'll be redirected to the Settings > Workflows screen to view and manage all trip request workflows in one place.
Create an approval workflow that suits your requirements by following the steps for defining custom workflows and noting the following specifics that are valid for trip requests:
The Submit step is always present. During this step, the Travel AI Agent must gather the needed information to fill out all the request fields, create, and submit a trip request.
The Review step is optional. You can set the relevant people at your company as reviewers. These are usually travel managers who can make changes to the flights and hotels. This step will trigger a review request notification in the Agent - in web portal, mobile app, and Slack.
The Approve step is for you to define. For example, you can set the corresponding Team manager as an approver. This step will trigger an approval request in their Payhawk web portal, mobile app, and Slack. This will allow them to approve the trip request in the Agent - in Slack, web portal, and mobile app.
The Pay step is always present. Once there's a successful approval, the Travel AI Agent automatically tops up the employee's card and books the business trip.
The Close step is also always visible by default. It includes predefined rules for automatically closing requests when the auto-close option is activated and also specifies the default roles authorized to manually close requests.
Notes on workflows
To account for price changes during the review and approval process, the system includes a 10% buffer on trip requests. Approvers receive reminders to ensure timely approvals, but if a delay causes the price to fluctuate, the buffer will cover the difference and the employee can proceed with booking without requiring a new approval.
If the original option becomes unavailable by the time the trip request gets reviewed and approved, the Travel Agent will ask the employee to select a new flight (same dates and destinations), room, or hotel (within 5 km), and the Agent will book the confirmed choice, without requiring a new approval.
If an employee makes any pricing changes to the trip request, such as an increased cost, these changes will need to be re-approved.