World Travel is Yale’s preferred travel management company for business-related trips. Services provided include online booking with Concur Travel, a designated agent team trained on Yale policies and the Fly America Act for federally sponsored travel, and a team of agents specifically for booking meetings.
Your Designated Agent Team Phone Number: 833-780-1302 / 484-624-6988.
Select option 1 to speak with an agent, option 2 for Concur navigation.
Your Designated Agent Team Email: yale@worldtravelinc.com.
World Travel/Concur is to be used for travel on Yale business. Personal travel should not be booked with World Travel or Concur.
The preferred method is for the traveler to select you as their assistant from their own profile. They would have two options:
Can Book Travel for Me:
- This option allows a person (an Assistant or Travel Arranger) to actually make travel bookings—such as flights, hotels, and cars—on your behalf using your Concur profile.
- You can enable this option for multiple people, allowing more than one person to book your travel if needed.
- Anyone assigned this right will not automatically receive itinerary emails unless also set as the primary assistant.
Primary Assistant:
- You can assign only one person as your Primary Assistant.
- The Primary Assistant receives an email copy of every itinerary for your trips, no matter who made the reservation.
- The Primary Assistant can often modify your profile (such as updating your contact info), and their name and work phone become part of your official GDS (Global Distribution System) traveler profile.
- The Primary Assistant must have a work/office phone number listed in their own profile.
- This designation is more about visibility, receiving communications, and authority to administratively assist than about booking rights. However, a primary assistant can also be allowed to book travel if you grant that separately.
Note: These methods will only be provided to profiled travelers with a Yale.edu email address.
Managers are automatically copied on all bookings. This is established via the hierarchy in Workday and cannot be modified by Yale Travel or World Travel. If a manager does not wish to receive these notifications, the recommendation would be to set up a rule in Outlook to forward the messages to a specific folder or trash.
Anyone traveling internationally must add their passport information to their profile. World Travel will not issue an international trip without the required passport information.
Go to your profile and scroll down to International Travel: Passports and Visas, where you will be able to add or edit the documentation to your profile.
Trips booked for you or by you are in your Trip Library. From the Concur homepage: View Trips. Alternatively, under Home, select Travel and then Trip Library. If you’re an arranger, see the Travel Arranger View.
Concur allows changes to trips before travel has started. Once a trip has begun, changes must be made directly with an agent.
Following ticketing, World Travel automatically sends an email containing the itinerary and a PDF attachment of the invoice/receipt. These documents contain critical information for expense purposes.
Invoice/receipt emails will be sent to the profiled traveler and anyone listed as the ‘primary assistant’ in their profile. When booking for a guest, whether in Concur or with an agent, opt to have the email sent to you. You can then forward any relevant trip information to your guests separately.
Retain these invoices for expensing. If you contact World Travel to request a copy of a receipt, the document they send you will not include all the information required by Yale. Yale Travel has copies of the invoices/receipts issued initially by World Travel. Access a copy of an invoice/receipt email.
Only air and rail travel expenses are invoiced directly through World Travel. The invoices/receipts emailed by World Travel for these purchases are acceptable for expensing.
Hotel, car, and limousine services are not billed through World Travel. Although listed on the invoices/receipts, they are considered ‘booked’ rates, not inclusive of all taxes and fees. Therefore, World Travel invoices/receipts are not sufficient to expense for these services. Instead, the final invoices directly from the supplier should be used to expense for these purchases. Documents directly from Concur are not sufficient for any expense purposes.
These services cannot be prepaid or direct-billed through Concur; however, workarounds are available.
Limousines cannot be prepaid or direct-billed in Concur. Once a booking is completed, contact the supplier to arrange billing. Options for booking and paying directly with select limousine providers are available on the Preferred Supplier Portal.
Car rentals cannot currently be direct-billed through Concur. If you will have these requests regularly, we suggest establishing your own direct billing account. Request an application for a direct billing account.
Hotels cannot currently be billed through Concur; however, this may change soon. To set up a direct bill, book the hotel, and then contact the hotel to arrange direct billing. Alternatively, add a request under Comments for the Travel Agent on the Trip Booking Information page in Concur, requesting that the agent arrange direct billing using your pcard. Alternatively, for Yale local preferred hotels, billing can be arranged using this form.
In Concur Travel, notifications are sent to different recipients depending on their roles and settings:
Traveler: By default, the traveler receives email notifications about their travel bookings, itinerary changes, expense reports, and approvals. Travel Assistants/Arrangers: If assigned the ability to book travel (“Can Book Travel for Me”), they may receive some notifications related to bookings they make on behalf of the traveler, but not all notifications go to them automatically unless configured.
Primary Assistant: Receives email copies of every itinerary and trip changes made for the traveler, ensuring they stay informed of travel details. They may not automatically receive expense or invoice notifications unless they are also granted delegate roles with those permissions.
Managers receiving trip booking notifications are controlled by a system-wide setting that is either on or off for all managers; it cannot be individually turned off for a single manager.
A Yale traveler with guest access can book travel for Yale guests in Concur. Request access.
Alternatively, contact World Travel directly to book with an agent. Trips booked by guests will require contact information for their Yale host, and that host will need to approve any travel booked. Note: Guest Access is not to be used for booking Yale travelers.
World Travel provides additional information on the Higher Education Travel Request Form for setting up a meeting.
Procedure
Complete the online form with basic information about your meeting and then submit it. A World Travel representative from the University Desk Team will follow up via email to collect further information about the meeting.
Once the meeting is set up, the meeting planner will be provided with a code, along with the contact phone number and email address that your guest can use to book their travel.
Please schedule at least two weeks in advance of the meeting when possible.
Specifics
Unless otherwise agreed, all trips will be booked with an agent via phone or email. Identify the meeting planner/Yale Host as the primary point of contact for all questions/issues. Establish who will be the primary contact for the event at World Travel. Important to specify that the meeting planner must be copied on all reservation confirmations/invoice receipts. Discuss and confirm all requirements in advance. Determine the form of payment in advance, which will then be billed for all air/rail tickets. Credit card only, meetings cannot be billed to a COA.
You can book one trip at a time in Concur. You should book with a World Travel agent if you need to book you need to book multiple travelers on the same flight.
Avelo or Breeze Airlines cannot be booked in Concur. The reason is that they are not in the GDS (Global Distribution System), which is where World Travel trips are booked. The cost of being in the GDS is prohibitive for low-budget airlines like Avelo and Breeze, so trips can only be booked on their websites. Upon request, a World Travel agent will book these on the airline websites and manually enter them into the GDS for you.
Complex international trips (two or more stops) can be difficult to book online. Even if you’re able to book the necessary connections, World Travel needs to review the fares presented to ensure accuracy. One of the benefits of booking with World Travel is the ability to book these trips directly with an agent. The agent will review the best options with you and ensure they are priced optimally. If you are having difficulties or are unsure, you should speak with an agent.
Yale policy does not require flight comparison documentation for:
- Non-sponsored trips in Economy Class
- Sponsored trips booked through World Travel without an FAA/Open Skies exception
Yale policy requires the following documentation for federally sponsored flights with an FAA/Open Skies exception.
For a federally-sponsored trip booked on Concur with an FAA/Open Skies exception, complete your expense report as follows:
- Create an expense report for travel via Workday.
- Attach the emailed trip confirmation.
- Request Trip History report.
Note: Trip History is only available if there is an exception. - Attach the Trip History Report, which will detail the available flights not chosen, and submit it to the approver.
If you booked your flight through a World Travel agent, and it required an FAA/Open Skies exception, an email with three alternative flight options will be emailed to you. Include this with your expense report. Agent booked trips will not be available in the Trip History Report.
When booking flights in Concur Travel, follow these steps for the most accurate and efficient seat selection experience:
Selection (Review and Reserve Flight Page)
While seats can be selected on the “Review and Reserve Flight” page, it is not recommended to finalize your choice here. At this stage, Frequent Flyer information has not yet been transmitted to the airline, which may prevent access to preferred or upgraded seating.
Proceed to the Next Page for Better Options
After continuing past the initial review page, Concur will:
- Automatically assign seats based on the seat preferences saved in your profile.
- Assign any available seat if no preferences are listed.
At this point, Frequent Flyer details have been passed to the airline, enabling access to status-based seating benefits.
Using the “Change Seat” Link
Click the “Change Seat” link under your current seat assignment to open the airline’s seat map. You can now:
- Select preferred seats based on your Frequent Flyer status.
- View upgraded seating options if eligible.
Paid Seats
If a selected seat shows a message indicating payment is required, it is recommended to complete the transaction directly on the airline’s website, as Concur does not currently support payment processing for seat upgrades. Seat Selection Limitations
Seat selection may be unavailable due to:
- Booking too close to the travel date.
- Airline-specific restrictions.
In such cases, you may:
- Contact a travel agent for assistance.
- Visit the airline’s website to explore seat availability and make changes.
New Interface Enhancements
Concur’s updated seat map experience now reflects Frequent Flyer status more accurately, improving visibility of qualifying seats. Post-ticketing, reservations sync with airline apps, allowing travelers to manage seats and upgrades as if booked directly.
When selecting a flight option in Concur, select “Show Details” to see whether a checked bag is included with the fare. Yale policy allows booking a higher economy fare to secure an assigned seat and/or checked baggage, if available. Checked baggage cannot be purchased on Concur. You must visit the airline’s website to make a purchase: Log in using your frequent flyer account, or search for the flight by entering the Airline Record Locator/Confirmation Number found on the World Travel receipt.
Notes: On the airline website, navigate to “My Trips” or “Manage My Trips” to find your booking information and purchase baggage.
The Airline’s Record Locator/Confirmation Number is different from the World Travel Record Locator Number.
Hotel searches in Concur require specific search requirements upfront.
Destination: Enter Airport, Yale location, Address, or Reference Point/Zip Code
Distance: A 20-mile radius is auto-populated, but it can be adjusted as required. Be as specific as possible. An address or zip code is always helpful. The distance used in densely populated areas should be minimal, whereas the distance used for searches in remote locations may need to be significantly increased.
You may need to perform searches using an address and compare the results to those from a search using the airport’s name. A map will be displayed in the search results, and it may help you determine the best radius to use.
See the FAQ for agent-assisted bookings if you’re unsuccessful.
Booking Amtrak in Concur is straightforward and effective, but the process isn’t the same as booking an airline because Concur must access Amtrak directly.
- Always refer to the ‘Ticketed invoice’ email received directly from World Travel for the following critical information:
- World Travel Record Locator (6-digit alpha code, i.e. CCZKDS)
- Amtrak will not have this code; it only applies if you’re contacting World Travel about the trip.
- Amtrak Confirmation (6-digit alpha/numeric code located on the World Travel itinerary/invoice, i.e., 61FDD8)
- This is the code you must use at the Amtrak kiosk or on the Amtrak app or website. It will not recognize the World Travel record locator.
- World Travel Record Locator (6-digit alpha code, i.e. CCZKDS)
- Confirm Directly with Amtrak
- Recommended that travelers confirm their reservations on the Amtrak app or website using the Amtrak confirmation code.
- If the reservation isn’t found, contact World Travel right away.
- Avoid Last-Minute Bookings
- Whenever possible, book at least 24 hours in advance to allow time for potential sync issues to be resolved.
- Be Cautious with Changes or Cancellations
- If you must modify or cancel your trip, do so through World Travel rather than Amtrak to ensure records consistency.
- Bring a Backup
- Travelers should carry the World Travel-issued invoice and Amtrak confirmation code when traveling.
- If Amtrak cannot locate the booking, this will help resolve issues more quickly.