In this article:
1. Getting started
2. Flight policies
3. Accommodation policies
4. Train policies
5. Assigning policies to travellers and groups
1. Getting started
Policies are a bundled set of rules that define how your travellers can search and book trips — covering what they can spend, which options require approval, and which are hidden from search entirely. A well-designed travel policy balances cost control with traveller well-being.
💡 Note: Only super-admins can create and edit policies in your organisation.
1.1 Before you begin
Before setting up a policy, make sure the following are in place:
- At least one group exists with users added and managers assigned. Without a manager, no one can approve booking requests.
- Your policy structure is planned — decide whether you need one policy for everyone or separate policies for different teams or seniority levels.
- Users or groups are ready to be assigned to the policy once it's created.
Once a policy is assigned to a group, every traveller in that group automatically follows it when booking.
To create a new policy or edit an existing one, navigate to Manage → Policies & Rules and click Add to create a new policy, or click on an existing policy name to open it.
2. Flight policies
A flight policy controls what your travellers see and can book when searching for flights. Some settings affect the approval workflow; others act as filters that prevent certain flights from appearing in search results at all.
2.1 Always require approval
When Always require approval is enabled, travellers cannot book any flight directly. Every selection triggers an approval request to their manager. Once the manager approves, the booking is confirmed and charged.
Leave this off if you want approval to be triggered only when a fare exceeds a defined threshold.
💡 Note: Flight exceptions cannot be created if Always require approval is turned on for the main policy.
2.2 Fare limits
Under Fare limits, you choose how we determines your flight budget ceiling. There are two approaches:
- Dynamic (based on Price to Beat) — We calculates a budget ceiling in real time, based on the median price of the lowest logical fares available for each specific search. Thresholds are set as percentages above that median.
- Fixed — You define a fixed monetary amount. Fares above that amount either require approval or are hidden from search.
Only one method can be active at a time. Select the radio button next to your preferred approach to activate it.
2.3 Dynamic fare limit (based on Price to Beat)
The dynamic approach sets your budget ceiling based on what flights actually cost for a given route on a given date — rather than a figure set weeks or months in advance. When a traveller searches, we calculates the Price to Beat: the median price of the top results filtered to the lowest logical fares for that route. Your approval and hide thresholds are then applied as percentages above that median.
This works well for companies whose travellers book routes with variable pricing, or where a fixed cap tends to feel too tight on some routes and too generous on others.
To configure the dynamic fare limit:
- Select Dynamic (based on Price to Beat) under Fare limits.
- In Requires approval above, enter the percentage above the Price to Beat at which a fare should trigger an approval request.
- Optionally, enter a percentage in Hide from search above for fares that should not appear in search results at all. Leave this blank if you only want to require approval, not hide any results.
The summary row beneath the fields shows how your settings apply. For example, with a 10% approval threshold and no hide limit:
- No approval required: Below +10% of the Price to Beat
- Requires approval: Equal to or above +10% of the Price to Beat
- Hidden from search: Not applicable
💡 Note: The Requires approval above field is mandatory. If you set a Hide from search above threshold, it must be higher than the approval threshold — you cannot hide fares at a lower percentage than the approval threshold.
📋 Example: Your company sets a 10% approval threshold and a 40% hide threshold. A traveller searches for a flight from Singapore to Jakarta. We calculates the Price to Beat at SGD 220 for that route and date. Fares up to SGD 242 (220 × 1.10) are booked freely. Fares between SGD 243 and SGD 308 (220 × 1.40) require manager approval. Fares above SGD 308 are hidden from search entirely.
2.4 Fixed fare limit
The fixed approach lets you set a specific monetary cap. Any fare above your defined amount either requires approval or is hidden from search, regardless of what the market rate is on the day of booking.
To configure:
- Select Fixed under Fare limits.
- Choose your currency and enter a threshold in the Requires approval above field.
- Optionally, enter a higher amount in Hide from search above.
We apply these thresholds differently for return and one-way flights. The summary table beneath the fields shows the effective limits for each:
- Return flights use the full round-trip fare.
- One-way flights use half the entered amount as the effective threshold.
📋 Example: You set a fixed approval threshold of SGD 1,000 with no hide limit. Return flights below SGD 1,000 are booked freely. Return flights at or above SGD 1,000 require approval. For one-way flights, the threshold is SGD 500 — any one-way fare at or above SGD 500 requires approval.
2.5 Booking window
Enable the Booking window toggle to require travellers to book a minimum number of days before their departure date. Enter the number of days in the Require approval for requests less than __ days before date of travel field.
Any booking made inside this window will require manager approval, even if the fare is within your defined fare limits.
📋 Example: You set a 5-day booking window. Amy searches for a flight on Monday 2 June with a departure on Thursday 5 June — just 3 days away. Even if the fare is well within policy, Amy's booking will be sent for approval before it's confirmed.
2.6 Cabin class
Enable Cabin class to restrict which cabin classes your travellers can book. When active, travellers can only select and book flights in the permitted cabin class or classes. Flights in other cabin classes will not be available for booking.
Available classes: Economy, Premium Economy, Business, First Class.
2.7 Exclude airlines
Enable Exclude airlines to prevent specific airlines from appearing in your travellers' search results. Flights operated by excluded airlines will be hidden from search entirely.
2.8 Flight exceptions
Flight exceptions let you override the main flight policy for specific conditions — such as long-haul routes, international trips, or particular origin-destination pairs. Exceptions are commonly used to relax restrictions for demanding journeys (for example, allowing Business class after 6+ hours of travel time).
To add an exception, click + Add exception. Each exception can include conditions such as flight duration, trip type, or route, along with its own fare limit and cabin class rules.
When a traveller's search matches an exception's conditions, those rules take precedence over the main policy for that search.
💡 Note: Exceptions are evaluated in order. If a traveller's search matches more than one exception, the first matching exception is applied. Review the order of your exceptions if you have overlapping conditions.
📋 Example: A company sets an exception for flights longer than 8 hours that are international and routed from Singapore to Amsterdam. For those bookings: First Class is permitted, the approval threshold is raised to SGD 5,000, and fares above SGD 10,000 are hidden from search.
3. Accommodation policies
Accommodation policies work in the same way as flight policies, with a few differences: instead of airline filters, you have hotel-specific controls like star ratings, review scores, and accommodation type. Budget thresholds are based on the nightly room rate rather than total fare.
3.1 Always require approval
When enabled, every accommodation booking — regardless of nightly rate — is sent for manager approval before it is confirmed. Fare limit settings still control what is hidden from search.
3.2 Fare limits
As with flights, you choose between Dynamic (based on Price to Beat) and Fixed fare limits for accommodations. Only one can be active at a time.
3.3 Dynamic fare limit (based on Price to Beat)
When dynamic fare limits are active for accommodations, we calculates a Price to Beat for each hotel search — the median nightly rate of the top results for that city and date, filtered to your company's preferred hotel quality settings. Your thresholds are applied as percentages above this median.
This is well-suited to companies whose travellers visit cities with very different price levels, where a single nightly cap would be either too restrictive in expensive markets or too generous in more affordable ones.
To configure:
- Select Dynamic (based on Price to Beat) under Fare limits.
- Enter your Requires approval above percentage — the point above the Price to Beat at which a hotel requires approval before booking.
- Optionally, enter a Hide from search above percentage for hotels that should not appear in results at all.
📋 Example: Rina's company sets a 20% approval threshold and a 50% hide threshold for accommodations. She searches for hotels in Singapore for a two-night stay. We calculates the Price to Beat at SGD 298 per night. Hotels up to SGD 357 per night are in policy and can be booked directly. Hotels between SGD 358 and SGD 447 require approval. Hotels above SGD 447 are hidden. The following week, Rina searches Kuala Lumpur — we recalculates a new Price to Beat based on KL rates, so she sees a completely different ceiling that reflects local market conditions.
3.4 Fixed fare limit
Select Fixed to define a specific nightly rate cap. Travellers can book hotels below this amount immediately. Hotels at or above the threshold require approval or are hidden, depending on how you configure the two thresholds.
3.5 Booking window
Works identically to the flight booking window. When enabled, accommodation bookings made within the defined number of days before check-in will require manager approval, even if the nightly rate is within policy.
3.6 Booking duration
Set a maximum number of nights that can be booked without approval. Any accommodation stay longer than this threshold will require manager approval before it is confirmed.
📋 Example: You set a maximum booking duration of 5 nights. A traveller who tries to book a 7-night hotel stay will be required to get approval — even if the nightly rate is within policy.
3.7 Accommodation type
Use this setting to restrict or hide certain accommodation types from search results. For example, you can hide holiday homes, apartments, or guesthouses if your policy requires travellers to stay in traditional hotels only.
3.8 Nights of the week
Enforce approval for bookings that include specific nights of the week. This is useful if you want to flag or discourage weekend stays — for example, requiring approval for any booking that includes a Saturday or Sunday night.
3.9 Review score
Restrict or hide accommodations that fall below a minimum review score. This is recommended to ensure your travellers are only booking properties that meet a basic quality standard.
3.10 Hotel star ratings
Similar to review scores, but based on the property's star rating rather than guest reviews. Note that star ratings can be inconsistent across markets — We generally recommends using review scores as a more reliable quality signal.
3.11 Accommodation exceptions
Accommodation exceptions override the main hotel policy for specific locations. A common use case is applying a fixed nightly cap for a particular country or city — for example, capping hotels in Australian cities at a fixed rate while the rest of the company uses dynamic fare limits.
Click + Add exception, select the location or conditions, and define the fare limit that applies for those searches.
💡 Note: When an exception matches a traveller's search, we use the exception's rules instead of the main policy — including replacing a dynamic fare limit with a fixed cap for that location. The budget indicator shown in search results always reflects whichever rule is active for that specific search.
4. Train policies
Train policies let you control approvals and budgets for rail bookings in the same way as flights and accommodations. Adjusting the budget affects which seat classes a traveller can choose during booking.
4.1 Policy options
- Always require approval — every train booking requires manager approval before it is confirmed.
- Total train budget — set approval and hide thresholds based on the total fare price, similar to the fixed fare limit for flights.
- Seat class — restrict which seat classes travellers can select, similar to cabin class for flights.
5. Assigning policies to travellers and groups
By default, a policy has no effect until it is assigned to users. You can assign policies to individual travellers or to entire groups.
To assign a policy, open the policy from Manage → Policies & Rules and use the People in policy section to add users or groups.
💡 Note: A user can only be assigned to one policy at a time. If a user belongs to a group that is already assigned to a policy, they cannot be individually assigned to a different policy. Reassign the user to a different group first if you need to apply a different policy to them.
You can learn more about approvals, how to setup advance approval rules, including multi-approval setup through these help articles:
- What are the different approval settings