Travel Registry's Group Travel feature allows admins to create trip offerings available for groups of travelers. 

This article discusses the following group travel topics:

• Access and Permissions
• Creating Group Trips
  • Group Leader Not Traveling
  • Adding Group Members
    • Individually
    • From Existing Group
    • From Excel File
  • Completing Group Leader Requirements
  • Creating Group Members' Trips
  • Confirmation Email
• Managing Group Trips
  • Trip Requirements for Group Members
  • Travel Itineraries for Group Members
  • Re-Assigning Group Leaders
• Group Trip Approval
• Deleting Groups & Group Trips
• AlertTraveler® & Group Trips
  •  

Access and Permissions

To use the Group Travel feature, enable group leader functionality by navigating to Travel Admin>Settings>Others tab. (See Confirmation Email below for more information on the email notification option.)

A traveler who is part of the designated "Group Leaders (AT)" permission group will be able to create group trips and see the travelers who have been added to their trip. (See Travel Registry: Administrative Access and Permissions and AlertTraveler®: Administrator Permissions > Group Leaders (AT) for more on setting and modifying permissions.

Note: If the leader has any other permissions within Travel Registry and/or AlertTraveler®, those permissions will supersede the group leader permissions, allowing the leader to see all travelers in the system.

Admins can also create group trips on behalf of a group leader from the Delegate Center at Travel Admin>Delegate Center>Trips by using the plus icon in lower right corner. This will open the "Create New Trip" interface. Toggle the "Group trip" option in the upper right corner to reload the window with group trip requirements. 

In the "Select team leader" field, type part of a name or email address to search for a traveler to designate as a group leader. The following must be true for a traveler to be eligible to be selected as a group leader through this interface:

1. The group leader must be a traveler with a profile in the Travel Registry. A profile is created automatically the first time that a traveler logs into either the admin or public Travel Registry sites. If the traveler has not yet logged in, an admin can create a profile for them through the Delegate Center (see Creating New Profiles for more information on this process).
2. The group leader must be included in the "Group Leader" permission group. (See Travel Registry: Administrative Access and Permissions and AlertTraveler®: Administrator Permissions > Group Leaders (AT) for more on setting and modifying permissions.)

Once a leader is selected, the admin steps for creating a trip are the same as outlined below in "Creating Group Trips."

 

Creating Group Trips

A group trip can be created by a group leader through the regular "Create New Trip" interface on the public Travel Registry site. After clicking the "+Add New Trip" button, a Group Travel toggle will be available on the trip creation screen. This option only shows to users who have been designated as a group leader (meaning they have been added to the staff group "Group Leaders (AT))

Toggle the "Group trip" on (the toggle will turn green) and complete the fields on the trip creation screen.

 

Group Leader Not Traveling

It may be that the Group Leader is sponsoring the group trip, but is not traveling on the trip themself. If the group leader simply needs to create the trip and monitor the traveler's registration progress, they can choose to disable the Leader is Traveling toggle: 

 

A disabled toggle will turn grey, indicating the Group Leader is not traveling with the group. A trip will be created for the Group Leader, but the leader will not be added to Traveler Locations for the trip and will not be impacted by Alerts for the trip's locations. 

In the Admin view of the Trip Search page, the group leader's trip will indicate the Group Trip Leader is not traveling as follows: 

 

Adding Group Members

After entering the required information, if the "Cancel" button is clicked, the interface will close and the trip will not be created. If the "Continue" button is clicked, a prompt will appear offering the option to either add group travelers now or later. 

• If "Do this Later" is selected, then travelers can be added individually or from an existing group at any time from the group tab in the trip.
• If "Add Group Now" is selected, the "Group Members" window will open and prompt the user to add travelers to the trip.

Travelers can be added to the group individually, from an existing group, or from an Excel file:

Individually

Use the search field to find travelers one by one. Entering an email address allows the system to search both existing Travel Registry profiles and the SIS/HR data file from the institution.

From Existing Group

An existing group can be selected from the drop down menu, or a new group can be saved by checking the "Save this group for future use" box, and then entering a name and (optionally) a description.

From Excel File

Clicking on the red "FILE UPLOAD" button opens an interface for importing a list of travelers. 

Note: It's highly recommended that users download the Excel template file provided in the upload window to format their data. It is possible to not use the template file, but the spreadsheet file should follow this specific column order: "Email", "First Name", "Last Name", and "UUUID". 

• The Email, First Name, and Last Name fields are required.
• The UUUID ("unique, universal, unchanging identifier") field is an optional column that can be used for additional matching purposes. The UUUID is a field designated by institutions as part of the SIS/HR/SSO systems integration. This may be an email address or another unique identifier that the institution uses to distinguish individuals in their electronic systems.

Click "Upload file" to select the file. When a file is selected, the system will immediately begin searching to find matching users in the Travel Registry profiles and the SIS/HR data file from the institution.
Once the system finishes looking for traveler matches, a group members list will appear showing the members that will be added.


For each traveler, the email address, first name, and last name will show. The trash can icon can be used to delete travelers from this list and prevent a trip from being created for them. The icons on the far right provide more information on the results of the traveler matching:

• • Perfect Match (green circle with check mark) - The data in the file and information in the system are a perfect match. No further action on this traveler is needed to continue with finalizing the group members and creating the trip.
    
    
    
  • Match with Notification (yellow caution sign) - The traveler has been found based on the email address or the UUUID but there is a data mismatch, such as a name that is different in the uploaded file as compared to what is found in Travel Registry. In these cases, the data that already is present in Travel Registry will be used instead of what is present in the uploaded file. Hovering over the yellow icon will provide more information about the conflicting data. This notification is informational only; no further action on this traveler is needed to continue with finalizing the group members and creating the trip.
    
    
    
  • Possible Match(es) (red circle with a number) - There is no exact match for the traveler's email address or UUUID but there are one or more possible matches. In order to continue with creating the group trip, click on each red icon to reconcile the matches.
    
    In the "match user" window, a list of one or more possible matches will be displayed. A user can be selected from this list as the correct match for the traveler from the uploaded file. If no user is a correct match, instead click "I did not find the traveler" to open a search interface.
    
    This search box will query by name or email address, bringing up a list options from which to select. If there is no traveler profile that matches, enter the email address, first name, and last name in the fields to instead create a new user.
    Once a user has been selected, the red circle icon displayed on the Group Members window will switch to a green circle with a check mark to indicate that the matching issue has been resolved.
    
    
  • No Match (no icon) - There is no match for this user in Travel Registry. A new external user will be created automatically as part of the trip creation process; no further action on this traveler is needed to continue with finalizing the group members and creating the trip.

Continue adding users through the individual, existing file, and file upload options until the group is complete.

Once travelers are added and there are no more red circle icons indicating "Possible Match(es)" remaining, click "DONE" to continue.

 

Completing Group Leader Requirements

Clicking "DONE" triggers one of two options:

• If there are no Forms or Essential Content required of the group leader, then the system will immediately begin creating trips for the group members. 
• If there are required Forms or Essential Content required for the group leader, then the system will create the group leader's trip and offer the opportunity to complete these requirements before the group members' trips are created. A notification will show above the trip and on the Group Travelers tab indicating that the group members' trips have not yet been created, and to save to trigger the creation of the group members' trips.
  
  

  After completing any desired requirements, click on the "Save and Create Member Trips" to create the trips for the group members. A message will show to indicate that the user can navigate away from the page while the trips are created.

  • Forms: If the leader completes one or more forms that also apply for group travelers, when saving, the system will offer to cascade form responses to any travelers who are required to complete the same form when creating the trips.
  • Itinerary: If trip details such as flight or hotel information are entered, when saving, the system will offer to cascade the trip details to all group members when creating the trip. (For more on cascading, see Travel Itineraries for Group Members below.)

Creating Group Members' Trips

When the system starts to create trips for group members, a message will show to indicate that the user can navigate away from the page while the trips are created. At this time, Travel Registry creates any traveler profiles that do not already exist, imports needed profile data from any linked SIS/HR file integrations, creates trips for each traveler, and applies workflows.

While the group member trips are being created, a message shows indicating that the trip is locked and cannot be edited. 

Additionally, an hourglass icon shows next to the trip on the trip list. 

Once the group members trips are created a success message will show at the top of the window in Travel Registry. Once the group members' trips have been created, the trip can again be edited.

Note: If any errors are encountered during the group member trip creation process, an alert message will appear on the Group Travelers tab of the group leader's trip and will also be included in the confirmation email. Clicking save on the trip will prompt the system to create trips for any listed travelers that do not already have trips, including any travelers not added during the group member trip creation process or any new travelers that have been added later.

 

Confirmation Email

By visiting Travel Admin>Settings>Others tab, admins can set an email to be sent confirming the successful creation of group members' trips. Admins can set this email to send automatically to:

• Group Leader
• User who created the trip
• Group Leader & User who created the trip

If enabled, then when group members' trips have been created, this email will be sent:

 

Subject: Group trip creation notification

You are being notified that your group trip has been successfully created.

Trip details
Trip Name: [Trip name]
Approval Status: [Approval status]
Dates: [start date] to [end date]

Destinations
[dates] - [location]

Travelers
[list of traveler names and emails]

DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL

 

Note: If there have been any errors in creating trips for individual travelers then the following line will be included in the email, together with a list of travelers that did not have trips created:

"You are being notified that your group trip has been created but there was an issue in creating all group members. Please log in and resave the trip to reprocess."

 

Managing Group Trips

Group trips make it possible for group leaders and admins to easily manage requirements and itineraries for group members.

Trip Requirements for Group Members

After the trip has been created, within the group leader's trip, a "Group Travelers" tab is available to see and edit group members.

For each traveler, the group leader can see how many trip requirements of each type the traveler still needs to complete before the trip can be submitted. This is indicated by the icons to the right of the traveler’s name. The group leader can also send reminders to the travelers in their group using the “Send Reminder” button, prompting group members to finish their required forms and content.

If this is a group of travelers the leader travels with frequently, they can save this group using the “Save this group for future use” option at the bottom of the page. This allows them to import the list for a future trip. Likewise, if the group of students they wish to add has already been saved as a group, they can use the dropdown menu at the bottom to select that group.

The group leader will have the option to complete on behalf of the participants any requirements all travelers must complete. When saving or resaving responses their own requirements, the leader will have the option to cascade the responses to all travelers.

 

Travel Itineraries for Group Members

Group leaders can cascade itinerary information to travelers. When saving new or updated itinerary information (such as flight, lodging, or rail details), the system will offer the option to apply these details to the trips for the group members as well. If "Yes, apply to all" is selected then all travel details except airplane seats will be cascaded to the group members from the group leader's trip.

If the group leader would like to only apply some travel details to group members, they can do so in a two-step process:

1. Enter the details to be cascaded in one step, and apply those details to all travelers.
2. Then the group leader can add additional details and choose "No, only apply to this trip" to keep those on their own trip only.

Group leaders and admins can also cascade individual travel segments that have been entered to the group by using the "Cascade to group travelers" double arrow option available to the right of the travel segment (outlined in green below).

Note: This will overwrite any information that has been entered by individual travelers on their trip.

When cascading either the full itinerary details or individual segments, all entered trip details will be cascaded except for what is entered in the "Seat" field.

 

Re-Assigning Group Leaders

Admins and delegates can re-assign the group leader as necessary. The new group leader must be a participant of the trip and can be selected using the highlighted image in the screenshot below. This image, which looks like a clipboard with a person, to the very left of the trash can, is dark gray and clickable when the traveler is a member of the group designed for group leaders. 

Clicking this icon will allow the user to change the group leader. After the leader is changed, the original group leader will now become a member of the group. If the original leader is no longer traveling, they can be deleted from the trip using the trash can icon.

As a reminder, in order to re-assign the group leader:

• the new group leader must be a participant on the group
• the new group leader must be a member of the group designated for group leaders

 

Group Trip Approval

Group trips must receive approval from designated "approvers." Group leaders have two options when it comes to seeking group trip approval:

1. Add participants then seek approval
2. Seek approval, then add participants

• Add Participants Then Seek Approval

If a group leader chooses to add participants and then seek group trip approval, all participants must complete their individual requirements before the trip can be submitted. 

• Seek Approval, Then Add Participants

If desired, a group leader can complete and submit the group trip request for approval prior to adding participants. Once approval is granted, the leader can go in and add the participants, who will then receive an email stating that a trip has been created for them and (if applicable) there are outstanding items to complete. The group leader will receive an email notifying them the trip has been completed but it's recommended to include a custom receipt email letting them know to add the participants if they haven't done so already.

 

Note: Once a trip is approved for the group leader, no other approval workflows will apply to the group members' trip. They are considered approved as well.

 

Deleting Groups & Group Trips

The group leader can delete the trip from the "My Trips" page by clicking the vertical three dot icon to the right of the trip name and selecting 'Delete'. 



The group leader will then be required to choose a reason for the trip deletion.


Administrators can delete groups by going to Travel Admin>Delegate Center>Groups and clicking the trash can icon to the right of that group that should be deleted.

AlertTraveler® and Group Trips

Members of the permission group designated to grant group travel access can view and communicate with their travelers when using both the AlertTraveler® Admin App and the web-based interface. If the user is only in the Group Leaders (AT) permission group, their AlertTraveler® admin access will be limited to members of the trip that they are listed as the Group Leader.