Lightning recently introduced two booking process enhancements designed to clarify CTA routing and simplify how unused tickets are applied—making your travel booking faster and more accurate.
- New required field for CTA routing
When booking travel, Lightning now prompts users to select whether the CTA transaction in Emburse Enterprise should route to the arranger or the traveler for reconciliation. This selection also determines who receives the CTP eReceipt. There was no change to the timing of when CTA transactions or eReceipts appear in Emburse Enterprise.
-
-
- If you are booking for yourself: The selection does not matter, since you are both the arranger and the traveler.
- If you are booking for another university employee: Selecting “Arranger” routes the CTA transaction and eReceipt to your Emburse Enterprise eWallet. Selecting “Traveler” routes them to the traveler’s eWallet.
- If you are booking for a university guest: The selection does not matter. The transaction routes to the arranger (you), as guests do not have an Emburse Enterprise profile.
-
- Simplified unused ticket application
The previously required question “Do you have an unused ticket you want to apply to this trip?” was removed from the Reference section on the confirmation page. Travelers with unused tickets now select which ticket to apply earlier in the booking process, before reaching the confirmation page.
These changes were made for several reasons:
- To clarify routing for personal travel: When personal travel is included in a business trip, transactions can now route directly to the traveler to ensure personal expenses are correctly designated for payroll deduction. This eliminates the risk of arrangers being payroll-deducted for someone else’s personal travel.
- To support separation of duties: Previously, CTA transactions defaulted to arrangers, which occasionally resulted in travelers approving their own expenses. The new required field helps maintain compliance, reduces extra steps, and prevents approval conflicts.
- To simplify the booking process: The unused ticket question was redundant. Removing it streamlined the workflow and reduced unnecessary clicks.
Many of these changes were driven by feedback we received directly from our travelers. We truly appreciate the feedback and suggestions and always welcome them. Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional ideas or recommendations.