TravelDesk User Manual
easyGDS TravelDesk is a corporate travel booking self-service portal.
Getting Started
Sign in to TravelDesk using SSO or an email address.
Navigate to your organisation’s TravelDesk URL. The sign-in page offers three authentication options:
- Continue with Google — sign in using your Google Workspace account
- Continue with Microsoft — sign in using your Microsoft 365 account
- Email address — enter your corporate email and click Continue to proceed with a password or magic link
Additional SSO Providers can be configured. Contact your easyGDS TravelDesk representative for details
Tip — TravelDesk remembers your last-used sign-in method and highlights it for faster access on return visits.
Navigation Overview
Get oriented with the primary sidebar and where each section lives.
After signing in, the left sidebar provides access to all sections of TravelDesk. Nav item visibility depends on user role and permissions.
| Menu item | Description |
|---|---|
| + New Request | Open the form to create a new travel request. |
| Requests | View and manage your own travel requests. |
| Team Requests | View travel requests submitted by your direct reports (managers). |
| Unassigned Bookings | Bookings received from the booking engine that have not yet been matched to a request (admin). |
| Policies | Configure flight class, hotel rate, and carrier policies (admin). |
| Employees | Manage employee profiles and grades (admin). |
| Reports | View travel spend and booking analytics (admin). |
| Settings | Configure system-wide booking and approval settings (admin). |
| My Profile | View and edit your personal travel profile. |
Travel Requests
Submit, track, and manage your travel requests through approval and booking.
3.1 — Viewing your requests
The Requests page lists all travel requests you have submitted. Each row shows the key details at a glance.
Columns
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Request # | Unique identifier (e.g. TR-0012). Click to open the full request detail. |
| Destination | City and country of the travel request destination. |
| On behalf of | The traveller this request was raised for (if not yourself). |
| Request Date | Date the request was submitted. |
| Departure | Planned travel start date. |
| Status | Current approval / booking status (see below). |
| Total Price | Total booking cost. |
Status values
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending Approval | Awaiting manager or admin sign-off. |
| Pending Booking | No booking has been done for this request. |
| Pending Evaluation | Under policy review. |
| Approved | Fully approved and booked. |
Use the All statuses dropdown to filter the list by a specific status.
3.2 — Creating a new request
Click + New Request in the sidebar or the blue New Request button at the top right to open the request form.
Required fields
The information on the travel request is used for reporting and included in the data feed to the enterprise ERP.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| On behalf of | Select the traveller from the dropdown. Defaults to yourself. This requires another employee having nominated the requester as a travel arranger. |
| Reason for travel | Free-text description of the trip purpose (required). |
| Destination | Search by city name or airport code. |
| Travel dates | Select travel start and end date from the calendar pickers. |
Optional fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Approval / PO # | Internal purchase order or pre-approval reference number. |
| Travelers | Number of travellers (default: 1). |
| Cost Center | Internal cost centre code for accounting allocation. |
Once all required fields are filled in, click Submit Request to send the request for approval. After approval, the system will generate a search link for the travel booking tool.
Travel Policies
Control cabin class, hotel rate caps, and carrier restrictions applied to bookings.
Administrators configure travel policies under the Policies section. Policies control which cabin classes, hotel rates, and airlines are permitted for bookings. The page is divided into four tabs: Flight Class, Hotel Rate Cap, Advance Booking, and Carrier Rules.
4.1 — Flight Class Policy
The Flight Class tab defines the maximum permitted cabin class for each employee grade, split by flight duration.
Short-haul / long-haul threshold
Set the duration at which a flight switches from short-haul to long-haul rules. The default is 4h 30m.
Duration type
- Flight Duration — scheduled total flight duration
- Door-to-Door Duration — flight time plus ground travel minutes at both ends (not yet available)
Grade matrix (Example)
Each employee grade has separate cabin class limits for short-haul and long-haul flights:
| Grade | Short-haul | Long-haul |
|---|---|---|
| Executive | Economy | Economy |
| Manager | Economy | Business |
| Senior Manager | Economy | Business |
| VP/SVP | Business | First |
Click Edit to modify the matrix and save changes.
4.2 — Hotel Rate Cap Policy
The Hotel Rate Cap tab sets maximum permitted nightly hotel rates. Bookings exceeding the applicable cap are flagged as non-compliant.
Default cap
The fallback nightly rate (in MYR) applied to all destinations not covered by a country or city rule.
Country rate cap
Override the default rate for specific countries using the two-letter ISO country code (e.g. MY for Malaysia, IN for India).
City rate cap
Override the country or default rate for specific cities. Search by city name; the system resolves the IATA airport code automatically (e.g. Mumbai → BOM).
Rule precedence — City cap overrides Country cap, which overrides the Default cap.
Use + Add Country and + Add City to add new entries. Click the trash icon to remove an entry. Save all changes with the Save button.
4.3 — Carrier Rules
The Carrier Rules tab restricts which airlines are permitted on specific routes. More specific rules (city pair) override broader rules (country pair).
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Rule type | Select Country Pair or City Pair from the dropdown. |
| Origin / Destination | Country codes (e.g. MY, TH) for country pair; IATA city codes (e.g. KUL, BKK) for city pair. |
| Allowed Carriers | Comma-separated IATA airline codes (e.g. TG, AK or MH). |
Click + Add Rule to add a new carrier rule. Click the trash icon to remove a rule. Click Save Carrier Rules Policy to apply all changes.
Rule precedence — City Pair overrides Country Pair.
Settings
Configure system-wide booking behaviour, approvals, and org structure.
The Settings page controls system-wide booking behaviour, approval automation, and organisational structure.
Booking flow
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Auto-Approve Compliant Bookings | When enabled, bookings that pass all policy checks are automatically approved without requiring manager review. |
| Price Threshold | Maximum cost increase percentage allowed before a re-approval is triggered. |
TTL monitoring
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| TTL Warning Window | If a booking time limit is reaching this window, a warning email is sent to the designated manager and admin. |
| Short TTL Auto-Approve | If a booking has fewer than this many hours remaining before it expires, it is automatically approved to prevent the booking from being cancelled. |
Defaults
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Default Currency | Base currency used across all rate displays, reports, and exports (e.g. MYR). |
Departments
Manage your company’s departmental hierarchy. Each department can have a Parent department and a designated Manager. Use + Add to create a new department and the edit / delete icons to modify existing ones.
Grades
Define the employee grade levels used for policy evaluation (e.g. Executive, Manager, Senior Manager, VP/SVP). Each grade has a numeric Level used to determine seniority ordering. Use + Add to create grades and the edit / delete icons to manage them.
Corporate supplier settings
Configure preferred supplier identifiers for your GDS and hotel suppliers (expandable section).
Branding
Customise your organisation’s name and login page logo (expandable section).
Click Save Settings to apply all changes on this page.