Softvoyage to maintain some Revnet features after backlash; agents say tool is vital

This story was updated on Friday, July 11 at 5:31 p.m. EST

Softvoyage has opted to retain certain features of its Revnet booking platform following significant feedback from Canadian travel advisors and tour operators.

“We have heard your concerns and understand the issues raised,” the technology company wrote in a notice distributed to travel partners this week.

The company says it will maintain the display functionalities for display “Reservation,” “Add Payment,” and “Cancellation” in Revnet until the end of 2025.

The update comes after travel advisors, in various online forums, have expressed concerns over a June 26 announcement that Revnet would be retired by the end of August due to “technological limitations.”

Recently, travel advisors have been voicing strong support for the Revnet platform, highlighting its frequent use and their preference for it.

Many have urged Softvoyage to reconsider its decision.

“We lose a lot of functionality”

Revnet is a booking platform developed by Softvoyage that allows travel advisors to directly access and book travel packages, flights, and hotels from various tour operators.

It’s designed to be user-friendly and provides live inventory and pricing, including options for different durations and passenger combinations.

The program is known to provide agents with access to inventory that can’t be book in Sirev, a broader Softvoyage platform. Revnet supports bookings that include packages with connectors or multiple room categories, such as one room for adults and another for children.

It also allows agents to see when commission is posted (which Sirev doesn’t offer).

“Without [Revnet], we lose a lot of functionality that we will have to compensate for by phoning the tour operators’ call centres,” said Frances Gertsch of P.E.I-based Stewart Travel Group. “It also provides live pricing, whereas Sirev doesn’t display that on the first screen.”

Revnet is a preferred platform for booking multiple room types on one booking, finding connector flights that don’t load in Sirev, and for making easy payments.

Travel advisor Arlene Gibbons, who is based in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, has worked in the travel industry since 1989 – “and using systems such as Revnet has been my lifeline,” she told PAX.

“It’s basically a DOS system, but once you learn it, it’s a great tool for everyday use,” she said.

In Gibbons’ case, the closest airport is St. John’s International Airport, which means the majority of flights she books are connectors.

“Most often, when I use the Sirev web platform, the flights do not appear. Therefore, I go live to ‘blue screen Revnet’ to search and book. It’s 100 per cent live inventory, whereas Sirev is cache and you have to go to several screens for the true availability and pricing.”

She said she would “be lost without the Revnet system.”

“I hope Softvoyage does not turn off this capability. I know most of my colleagues will agree,” she said.

What Calgary-based travel advisor Vicky Young likes about Revnet, in addition to showing accurate pricing, is how much faster it is.

She also notes that for advisors who live in secondary cities, Sirev does not show all of the connectors. “This is a manual process that can only be done in Revnet – or by calling in to the vendor,” she said.

She takes issue with the functions Softvoyage has decided to maintain on the platform. “They’re are all post-booking features,” she said. “Whereas the features we need to have maintained are the quoting/booking phases.” 

Steph Switzer Flint, owner of Exclusive to You Travel, was in the middle of using Revnet to make group payments when she heard about the platform being discontinued.

“Revnet is such an integral tool for travel agents!” she told PAX. “From group payments to booking multiple rooms. It’s the only way we can confidently confirm availability and pricing for our clients and see when our commissions are posted. Removing Revnet is going to have a huge impact on the travel agent community.”

She feels it’s “one more thing” in the industry that’s trying to “work agents out of the equation.”

“This will add so much time to my day”

Jill De Tonnancour, owner of Destiny Travel, is known as “the Revnet Queen” among her colleagues at The Travel Agent Next Door, where she has played a key role in training other advisors on how to use the platform.

She has been using Revnet since she started in the industry in 1995.

“There are many things it can do that you can’t do in Sirev. You can add multiple rooms to a booking even if they have kids or different room categories. You can do your group payments in there quickly, and add remarks for hotels,” she explained. “I use it exclusively for booking all our major tour ops.”

She said that Sirev is often “not correct” and doesn’t have all the flight or room options.

“We will be wasting time calling in now for things that were simple in Revnet,” she told PAX. “I am very disappointed to be losing it and this will add so much time to my day for quoting and booking. Hopefully Softvoyage will reconsider.”

Softvoyage, in the meantime, says its teams are actively working on implementing missing features in the web version.

As for the creation of new reservations for packages, “we are currently evaluating alternative solutions that align with operational requirements and ensure continuity of service,” the company says.

The company adds that Sirev Web remains fully available and “will continue to evolve to better meet your needs.” 

This is a developing story.  

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