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Flight Path by Tern

Tern Software Inc

Released: 2025-07-18

Free New

50 Episodes

Audio

Free New

50 Episodes

Audio

Released: 2025-07-18

Most Recent Episode

Offsite, Onboarding, and What’s Next for Advisors

In this episode, David, Molly, and Brad reflect on a packed week at Tern. From in-person team bonding to product rollouts and user empathy exercises, they share what’s new, what’s coming, and how it all ladders up to building the best possible platf

Time: 36:39

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(00:49) New Hire Offsite Recap

Tern’s remote team came together in Plymouth, MI for a new hire orientation focused on building connection, culture, and context. The highlight? A hands-on storytelling activity where teammates pieced together Tern’s origin story through photos and milestones. It sparked emotion, reflection, and a shared appreciation for how far the company has come.

(08:30) Advisor Simulation

To help team members build empathy for the advisor experience, Tern ran a live simulation where employees role-played travelers, advisors, and suppliers. Each group planned a custom trip to Italy under real-world pressures like unclear preferences, last-minute changes, and tight deadlines. For engineers and designers, it was a powerful way to understand the complexity advisors manage every day.

(14:27) Mobile App Upgrades

Tern’s traveler-facing mobile app just got a major usability update. Trips are now clearly split into “Upcoming” and “Past” tabs, helping travelers easily find relevant information. Visual design improvements also polish the overall look and feel. Advisors are encouraged to prompt their clients to update their app for the best experience — especially as Tern rolls out its new content editor.

(17:19) Agency Tools in Beta

A new feature allows agencies to require specific fields — like confirmation numbers or supplier names — before a booking can be marked as complete. This helps improve reconciliation and reporting accuracy. The feature is currently in beta with one agency, and the team is gathering feedback to refine the experience before a broader rollout.

(24:09) Improved Onboarding for New Users

New advisors now land in a clean, guided interface when they join Tern. Instead of being dropped into a pre-filled demo trip, they’re offered clear paths to add a trip, log a booking, or start a credit card authorization. These small changes make the platform more approachable — and even longtime users are loving the improved flow.

(28:22) What’s Next: The New Editor

The long-awaited new rich text editor is rolling out for trips and activities. It enables cleaner formatting, improved styling, and better compatibility across web and mobile. To ensure a smooth transition, the team conducted a detailed side-by-side QA comparing old vs. new formatting. Travelers on outdated app versions may not see formatting correctly, so advisors should encourage updates.

(32:20) Contact Form Improvements

Tern is refining how contact forms work when travelers don’t include email addresses for every person in their party. These updates will reduce the creation of duplicate contacts and make it easier to collect and update traveler details — especially for group and family bookings.

(20:17 & 35:10) Admin-Level Supplier Templates

Tern is researching how to let agency owners define default terms, cancellation policies, and payment details at the supplier level. This feature would save advisors time and reduce errors, especially for large teams. The team is currently collecting feedback to shape what this capability might look like.

(23:25) Quick Wins & Quality of Life Updates

A highly requested update now lets advisors mark payments as “paid” directly from the authorizations table — no need to click in and scroll. It’s a small change, but one that eliminates extra clicks and keeps workflows fast and efficient.

Episode ID: 1000717997833

GUID: 42a2ebf5-bad0-42ae-9b90-770d408dd378

Release Date: 18/07/2025, 20:45:18

Description

Welcome to Flight Path, your weekly insider’s guide to the latest in travel technology with Tern, the premier platform for travel advisors. Join us every Friday as Tern’s R&D leadership takes you on a journey through what’s new and exciting in Tern, unveiling the features and updates shipped each week.

Hosted by Tern’s co-founder and CEO David Shull, Head of Product Molly Johnson, and Head of Design Brad Turner, Flight Path offers a unique peek behind the curtain of building the best platform for travel advisors. From in-depth discussions about new releases to behind-the-scenes insights into the design and development process, you’ll gain a comprehensive understanding of the innovation and hard work that drive Tern’s success.

Whether you’re a travel advisor looking to stay ahead of the curve or a tech enthusiast curious about the latest advancements in travel technology, Flight Path is your go-to source for all things Tern. Tune in every Friday and let us navigate you through the future of travel.

Hosts:

David Shull: Co-founder and CEO of Tern

Molly Johnson: Head of Product at Tern

Brad Turner: Head of Design at Tern

Feed URL

https://anchor.fm/s/f93f817c/podcast/rss

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