Flight Path by Tern

Tern Software Inc
  • 5.0 (6)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

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

  1. 4D AGO

    The Dashboard Fix That Every Travel Advisor Has Been Waiting For

    Episode Overview: In this episode of Flight Path, David Shull (CEO and co-founder), Molly Johnson (Head of Product), and Brad Turner (Head of Design) dig into a packed week of updates at Tern. The team covers a major dashboard improvement that group travel advisors have been requesting, a series of notes and AI chat upgrades, and over ten quality of life fixes pulled directly from advisor feedback. From overnight flight handling to smarter AI that can now search trips and learn from user behavior, this episode is loaded with improvements that make Tern feel faster, smarter, and more intuitive. The team also teases what is coming next, including itemized package pricing, AI reconciliation for agency owners, and Tern's first AI create tool. Episode Topics: (00:00) Welcome and Week in Review David, Molly, and Brad share what kept them busy this week, from digging through advisor feedback in Canny to cleaning up integration edge cases post-webinar. (03:56) Dashboard Scrolling Is Finally Here Molly breaks down the most-requested dashboard fix: all four dashboard sections now scroll so advisors with large group trips can see every payment, authorization, form response, and task without workarounds. (07:27) Notes Get a Major Quality of Life Upgrade Notes no longer require a title, timestamps now reflect when a note was originally created, notes can be imported with a retroactive created date, and a single note can now be associated with multiple contacts and trips. (13:00) AI Chat Can Now Search Trips The AI chat no longer needs a note to find trip information. It can now search trips directly and answer questions about activities, with richer context for each activity type shipping on April 3rd. (14:14) How Tern Uses AI to Make AI Better David explains how Tern analyzes AI chat behavior to identify where it falls flat, and introduces a new thumbs down feedback button so advisors can directly help improve AI responses. (19:07) Email Triage and What the AI Is Still Learning David walks through how email triage works today, the edge cases the team is solving for, and why shorthand like "WDW" is a great example of the constant iteration happening under the hood. (21:30) Performance Improvements Across the App Brad covers speed upgrades to global task loading, commission payouts, and contact search, which is now dramatically faster with a loading indicator added for good measure. (25:31) Quality of Life Fixes From Advisor Feedback Molly runs through fixes including auto-extending trip end dates for late-arriving overnight flights, credit card authorization details that now stay visible for five minutes, middle names showing for multi-gen travelers, emojis rendering correctly on Tern invoices, and statements that now default to your account currency. (32:36) Week Ahead: What Is Coming Next Brad previews insurance placement improvements and better handling for canceled bookings. Molly shares that itemized package pricing is nearly out of beta and AI reconciliation for agency owners is coming soon. David teases Tern's first AI create tool inside the chat experience. Show Highlights: Dashboard now fully scrolls across all four sections Notes can now be linked to both a contact and a trip at the same time AI chat can now search trips independently New thumbs down button lets advisors help train the AI Overnight flights now auto-extend your trip end date Credit card details now stay visible for five minutes Emojis now render correctly on Tern invoice exports Statements now default to your account currency AI reconciliation for agency owners entering beta AI create tool in early exploration

    35 min

  2. MAR 27

    Cut Your Workload in Half With AI

    Episode Overview: In this episode of Flight Path, David Shull, Molly Johnson, and Brad Turner take listeners behind the curtain of Tern's biggest webinar to date, which drew over 4,000 registrants and broke their Zoom license live. The team unpacks the chaos, the last-minute engineering pushes, and the community energy that made it all worth it. From practical tips on how to get the most out of the new AI chat feature to a candid breakdown of Tern's thinking on AI pricing and beta access, this episode goes deeper than the webinar ever could. With property discovery and packaged insurance improvements on the horizon, the team closes with a look at what is coming next for travel advisors on Tern. Episode Topics: (00:00) Webinar Hangover and Record-Breaking Numbers The team reflects on hosting Tern's biggest webinar yet, with over 3,000 live attendees breaking their Zoom license and 600 questions submitted in real time. (03:48) Behind the Scenes: Last-Minute Engineering Chaos Molly and David pull back the curtain on overnight flight data migrations timing out and demo environments being fixed just minutes before going live. (06:10) Brad's Slide Wins and Project Expedition Migration Brad shares how he got slides done a full hour early and explains the engineering work required to clear cached pricing across tens of thousands of tours. (14:28) Webinar Reflection: Hype vs. Overwhelm The team acknowledges that while the webinar created massive excitement, advisors also left wondering where to start, and commits to building clearer post-webinar enablement resources. (20:36) AI Chat Deep Dive: How It Actually Works David walks through exactly how the AI chat feature uses tool calling to search notes, contacts, and trips, and shares pro tips for prompting it effectively right now. (31:48) Prompt Engineering Today vs. Tomorrow Brad explains why advisors need to be specific with prompts for now, and why that will matter less as Tern learns how advisors naturally ask questions. (34:51) AI Brand Voice Settings David demos a new setting that lets advisors give the AI context on how they want it to write, particularly useful for follow-up emails. (36:57) AI Pricing and Upgrade Tiers: The Honest Breakdown David and Brad explain why AI features may eventually have an upgrade cost, how token usage varies wildly by advisor, and what the goal is for Q2 pricing plans. (40:48) Beta Roundup: What Is and Is Not Available Yet Molly breaks down the three features still in closed beta, including itemized package pricing, AI commission reconciliation, and advanced custom reporting, and explains when and how each will roll out. (43:37) Week Ahead: Insurance in Packages and Property Discovery Brad teases upcoming work to embed insurance within packages and improve how advisors discover and browse properties inside Tern. Show Highlights: Over 4,000 registrants and 3,000 live attendees broke Tern's Zoom license during the webinar Overnight flights, the number one requested Canny feature, shipped and was marked complete the day of the webinar AI chat tips revealed: include contact name and specific keywords to help the AI follow the right tool calling path AI brand voice settings now let advisors train the AI on how they want to sound in emails Three features remain in closed beta: itemized package pricing, AI commission reconciliation, and advanced custom reporting Thumbs up and thumbs down feedback inside AI chat is the highest signal way to help Tern improve the feature Property discovery improvements and in-package insurance are both in early planning for Q2

    39 min

  3. MAR 21

    The Webinar That Could Change How Advisors Work Forever

    WEBINAR REGISTRATION: Register now at tern.travel before Thursday, March 26 at 3:30 PM ET. Episode Overview: In this episode of Flight Path, David Shull (co-founder and CEO), Molly Johnson (head of product), and Brad Turner (head of design) kick off with a look behind the curtain at the Tern team, including Brad's feature in an industry publication and Molly's viral blog post on AI and career identity. The team then dives into a packed product update covering global notes, live transfer booking through Project Expedition, Chubb insurance going live, automation offsets, and a wave of quality of life improvements for advisors managing groups and contacts. With the Q1 product launch webinar just days away, the team hints at secret features still being held back and closes with a reporting tips and tricks session. Next week promises to be a defining moment for how travel advisors think about their technology. Episode Topics: (00:00) Webinar Countdown and Episode Preview: David sets the stage for an action packed episode with less than seven days until the Q1 product launch webinar. (01:24) Brad's Industry Feature and Molly's Blog Post: Brad reflects on being featured in a people centric industry publication, and Molly shares the story behind her candid essay on AI, career identity, and why pressure to do everything can make you worse at the things you love. (09:58) Week in Review: The team shares how an insane week of quarterly planning, beta features, and webinar prep is coming together ahead of the big launch. (13:00) Global Notes Launch: Advisors can now search and access all their notes from anywhere in the app without leaving their current workflow. (16:19) Live Transfer Booking via Project Expedition: Transfers can now be quoted and booked directly from the itinerary, with pricing that auto-refreshes at the time of client authorization so advisors never have to chase a new approval because the price changed. (21:00) Chubb Insurance Now Live: Chubb joins Arch and Faye as a live insurance partner in Tern, giving advisors real time quotes and automatic booking on client authorization. (23:24) Automation Offset Trigger: Advisors can now schedule tasks and emails to fire a set number of days after an automation is added, making post-booking drip sequences and contact outreach far easier to build. (29:27) Quality of Life Updates: Create a trip directly from a contact profile, export passport data in group trip exports, and apply workflow task lists at the group trip level in one click. (33:27) Chrome Extension Updates: Improved image import, logout capability, and a more polished presence in the Chrome extension store. (35:00) Tips and Tricks: Reporting deep dive showing how advisors can use filters and drill into underlying booking data across 42 columns and export directly to Excel. (39:16) Week Ahead: The team previews the Q1 product launch webinar on Thursday March 26 at 3:30 PM ET, with secret features still being held back until the final minutes. Show Highlights: Transfers now book at the exact price the client sees at authorization, eliminating the back and forth when prices shift Chubb is officially live, completing a major request advisors had been asking for Automation offsets make it possible to build post-booking drip campaigns without manually calculating dates Group advisors can now export passport data and apply bulk task workflows in a fraction of the time The Q1 webinar is shaping up to be record breaking attendance with features the team says could make Tern feel like a different company

    38 min

  4. MAR 13

    Why Travel Advisors Keep Getting Locked Out (And What We Just Fixed)

    Register now at tern.travel for the Tern Product Launch Webinar, happening March 26th at 3:30 PM Eastern time. This is where the biggest updates of the season drop live. Episode Overview: The Tern team is back in full force for another packed episode of Flight Path. David, CEO and co-founder, Brad, head of design, and Molly, head of product, cover a strong week of shipping including a long-awaited automation trigger update, a major account security upgrade, and several back office quality of life wins. The team also pulls back the curtain on multiple closed betas in flight and teases what is shaping up to be one of the biggest product moments of the year. Do not miss what is coming at the Q1 product launch webinar on March 26th at 3:30 PM Eastern time. Register now at tern.travel. Episode Topics: (00:00) Welcome Back and Webinar Announcement  David kicks off the episode and plugs the Q1 product launch webinar happening March 26th at 3:30 PM ET, with a countdown timer live at tern.travel. (01:42) Week in Review: Booking Integrations and Project Expedition  Brad shares exciting progress on the ability to book transfers within Tern and early thinking around hotel booking exploration, with a focus on removing manual data re-entry. (03:12) Week in Review: Quarterly Planning and Closed Betas  Molly shares highlights from Q2 quarterly planning and the relief of finally getting long-awaited features into closed beta. (05:26) Week in Review: AI Squad and Engineering Velocity  David discusses the team's 3X engineering velocity gains and early thinking around building an AI productivity layer for travel advisors. (07:28) New Feature: Automation Trigger Updates  Molly and Brad walk through a new automation trigger type that fires immediately when added to a trip or contact, with offset logic coming very soon for post-booking workflows. (12:14) New Feature: Passkeys for Account Security  Brad and David introduce passkey support in Tern, allowing advisors to log in securely using Face ID, fingerprint, or device biometrics without needing text messages or authenticator apps. (19:35) Quality of Life: Refreshed Notes Layout  David shares a polished new notes experience with an improved table view and drawer design, laying the groundwork for future AI features. (20:59) Quality of Life: Back Office Updates  Molly covers two back office improvements including an ID field for agency suppliers and a one-click hyperlink from booking modals directly to reconciled statements. (23:26) Inside the Betas Itemized Package Pricing, Host Commission Reconciliation, and Statement Reconciliation Workflow - Molly walks through three active closed betas touching payments, commission payouts, and reconciliation behavior changes. (31:55) AI Betas and Non-Deterministic Features  David shares his experience running AI-focused betas for the first time and the challenges of building flexible AI features responsibly. (33:35) Week Ahead: Webinar Countdown  The team shares what is coming in the next 13 days leading up to the March 26th webinar, including pressure testing new features before they go live. Show Highlights: Passkeys are now live in Tern, solving the number one most frustrating login issue for travel advisors.A new automation trigger fires instantly when added to a trip, with offset logic shipping very soon.Itemized package pricing is in closed beta, maintaining individual activity pricing within packages.Host commission reconciliation is being tested in Tern for the first time.The engineering team is shipping at 3X last year's velocity.The biggest updates of the season drop live at the Q1 webinar on March 26th at 3:30 PM ET.Keywords: Tern, Flight Path podcast, CRM for travel agents, itinerary builder, automation templates, travel advisor workflow, payments, commission reconciliation, passkeys, account security, AI product tools, product updates, booking integrations, package pricing, host agencies

    33 min

  5. MAR 6

    This Chrome Extension for Travel Advisors Feels Like Magic

    Episode Overview: In this episode, the Tern team dives into a series of powerful product updates designed to make life easier for travel advisors. David Shull (Co-founder), Brad Turner (Head of Design), and Molly Johnson (Head of Product) explore a brand new Chrome extension that can import content from nearly any website directly into Tern. From AI-powered itinerary imports to a new report that shows where clients are traveling around the world, it’s a fast-paced look at tools that reduce busywork and improve client support. Plus, updates to insurance workflows, calendar integrations, and a preview of major features entering beta soon. Episode Topics: (00:00) Welcome Back to Flight Path The team kicks off the episode with a weekly check-in and a preview of major product updates shipping this week. (05:51) New Chrome Extension for Importing Content into Tern A new Chrome extension allows advisors to import itineraries, forms, images, and templates from almost any website directly into Tern using AI. (08:25) AI Matching for Properties and Activities The extension works with Tern’s AI Assist system to automatically match imported content to known hotels and geo-tagged properties. (14:03) Insurance Workflow Improvements New settings now require travelers to explicitly accept or decline travel insurance, helping advisors maintain proper documentation. (17:01) New “Where in the World Are Your Clients” Report A new report and map view shows where clients are currently traveling or scheduled to travel, helping advisors respond quickly during global disruptions. (19:45) Quality of Life Updates Smaller improvements include real-time price checks for Project Expedition bookings, activity template preview improvements, and easier cleanup of old trip statuses. (25:00) Faster Unclaimed Booking Matching for Agencies Performance improvements dramatically speed up the process of matching supplier statements to advisor bookings. (28:30) Calendar Tips and Tern Events Advisors can now see Tern events like office hours and webinars directly inside the Tern calendar and sync filtered views to external calendars. (31:49) What’s Coming Next Closed betas begin for host reconciliation, itemized package pricing, and additional integrations including transfers and new insurance partners. Show Highlights: “Import itineraries, forms, and media from almost any website directly into Tern using a new Chrome extension” “A global travel map report helps advisors instantly see where clients are traveling” “Insurance workflows now require travelers to accept or decline coverage” “Major upcoming betas include host reconciliation and itemized package pricing”

    33 min

  6. FEB 27

    Let Clients Book Tours From the Itinerary

    Episode Overview:In this episode, the Tern team covers big February updates: Project Expedition tours (now with reviews and client self-booking), the new FAYE insurance integration, major commission reconciliation improvements, an email deliverability checker for your domain, plus AI upgrades and new closed betas. Episode Topics: (00:00) What’s new this week Tours, insurance, reconciliation, email deliverability, AI, and betas. (00:52) Molly’s QA week Testing complex itemized package pricing and host reconciliation. (03:47) Brad’s focus Transfer quoting in Tern and scaling design with AI. (06:06) David’s update Now PMing the AI team and pushing faster internal workflows. (08:18) Project Expedition upgrades Tour ratings and reviews now visible in Tern. (10:34) Clients can browse and book tours A toggle lets clients shop and book tours from their itinerary. (14:29) Commission reconciliation improvements Better statement auditing and clearer unclaimed handling. (18:28) Suggested matches for unclaimed bookings Faster claiming with confirmation-number matching. (23:47) New insurance partner: FAYE (beta) Get quotes in Tern and auto-book after authorization. (26:47) Quality of life updates Forms, flights, templates, packages, and commission table upgrades. (31:03) AI improvements Better destination guides and packing lists. (32:35) Tip: email deliverability warnings New settings view surfaces domain configuration issues. (35:50) Closed betas Itemized package pricing, host reconciliation, and an AI note taker. Show Highlights: Clients can book tours from the itinerary in one flow Suggested matches speed up unclaimed commission tracking FAYE insurance quotes and booking are now live in beta New domain checks help prevent emails landing in spam

    36 min

  7. FEB 20

    The Fastest Way to Learn Tern (New Checklists + Search)

    Episode Overview: In this episode, the Tern team shares key updates across training, agency collaboration, and itinerary workflows. David Shull (CEO and co-founder), Molly Johnson (product), and Brad Turner (head of design) cover the rebuilt Turn and Learn hub, the new Collaborator role for agencies, and several quality of life improvements. From smarter AI Assist flight imports to faster tour library actions and smoother PDF exports, it’s a fast-paced look at what’s new and what’s coming next. Episode Topics: (00:00) Welcome Back and Agenda David returns, shares a personal update, and previews Turn and Learn, product updates, and quality of life improvements. (00:58) Week in Review Brad: insurance integrations, Project Expedition, and an AI workflow webinar Molly: progress on itemized package pricing and new agency tools David: supplier conversations and AI strategy focus (05:45) Turn and Learn Relaunch with Ben Ben explains the refreshed training hub: centralized content, advisor vs agency owner tracks, checklists, and strong search. (14:34) Feedback and Access Built-in “helpful or not” feedback on search results; access via tern.travel/learn with no login. (16:07) New Agency Collaborator Role Collaborators get automatic access to shared trips and contacts without access to commission/reporting data. (21:34) Project Expedition Tour Library Upgrade Multi-select tours and add them to a trip at once, including bulk adding as optional add-ons and into option blocks. (25:07) AI Assist Improvements AI Assist now groups multi-leg flights correctly and improves auto-titling and payment schedule edge cases. (26:38) Pro Tip: Separate Flight Legs and Hotel Checkout on Itinerary Toggle itinerary display to show flight legs separately and lodging checkout as its own event. (31:13) Forms and PDF Export Quality of Life Country/state dropdowns added to forms; PDF export no longer fails due to encrypted attachments and provides separate downloads instead. (36:05) Week Ahead Molly: beta launches for itemized package pricing and host commission reconciliation Brad: more insurance integrations and client tour browsing (with permission) David: more supplier discovery and new AI feature work Show Highlights: Turn and Learn is rebuilt with checklists, search, and centralized resources New Collaborator role supports team-based agencies and VAs without exposing financial reporting AI Assist now handles multi-leg flights the way advisors expect Multi-select tour additions reduce repetitive steps when building itineraries PDF export now works even when some attachments are encrypted

    37 min

  8. FEB 13

    Stop Rebuilding Itineraries: AI Now Detects Packages

    Episode Overview: In this episode, the Tern team covers quick updates across AI Assist, packages, tours, and agency tools. Brad Turner (Head of Design) hosts while David is out on paternity leave, joined by Ursula Holman (Designer) and Andrew Hooker (Engineer and travel advisor). They also share quality of life improvements, a peek into support engineering, and a couple practical workflow tips. Episode Topics: (00:01) Brad fills in, guests join Brad hosts with Ursula and Andrew and previews AI, packages, and commission updates. (03:15) AI Assist detects packages Uploads with single price, supplier, and confirmation number now land correctly inside a package, with smarter naming. (05:53) Cleaner package view Ports will no longer clutter package pricing views, helping prep for itemized pricing. (07:23) Tour Library filtering gets smarter Tours auto-filter by day location, and cruise days filter to shore excursions by port. (09:13) Trip-level commission locking Agencies can lock commission splits across all bookings in a trip, with contact-level inheritance coming soon. (10:58) Quality of life improvements Copy trip link now works on forms, forum spam prevention is improved, timezone prompts are fixed, mobile contact fields stack properly, and performance work continues. (16:21) Andrew’s dual role insights Andrew shares lessons from being both an advisor and engineer, including the habit shift of marking items as booked after booking. (25:10) What support engineering does Andrew explains escalations from support, debugging odd cases, and fixing root causes, not just one-off issues. (30:18) Tips and next week preview Tip: Save reporting views to reuse filters. Tip: Some clients need printed materials, not digital only. Next week: itemized pricing progress, contact-level commission locking, unclaimed commission matching early work. Show Highlights: AI Assist now respects and builds packages automatically Tour Library auto-filters for faster, fewer-click planning Trip-level commission locking supports agency policies Mobile, forum, and performance updates reduce friction

    33 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

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

Information

  • Creator
    Tern Software Inc
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    81
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Tern Software Inc
  • Show Website
    Flight Path by Tern

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