A stack of three contracts vs. one platform
SAP acquired Concur in 2014, and Concur remains the reference T&E stack for large enterprises. A typical Concur program has three commercial layers:
- SAP Concur licences — Concur Travel (often on the redesigned Concur Travel experience), Concur Expense, and optional modules such as Concur Request and TripLink, which captures bookings made directly with suppliers.
- A TMC — Amex GBT, BCD Travel, FCM or another agency, which tickets, services and supports the bookings made in Concur and charges its own fee schedule.
- Integration — ERP, HR feed, card feeds and policy configuration, maintained by an internal admin, a systems integrator or both.
An all-in-one cloud platform, such as Navan or TravelPerk combined with an expense product, collapses these into one vendor. The result is fewer invoices and one data model, but less configurability and a single point of lock-in. The SAP Concur licensing and per-booking fee audit guide covers the Concur side line by line.
Normalized 12-row Fee & SLA Comparison Table
Typical contracted ranges we see in RFP responses, licence renewals and invoices for $2M–$25M programs. Concur pricing is negotiated per customer, so treat every row as a question for your own order form.
| Cost or SLA line | SAP Concur + legacy TMC | All-in-one cloud platform | Contract target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online cost per trip, all-in | $10–$18 (licence + TMC fee) | $0–$10 | ≤ $10 all-in |
| OBT per-booking licence | $4–$8 | Included | Itemized, no charge on voids |
| Expense licence | $6–$12 per active user / month equiv. | $0–$8 per user, lower with card | Active users only, true-down yearly |
| Agent-assisted booking | $28–$45 | $25–$40 | $18–$28 |
| Exchange, refund or void | $20–$40 | $20–$35 | $15–$25, voids free |
| Implementation and configuration | $25K–$150K multi-entity | $0–$50K | Fixed price, vendor-funded migration |
| Annual admin and integration upkeep | 0.25–1.0 FTE or SI retainer | 0.1–0.5 FTE | Included change requests per year |
| Off-channel booking capture | TripLink (optional module) | Card and inbox capture; verify | ≥ 90% of trips visible for duty of care |
| NDC content and servicing | Depends on Concur Travel and TMC; verify per carrier | Platform NDC; verify exchanges | In-channel exchange, same fee |
| Unused ticket credit sync | TMC mid-office feed; gaps common | Native in platform; verify limits | < 0.8% of air forfeited |
| Hotel commission returned | 0%–50% via TMC | Platform margin; verify | 80%–100% or disclosed margin |
| Term and exit | Separate licence and TMC terms | One term; card coupling risk | Co-terminous, decoupled, free export |
Rows 1, 3 and 7 explain most TCO gaps. A buyer comparing a $6 TMC online fee against a $6 cloud fee is ignoring the Concur per-booking licence on top; a buyer comparing licences is ignoring the internal admin time a configurable stack consumes.