AI, Invoicing & the Mobile-First Future of Tern

April 25, 2025

Episode Overview

Welcome to Flight Path — your weekly update on all things Tern.

In this high-energy episode, David, Brad, and Molly recap an incredible week of updates, community connections, and big steps forward for the product. They reflect on advisor stories from Clia, including mobile workflows and switching host agencies just to get access to Tern — and dive deep into the latest AI, quality of life, and product upgrades that are reshaping the advisor experience.

⏱️ Timestamps & Topics Covered

00:00 – Intro & Weekend Check-in
David’s back from Clia, Brad’s parents are in town, and Molly just got back from coffee with an advisor going “all in” on Tern.

02:40 – Clia Recap: The Mobile-First Future
David shares conversations from the Clia trade show, including an advisor who runs her entire business from a foldable phone — driving Tern's continued investment in mobile.

04:45 – Changing Hosts for Tern
A powerful user story: an advisor switched host agencies just to access Tern’s full suite. Vertical integration is actually driving business decisions.

06:00 – Event Season & User Conference Updates

Tern is attending the Path and ASTA conferences in May
September’s user conference now has a payment plan: $350/month with a roommate
May 15th webinar teased as a potential industry inflection point

07:00 – Major AI Itinerary Updates

AI now supports structured fields for lodging and flights when importing itineraries
Improved formatting, fewer embellishments, and real-time efficiency boosts
Real-world advisor feedback is driving adoption and improvements
Don’t miss the story about using destination guides to locate public bathrooms in Europe 💡

11:50 – Quick Wins & Quality of Life Upgrades
Brad introduces a wave of small but mighty product improvements:

Add pricing items directly from the Pricing tab (no itinerary required!)
Smart behavior when converting items into an itinerary
Cruise search now supports ship name search thanks to advisor Tim
Smarter email workflows: search by email and auto-exclude travelers without emails
It’s all part of Tern’s mission to save clicks and reduce friction

18:20 – Survey on Collaboration Needs
Tern is exploring how it can support advisors working with virtual assistants, freelancers, or agency teammates. A short, anonymous collaboration survey is launching to inform what comes next.

21:00 – Next Week’s Launches: Invoicing is Here!
Molly gives a sneak peek into Tern’s beautiful, smart invoicing tool landing next week.

Fully integrates with trip pricing
Handles authorizations, partial payments, and more
“Feels like we’re a grown-up company now.”

24:50 – Signature Integration in Beta
Brad previews the first beta for syncing with Signature’s marketing platform.

Advisors can update preferences in Tern → pushed to Signature
Signature updates → pulled back into Tern
Broader support for Virtuoso and other consortia is on the roadmap

26:00 – Rethinking Contact Structure
Molly shares early research around smarter contact hierarchies (especially for family records). If you’ve got opinions, email her: molly@tern.travel

28:00 – Looking Ahead: Board Meeting + More to Come
David previews next week’s board meeting in NYC and promises a big update at the May 15th webinar.

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