Navan Cost Tuning

Instructions

Step 1 — Analyze Current Spend via API

Pull booking data to identify where money is being lost:

# Authenticate
ACCESS_TOKEN=$(curl -sf -X POST https://api.navan.com/ta-auth/oauth/token \
  -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
  -d "grant_type=client_credentials&client_id=${NAVAN_CLIENT_ID}&client_secret=${NAVAN_CLIENT_SECRET}" \
  | jq -r '.access_token')

# Fetch last 90 days of bookings for analysis (page + size pagination)
curl -s "https://api.navan.com/v1/bookings?createdFrom=2026-01-01&page=0&size=50" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}" \
  -o bookings.json

# Analyze: average booking lead time (days before travel)
# Response structure: records in .data array
jq '[.data[] | ((.departure_date | fromdate) - (.created_at | fromdate)) / 86400] | add / length' \
  bookings.json
# Target: 14+ days average lead time for maximum savings

// Identify top savings opportunities by category
interface BookingAnalysis {
  total_spend: number;
  avg_lead_time_days: number;
  out_of_policy_pct: number;
  unused_tickets: number;
  top_routes: { route: string; spend: number; trips: number }[];
}

async function analyzeSpend(token: string): Promise<BookingAnalysis> {
  const response = await fetch(
    'https://api.navan.com/v1/bookings?page=0&size=50',
    { headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${token}` } }
  );

  if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}`);
  const { data: bookings } = await response.json();

  const routeMap = new Map<string, { spend: number; trips: number }>();
  let totalSpend = 0;
  let outOfPolicy = 0;

  for (const b of bookings) {
    totalSpend += b.total_amount;
    if (b.out_of_policy) outOfPolicy++;

    const route = `${b.origin}-${b.destination}`;
    const existing = routeMap.get(route) ?? { spend: 0, trips: 0 };
    routeMap.set(route, {
      spend: existing.spend + b.total_amount,
      trips: existing.trips + 1,
    });
  }

  return {
    total_spend: totalSpend,
    avg_lead_time_days: calculateAvgLeadTime(bookings),
    out_of_policy_pct: (outOfPolicy / bookings.length) * 100,
    unused_tickets: await countUnusedTickets(token),
    top_routes: [...routeMap.entries()]
      .map(([route, data]) => ({ route, ...data }))
      .sort((a, b) => b.spend - a.spend)
      .slice(0, 10),
  };
}

Step 2 — Configure the Policy Engine

Set up travel policies in Navan Admin > Policies with these recommended tiers:

Step 3 — Enforce Negotiated Corporate Rates

# Check if negotiated rates are being utilized
curl -s "https://api.navan.com/v1/bookings?page=0&size=50" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}" | \
  jq '{
    total_bookings: (.data | length),
    bookings_with_negotiated: [.data[] | select(.negotiated_savings != null)] | length,
    total_savings: [.data[].negotiated_savings // 0] | add
  }'

Upload negotiated rates in Navan Admin > Rates. Navan automatically surfaces these as preferred options during booking.

Step 4 — Track Unused Tickets

# Identify unused or partially used tickets
curl -s "https://api.navan.com/v1/bookings?page=0&size=50" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}" | \
  jq '{
    cancelled: [.data[] | select(.status == "cancelled")] | length,
    total_credit_value: [.data[] | select(.status == "cancelled") | .credit_amount // 0] | add
  }'
# Credits expiring within 30 days should be rebooked or refunded

Step 5 — Enable Navan Rewards

Navan Rewards gives employees personal travel credit when they book below policy limits. Configure in Admin > Rewards:

• Activation: Enable Navan Rewards for all employees or specific departments
• Credit calculation: Employee earns a percentage of the difference between policy cap and actual booking
• Redemption: Credits apply to personal travel booked through Navan
• Reporting: Track rewards earned and redeemed via the admin dashboard

This creates a direct incentive for employees to choose cheaper options — Navan reports typical 5-15% additional savings from Rewards adoption.

Output

A cost optimization implementation delivering:

• Spend analysis report identifying top savings opportunities by department and route
• Configured policy engine with hard/soft caps and approval workflows
• Negotiated rate enforcement surfacing corporate rates during booking
• Unused ticket recovery preventing credit expiration
• Navan Rewards activation incentivizing employee cost-conscious booking behavior

Error Handling

Examples

Monthly savings dashboard query:

# Generate a monthly savings summary
curl -s "https://api.navan.com/v1/reports/savings-summary?period=2026-02" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}" | \
  jq '{
    period: .period,
    total_spend: .total_spend,
    policy_savings: .in_policy_savings,
    negotiated_rate_savings: .negotiated_savings,
    rewards_credits_earned: .rewards_earned,
    unused_tickets_recovered: .credits_rebooked,
    total_savings: (.in_policy_savings + .negotiated_savings + .credits_rebooked)
  }'

Resources

• Navan Help Center — Policy setup guides and API docs
• Navan Pricing — Plan comparison (Business free up to 300 employees)
• Navan Integrations — ERP connectors for automated expense reporting

Next Steps

• Add navan-reference-architecture for end-to-end integration design
• Add navan-performance-tuning to optimize the API calls powering cost analytics
• See navan-observability to monitor policy compliance rates over time