How To Part Ways With A Travel Management Company: Map Your Exit Before You Enter
Switching between corporate travel management companies can spell trouble. Many don’t even attempt it. Inertia is the incumbent’s friend. To avoid de-implementation becoming an afterthought and then a headache, buyers are wise to contemplate it on the front end.In a November report preliminarily objecting to…
Pana Founders Return For Another Round With Non-Employee Travel
Defunct guest travel tech company Pana was so beloved by corporate travel managers that one of them started his own. Now he’s competing with the guys who created Pana. Devon Tivona and Sam Felsenthal on Tuesday announced a second quarter 2025 launch date for Juno,…
Air France, KLM Join BA With Corporate Card Surcharge In Canada
Air France and KLM last month added a nonrefundable surcharge on corporate credit and debit payments in Canada. Consumer and personal cards are excluded.The surcharge varies by card network and will not exceed 30 Canadian dollars ($21) per ticket issued at Canadian points of sale….
GBT, CWT Propose Price Caps, Client Contract Divestitures To Appease Regulators
To gain approval from U.K. regulators for the proposed American Express Global Business Travel acquisition of CWT, the companies suggested ending exclusivity for CWT’s network partners, capping fees for existing customers, committing to service levels and maintaining minimum investment in their business travel offerings. GBT and…
Walton’s 18-Month-Old, Spotnana-Powered Solutions Travel Nears Profitability
Solutions Travel, the Spotnana-powered travel management company backed by Options Travel and founded by industry veteran Mark Walton, is anticipating profitability next year, just two-odd years after its launch. The company recently hired seasoned pros for its leadership team and expanded its multinational network, including…
Traverse Technologies Eyes Self-Sovereign Identity For New Profile Solution
Consulting firm ZS is working with ARC subsidiary Traverse Technologies on a blockchain-based traveler profile system that, as ZS travel lead Sarah Hayden described it, would “put the data ownership back in the hands of the traveler.” ZS uses Traverse to support its direct booking…
Corporates To Regulators: Consolidated Global Programs Still Preferred
The pandemic era’s geopolitical tensions caused concern among economic globalization advocates. Despite rising nationalism and efforts to reduce reliance on global supply chains, new data shows the appetite for consolidated global travel management remains strong. Corporates say they’re not going back. “There is a clear trend…
Why Few Companies Interfere With Travelers’ Loyalty Points
When the Financial Times in July 2023 published a guest column arguing that business travel air miles should go to employers — thus limiting non-essential travel, reducing carbon emissions, saving money and maintaining employee productivity and health — the reactions were diverse. “Air miles are…
Notebook: Key Steps For Card RFP Success
When embarking on corporate travel card request for proposals processes, buyers should leave plenty of time for preparation and hiccups. That was a cornerstone among the recommendations shared on a Nov. 1 webinar by members of GBTA’s payment committee as they walked through their updated…
Corporate Travel 101
TMCs, Buyers Face Extended Sourcing Due To Legal, Security, IT Needs
TMC sourcing isn’t for the faint of heart. Nor is it for the impatient, as the sales cycle extended considerably in recent years.Providers are developing new products and services, making some customer relationships more involved. But the elongated time between an RFP and final contracts…
Explainer: The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation And Business Travel
Businesses in travel and beyond face a deadline of May 25, 2018, for compliance with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. GDPR changes several key areas of data privacy law applying to European citizens. Among the major changes that the regulation makes relative to…
Explainer: Passive Segments
From a travel management perspective, the cleanest and easiest way to book travel is through a content channel fed by a global distribution system. Many travel management company tools and processes are based on or integrate with GDS technology. It’s been the predominant way corporate…
Explainer: Airline Interest In Carbon Removal
American Airlines last month announced it became the first entity to purchase carbon removal credits from Graphyte, a startup that will dry, convert and bury biomass. According to Graphyte, the permanent removal and storage of CO2 as part of its “carbon casting” process uses less…
Explainer: Hotel Attachment
Why do travel management professionals care whether travelers book hotel stays at the same time as flights? There are pragmatic and financial reasons, and several methods to close the loop. Hotel attachment occurs when a lodging booking happens with an air booking, either through an…
Explainer: Personalization And Airline Retailing
RECENTLY UPDATED
Tracking Distribution Programs At Top Business-Focused Airlines (A Guide)
Last updated: Nov. 27, 2024. See an error, omission or need for an addition? Please let us know.American Airlines is reeling in the more aggressive parts of its erstwhile distribution plan, but it’s not abandoning the New Distribution Capability. While other carriers around the globe…
OP ED
Op Ed: Atyab Bhatti On Getting *A Little* Technical With AI, Part Three: What We Know And Don’t Know About The Inner Workings Of Transformers
SkyLink CEO and co-founder Atyab Bhatti delivers his third slightly high-tech post about artificial intelligence. In recent years, large language models (LLMs) and generative AI systems built on transformer architectures have taken the world by storm with their impressive natural language capabilities. From engaging in human-like dialogue to crafting content to even coding, these systems…
Op Ed: Jeff Klee On The Fork In The Road For Global Distribution Systems
AmTrav CEO Jeff Klee has some advice for GDSs looking to maintain their positions as pre-eminent corporate travel tech providers. He suggests they embrace new data formats, expand content aggregation into more corners and make things simpler for users. The story of Kodak is a cautionary tale about a once-great company whose leaders misunderstood its…
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Notebook: ExxonMobil Saves Half A Mil With Engagement Campaign
Atlanta – ExxonMobil’s internal “Do The Math” campaign aims to optimize four aspects of traveler booking behavior: online booking adoption, lowest logical fare use, advance ticket purchasing and preferred hotel utilization. The company’s communications strategy, featuring extensive use of banner ads, was one of three…
Swiss Re’s Internal Carbon Levy Helped Slash Emissions, Halve Travel Spending
From a 2018 baseline, Swiss Re last year cut business air travel spending in half and slashed associated greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60 percent. A lot went into those reductions, including an internal carbon price coupled with carbon budgets.A $50 billion Zurich-based provider…
Notebook: ‘Am I Fired?’ Buyers Share Executive Engagement Takeaways From AA Episode
Atlanta — With almost no exceptions, corporate travel managers do not have fond memories of their experiences with the New Distribution Capability. Amy Hunke, senior manager of travel and meetings at Ametek and president of GBTA Michigan, described her experience as “quite horrific.”Addressing buyers during a…
FROM THE ARCHIVE
Big Airlines, Card Companies Build ‘Airport Lounges Of Tomorrow’
With unruly passengers, fears of virus transmission and understaffed airport concessions, a quiet place to sit, work and eat can go a long way. American, Delta and United airlines within the next few months will reopen nearly all domestic airport lounges. Card companies Chase and…
Companies Move To Science-Based Targets For Mitigating Corporate Travel’s Environmental Impact
Companies everywhere sound serious when they say they intend to make operations more sustainable. A surge in those publicizing targets and signing climate protection commitments includes several big names that assigned “science-based” goals to business travel emissions reductions. EY, one of the world’s largest business travel…