Kayak For Business product lead Anthony Salomone

Kayak For Small And Medium Businesses Finds Its Bearings 

[UPDATE, Oct. 3: Some of the information published below related to servicing capabilities in Biz+ is inaccurate. We’re working to obtain the correct information and will alert readers when it’s here.]Booking Holdings’ Kayak For Business small and medium-sized enterprise travel offering is coming into its own after years…
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Scott Laurence

In Listening Mode, American Airlines Restarts Corporate Benefits

Based on feedback from corporate clients, travel agencies and a couple of old friends, American Airlines will reactivate the Corporate Experience program on Oct. 10, providing preferred seats at no fee and priority check-in, security screening, boarding and disruption recovery. According to a Wednesday message to corporate clients, the…

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Andy Menkes of Partnership Travel Consulting

Partnership Travel Consulting Launches Air, Hotel Auditing Services

Partnership Travel Consulting launched auditing services to ensure corporate clients are getting the lowest fare offers, comparing ticketed fares with what’s on carrier websites, booking negotiated corporate hotel rates and adding lodging to air bookings.PTC partnered with three firms to deliver these and other related services. In January,…

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Lawsuits target algorithmic hotel pricing

‘Algorithmic’ Hotel Pricing Draws Legal, Regulatory Scrutiny

Plaintiffs in several class-action lawsuits filed over the past 18 months accused hotel chains and third-party intermediaries, including STR and Amadeus, of conspiring to raise room rates. Some of them alleged anticompetitive effects from the use of sophisticated pricing algorithms. They also argued that the U.S. luxury hotel…

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ATPI CEO Ian Sinderson

What Is ATPI, Direct Travel’s Multinational Partner And Possible Takeover Target?

Transnational corporations want scale in their travel management providers, and it takes a lot to build that. Tech developers seek the same in their channel partners. After Spotnana’s ambitious owners bought Direct Travel, shoring up the global component makes perfect sense. There’s even a ready-made target in ATPI,…

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CMA examined Navan and others in reviewing the competitive effects of the proposed GBT-CWT tie-up.

UK Regulators Call Navan Insufficient For Big Multinationals, And Some Customers Agree

After talking to customers, competitors and suppliers in the first phase of its examination of American Express Global Business Travel’s proposed acquisition of CWT, the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority on Aug. 30 put out a lengthy report. One conclusion was that “tech entrants,” including Navan, were…

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Corporate Travel 101

Notebook: GBTA Speakers On Getting Started With New Distribution Capability

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Atlanta — In addition to providing a venue for emotional expression about airline distribution changes, the Global Business Travel Association’s convention here last month offered a platform for blueprint-making. Voicing concern about industry pros who may think — at their peril — that American Airlines backing off means they can, too, more than a dozen speakers pressed on with practical advice. In…

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Explainer: IATA’s One Order

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Airline reservations and global distribution systems create passenger name records. Airlines issue tickets. Electronic miscellaneous documents account for ancillary sales. This multitude of records, ticket numbers and reservation numbers complicates revenue accounting and can confuse travelers. The International Air Transport Association is working on a better way, which corporate buyers and travel management companies may get a look at next year. “All…

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staffing service satisfaction

Explainer: Configuring Travel Management Company Services

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The primary choices for a travel management company servicing model have been the same for decades. The set of players providing the service has changed through M&A among existing providers and the emergence of new ones while improving technology allows for different flavors like virtual and hybrid-working agents. The most significant change affecting customer decisions on TMC configurations following the…

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Explainer: IATA’s New Distribution Capability

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The International Air Transport Association’s New Distribution Capability has been in the making for about five years and many still don’t get it. Depending on your interpretation and where you sit, it’s either a promising or unsettling development for business travel distribution. NDC is neither a new airline reservations system nor a massive database of…
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OP ED

Distribution

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…

Productivity · Service

Op Ed: Atyab Bhatti On Getting *A Little* Technical With AI, Part Two: Personalization

SkyLink CEO and co-founder Atyab Bhatti is back with another slightly high-tech posts about artificial intelligence. Artificial Intelligence is changing the way we approach personalization across industry verticals, including corporate travel. By leveraging generative AI, organizations can provide personal, delightful experiences for their travelers, enhancing satisfaction while meaningfully reducing costs. Machine learning is an AI…


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Policy

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 engagement case studies presented here during a panel discussion at GBTA’s convention in July.Potential savings…

Careers · Distribution

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 GBTA convention panel about NDC here last month, she said, “If you ever wake up…


FROM THE ARCHIVE

Productivity · Service

Is There Money Hiding In Your Email?

BCD Travel is working with undisclosed partners to help clients process compensation claims when airlines fail to meet regulatory standards for service. European Commission Regulation 261/2004 calls for varying payouts on cancellations, long delays or involuntary denied boarding. The new BCD program applies to travel to, within and (on EU carriers) from Europe. It’s available to clients there but the company also…

Payment

Riot Games Coping With Corporate Travel’s Virtual Card Adolescence

Virtual cards are still a work in progress, but Riot Games travel wizard Sean Parham isn’t ready to give up on them. He’s now on his second try. The intended benefits — reduced fraud, easier reconciliation and a seamless traveler experience including an easier expense process — are just too tempting. Last year Parham pulled the plug on a program through…