[UPDATE, Feb. 24, 2016: Microsoft discontinued this project.] [UPDATE, April 10: Concur press statement added.] Microsoft is testing an expense app for iPhones that apparently integrates with Concur. “Nobody likes filing expense reports,” Microsoft wrote on Facebook, mimicking the raison d’être for expense providers like Concur and Expensify. “Each of us has a powerful computer sitting in our pocket when…
[UPDATE, April 8, 2016: We published new information related to this article here.] The seller’s market in lodging continues unabated this year. U.S. occupancy is on track to hit record highs, hotel execs are rocking and rolling and business travelers are paying more. Recent data on New York City, though, raises questions. The nation’s biggest market is pretty much the…
Denying reimbursement when employees violate travel expense policies is an option that some think sensible and others call draconian. But plenty use it. In a September 2014 Global Business Travel Association poll, 45 percent of North American and 31 percent of European travel managers indicated non-reimbursement was a consequence of travel policy violations at their organizations. Non-reimbursement policies are often empty threats, but…
Sabre is nearly ready to commercialize its answer to managed travel program leakage. First announced in summer 2013, TruTrip is meant to commingle records on travel reservations made outside designated channels with those booked within. Like with Concur’s TripLink and some niche tools, the idea is to provide a complete picture of travel plans to travelers, their program managers and their agencies. To enable TruTrip, Sabre in the…
[UPDATE, Dec. 2, 2016: Sabre announced that it added a virtual payment option for airline bookings within the Sabre Red Workspace, furnished with payment firm Conferma. Sabre described the new “standard form of payment” at the agent point of sale as an industry first. The integration “eliminates the need for mid/back-office providers and online corporate booking tools such as GetThere…
Brian Barth and his team helped reinvent travel e-commerce when they created meta-search site SideStep, acquired by Kayak in 2007 for $200 million. Now Barth is set to make an impact on payments. His latest startup, UpLift, offers real-time insight on the customer’s form of payment and enables online merchants to make targeted offers on that basis. One goal might be to increase loyalty to a co-branded card. Another…
With some in the corporate market craving options, tech blogs last month announced the arrival of corporate booking tool NexTravel. While oversights and hyperbole are not uncommon for start-ups, NexTravel may have a bigger issue. It doesn’t have a deal in place with Southwest Airlines, which is investigating its presence on the site. The airline typically doesn’t allow online sites…
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