Author Archives: David Jonas
Concurs users who stay at Radisson Hotel Group properties are losing e-receipt functionality. Radisson locations that switched to the company’s new property management system no longer provide the digital receipts showing line-item detail of hotel expenses, according to a Concur user guide. “Most properties in the U.S. have been upgraded and properties around the world are in the… Read More »
When Lufthansa Group in mid-2015 informed the market of a new distribution strategy, one stated objective was to lower associated costs. The company expects to prove wrong the skeptics and start achieving that by the end of 2018. Lufthansa’s financial reporting does not offer enough detail to completely validate progress, but there are indicators of short-term pain for… Read More »
Travel tech firm Serko hired Tony D’Astolfo as SVP North America. The industry veteran is tasked with expanding the company’s operations in the region, particularly the Zeno self-booking tool. Headquartered in New Zealand and active throughout Australasia, Serko intends to run Zeno beta tests this spring in North America. In October 2017, it hired former American Express and… Read More »
Big travel management companies are seeking new sources of data even as they work to improve the quality of info from more traditional inputs. American Express Global Business Travel on a “case by case” basis works with clients to incorporate data on sales performance and employee attrition. After completing an upgrade last year of its AnalytIQs platform, Carlson Wagonlit Travel… Read More »
According to published reports in Europe, Lufthansa Group on April 5 began discounting by 20 euros some short-haul economy-class roundtrip fares when booked through direct or NDC-enabled channels. This is on top of the 16 euro surcharge Lufthansa, Austrian and Swiss currently apply on bookings through global distribution systems, effectively more than doubling the disadvantage in traditional, indirect… Read More »
Amadeus is reorganizing its travel agency and corporate business lines to focus on global customer sectors rather than geographies. Two of its more recognizable execs in North America are leaving. Amadeus SVP of travel channels Decius Valmorbida said the departures of North America COO Vic Pynn and chief marketing officer Scott Alvis, while “difficult” decisions, were natural outcomes of… Read More »
[UPDATE, March 30, 2018: As expected, Travelport and Air France KLM reached a new “private channel” deal. So did Amadeus. As a result, users of the Amadeus and Travelport global distribution systems can enter into deals with the airline group to avoid the distribution surcharge Air France KLM plans to apply, effective April 1. According to statements attributed… Read More »