Jay Campbell

Jay Campbell

Jay Campbell in 2004 created travel business newsletter The Beat, in 2006 co-founded Travel Procurement magazine and in 2010 integrated them with Business Travel News. He served as editorial director until 2013. Jay made his travel industry media debut in 1993 at the Air Travel Journal of Boston while earning his undergraduate degree in journalism at Boston University.

Author Archives: Jay Campbell

HRS Tests Blockchain For Corporate Hotel Negotiations, Check-In Procedures

By | April 19, 2018
HRS vice president of product Martin Biermann

One of the first applications of blockchain to corporate travel is in the works at hotel distribution and contracting specialist HRS. Spurred in part by discussions with sourcing client Siemens, HRS is testing blockchain-powered smart contracts, allowing clients and hotels to negotiate rates that change based on environmental conditions. In another scenario, blockchain supports identity verification at check-in. The… Read More »

BCD Travel Joins In With New Fees For Non-Standard Bookings

By | April 4, 2018
TMC fee

BCD Travel last month alerted clients to a formalized program that charges them extra for supplier bookings which are more costly to support, joining rivals American Express Global Business Travel and Carlson Wagonlit Travel. According to multiple sources, BCD Travel identifies such reservations as including those that must be booked or serviced outside global distribution systems. Also covered by the… Read More »

SAP Concur To Go Down For Upgrade

By | April 4, 2018

Corporate online booking and expense management market leader SAP Concur will take North America-hosted systems offline this Saturday to upgrade its network infrastructure, the company informed clients. Concur estimated that the work, beginning April 7 at 12 p.m. PDT, would last 10 hours. It said customers using Concur’s EMEA or China data centers would not be affected. The upgrade… Read More »

Small Accounts Aren’t Worth The Effort, So Claire Chatbot Seeks TMC Users

By | April 2, 2018

Three unidentified travel management companies have enlisted 30SecondsToFly’s Claire chatbot, according to co-founder Felicia Schneiderhan. Claire’s parent is de-emphasizing direct client servicing in favor of powering other business travel entities due to the cost and limited return of maintaining small-business accounts. Claire uses the Facebook, Skype, Slack, SMS and web platforms to communicate with users about their bookings. “All… Read More »

As Investor Seeks To Unlock Value At Travelport, Analysts Wonder How

By | March 27, 2018
Paul Singer

The news that an activist investor took a stake in Travelport to push a possible sale of the company has analysts, consultants and industry leaders speculating about the possibilities. Could the GDS be broken up and sold to its two Western rivals? What about keeping it whole and selling to China-based TravelSky? Is there a wild-card buyer out… Read More »

Hipmunk, TripLink Moves Revive TMC ‘Friend Or Foe’ Questions About Concur

By | March 26, 2018
Concur's Mike Koetting

Some travel management company sources are concerned about competition from SAP Concur’s Hipmunk-powered small-business offering. A new TripLink-related requirement for Concur’s preferred partners is irksome to others. It’s just another day in the alliance, ever uneasy for some, between Concur and TMCs. Whether they’re resellers or preferred partners, certain TMCs have worried about the tech company’s moves in… Read More »

Duluth Travel Files For Chapter 11 Protection While Fighting AdTrav In Court

By | March 22, 2018

Atlanta-area travel management company Duluth Travel today filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a bid for breathing room as it fights a legal battle with a regional rival. Duluth is appealing its loss in a breach of contract lawsuit by former partner AdTrav Travel Management. The bankruptcy filing is a rare one for travel management companies, which… Read More »