Author: Jeff Klee

AmTrav CEO Jeff Klee is a self-described computer geek who developed and sold his first video game at the age of 13. In college, he and a buddy got a crash course in the intricacies of the airline business while planning their own backpacking trip and later decided to use that know-how to help others save money on airfares. What was first known as 1-800-Cheap-Air was founded out of a University of Michigan dorm room in 1989. When the company took off, Jeff ditched his law school plans for a far more exciting journey, combining two passions — travel and software development. CheapAir.com was born, and soon after AmTrav for Business, which together serve almost 400,000 travelers annually. Jeff grew up in Los Angeles where he still lives with his wife, two kids, and golden retriever, none of whom want to be anywhere near him when the Dodgers are losing. Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.

Op Ed: Jeff Klee On Not-So-Unintended Consequences Of Traditional TMC Pricing

The always vocal Jeff Klee, CEO of AmTrav, revisits the thorny issue of travel management company pricing. Even travel buyers who feel it needs to change and would like to address longstanding issues of trust aren’t sold on the potential solutions. A friend of mine had a “WTF” moment the other day and called to…

Op Ed: Jeff Klee On What We Lose When We Put Sustainability Before Travel

AmTrav CEO Jeff Klee is getting frustrated by tokenism and perfunctory action when it comes to sustainability and corporate travel. On the 2022 business travel conference circuit, sustainability and purposeful travel were all the rage. Panelists at events large and small touted the urgency to reduce travel and, with it, carbon emissions. Given the chorus…

Op Ed: Jeff Klee On Innovation, Moats And The Corporate Travel Buyer

AmTrav CEO Jeff Klee argues that consolidation, legacy tech and outdated thinking sacrifice the industry’s greater good. Travel buyers, he asserts, must demand more innovation from providers. A few years ago Elon Musk and Warren Buffett had a pretty entertaining Twitter spat about moats – not the canal-around-the-castle kind, but the economic kind that companies…

Op Ed: AmTrav CEO Jeff Klee On The (Possible) End Of Airline Distribution As We Know It

Airline distribution has been evolving, at times quickly or slowly, for decades. The potential for change has always been great. How does it look when seemingly everything is changing? AmTrav CEO Jeff Klee delivers his take. For all the talk about using the pandemic to rethink everything, it’s looking more and more like the new…

Op Ed: Jeff Klee On Whether The Industry Is Wasting This Crisis

AmTrav CEO Jeff Klee is concerned that the industry isn’t doing enough to not only survive Covid-19 but emerge from the crisis stronger than before. He admits that he’s got many more questions than answers. In 2008, incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel famously talked about not letting a good crisis go to…

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