Getting all the relevant, bookable inventory in front of business travelers is a never-ending challenge. Airlines, hotels and other suppliers constantly tinker with their products and pricing, and usually favor direct distribution over more costly third-party channels. That creates complexity in business travel technology.
It’s common for travel management companies to charge extra when booking a supplier requires more work or generates less revenue. This is the basic idea behind American Express Global Business Travel’s additional $10 per transaction fee for certain airlines, revealed here on Tuesday. Sources contacted mainly by email during the past 24 hours indicated that other TMCs…
American Express Global Business Travel in an August letter indicated customers would pay a $10 surcharge on transactions booked with airlines deemed “high cost.” “This additional $10 fee applies to any transaction booked with a supplier that is booked outside a GDS; does not settle its accounts through industry-standard methods; has limited or no participation…
Amadeus and Sabre are taking a new approach to developing corporate booking tools for small and medium businesses. In some smaller markets around the globe, they’re hooking up with tech partners. Sabre in August announced a deal with Serko to serve SMEs Down Under. The New Zealand-based company will replace proprietary booking software in the Sabre…
One of the issues tripping up Concur’s TripLink in beta with United Airlines and several customers is how to capture the value of unused tickets. When travelers cancel or change a booking made on United’s website using their TripLink account, sometimes there is residual value to be used. At the moment there’s no way for that credit to be added to…
New York — Buying a corporate booking tool isn’t at the top of the to-do list for Carlson Wagonlit Travel. As rival American Express Global Business Travel works to close by year-end its acquisition of KDS, CWT will leverage its CWT To Go mobile app. Speaking here last week at the Business Meetings Travel and…
Concur last week agreed to buy consumer travel search company Hipmunk. This will help it “deliver consumer-grade products to corporate customers,” according to Concur. Beyond that, the firm’s execs are saying very little. Here’s some educated speculation. Hipmunk wasn’t going far in the consumer space. For months it has been talking to potential strategic investors…
Airline distribution generates more than its fair share of controversy. Battles over financial flows, technology and content often underlie potential disruption to the status quo. Yet so far, it’s all talk. The split between airline direct and indirect volumes has barely changed. In corporate travel, the indirect global distribution system/travel management company channel remains dominant. American…
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