Suppliers

Click the links for content mentioning or focused on particular corporate travel suppliers, and scroll down for our most recent coverage of suppliers.

Uber’s Banking Endorsements Don’t Assuage Risk Concerns

When Morgan Stanley and Citi authorized employees to use Uber, cynics scoffed that they were just trying to earn Uber’s business. Managing an Uber IPO, for example, would be lucrative. The Company Dime set out to prove the skeptics wrong, but could not. Supplier vetting is a standard procurement and travel management process. Sensible practice calls for close…

New AA Travel Agency Incentive Favors Higher Fares Over More Passengers

American Airlines this quarter brought to most of its North American travel agencies revised back-end “override” incentive programs. Based on revenue share rather than passenger count, the move may put some travel buyers on guard for higher costs. It’s conceivable that the program presents agencies a reason to either transact higher fares and/or charge higher…

SAP’s Earnings Target For Concur Requires Serious Synergy

SAP expects the pricey acquisition of Concur to increase its earnings in 2016, but that seems possible only with massive revenue growth or layoffs. In its fiscal year ended this past September, Concur recorded non-GAAP pretax income of $56 million. [Using non-GAAP figures reduces the effect of non-recurring items and improves comparability of performance over time.]…

SAP CEO: Why Have Travel Policy When Employees Can ‘Maybe Get A Better Rate’?

SAP CEO Bill McDermott sees Concur’s TripLink supplier-direct program as a replacement for corporate travel policy. In an interview published last week by Re/code, McDermott responded as follows when asked why SAP is paying about $8 billion for Concur: “Every company has a corporate travel department, but no one wants to work with it. You can…

Starwood May Be Next As Marriott Wi-Fi Move Catches Corporates In OTA ‘Crossfire’

Starwood Hotels & Resorts appears poised to drop Wi-Fi fees for loyalty program members booking through its apps, websites and call centers. A similar plan at Marriott International announced last month and due to take effect Jan. 15 is upsetting many travel management professionals. This is collateral damage for Marriott, which is aiming to build…

Car Services Struggle With Disconnected Tech In ‘War’ With Uber

Atlantic City — No one in the fragmented and diverse ground transportation industry underestimates Uber anymore. For chauffeured car execs meeting here last week at a Chauffeur Driven magazine conference, “Uber” was the four-letter word everyone could not help but say. The rhetoric was dire, with operators described as being at “war” and destined to…

Thirty Months On, Concur’s Direct Connect Seeks Footing

Concur’s TripLink direct connect program could upend corporate travel distribution if it works. So far, it doesn’t. The TripLink concept resonates with corporate clients concerned about hotel booking channel compliance. About 35 percent of lodging bookings at companies with travel managers go outside the preferred channels, according to research by The Company Dime. Many of…

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