Achieving economies of scale is a big part of the proposed American Express Global Business Travel acquisition of HRG. More influence on airline distribution evolution is a bonus. GBT also might gain pricing power on some client bids. Another big driver? Greater clout to generate more revenue from suppliers. While that’s always a motivator for TMCs to get bigger, is that all… Read More »
[UPDATE, Jan. 19, 2017: American Airlines as of Feb. 1 will cease code sharing on several Alaska Airlines’ routes. Affected markets include: Seattle to/from Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Newark, Los Angeles International, New York JFK, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington National; LAX to/from Baltimore/Washington, Portland, Ore., Salt Lake City and Washington National; and Portland, Ore. to/from Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Ft.… Read More »
The corporate travel world’s opinion of Marriott is bipolar. Travelers love the loyalty program, but that can work against corporate program compliance. Many industry professionals respect the company’s success but get discouraged when it takes a hard line on various issues. Travel buyers like the idea of a consistent, high-quality product from a world-renowned brand but don’t like… Read More »
BCD Travel on Friday acquired Knoxville, Tenn.,-based World Travel Service Inc., which the companies said is the 13th-largest U.S. corporate travel agency. BCD Travel CEO John Snyder said the market can expect the company to make “many” more corporate travel and meetings deals this year and next. Addressing rumors of consolidation discussions between the largest travel management companies, Snyder also said that if… Read More »
Overwhelmed by trying to manage the use of 30 travel agencies in the Americas, logistics company Deutsche Post DHL Group a year ago started a consolidation project. The HRG affiliates network and Latin America’s L’alianXa Travel Network were the two winning bidders. In the United States, where DHL fields more than 20,000 travelers, Short’s Travel Management beat out other HRG affiliates. Implementation began April 1.… Read More »