Lyft and Uber are feeling their way into the corporate market. Lyft had a rebate program. That’s done. Uber For Business had free and premium tiers. Now it’s all premium. Both fast-growing ride-hailing companies are aligning with corporate travel management companies but so far mostly for referrals. It’s clear these remain early days. Lyft has deals in place… Read More »
[UPDATE, Jan. 31, 2018: Deem changed the text on its website to indicate Eddie Bridgers’ title is SVP and chief revenue officer.] Since recreating the self-booking and ground tech company in 2016, Deem’s leadership was unabashed about taking on Concur. It’s hard to picture Deem having the same moxie without Tony D’Astolfo, an industry celebrity who served as face… Read More »
New York – More than 20 years since their invention, corporate online booking tools don’t generate much respect. Executives with three of them last month channeled the notion during a panel discussion that mixed updates on development priorities with good-natured ribbing. Representatives of market leader Concur, reinvented Deem and North America newbie Amadeus Cytric touched on familiar issues like system reliability, the… Read More »
Google revealed plans to shut down on April 10, 2018 the API for a light version of its shopping and faring service. Acquired by Google half-a-dozen years ago, ITA Software’s advanced pricing and shopping capabilities had become a go-to alternative to similar global distribution system functionality. Its standard QPX product is used by a number of travel providers including… Read More »
Breaking into travel risk management is no easy task. One startup whose leaders spoke at the 2016 Global Business Travel Association convention pivoted away from TRM. Some are focusing on one TRM component and partnering for others. It’s an active sector, with a few providers now targeting the small and medium enterprise market for the first time. Heavyweight… Read More »
American Express Global Business Travel will use ground transportation platform Mozio to offer clients a range of options through an agent portal, the KDS booking tool and the GBT mobile app. Mozio also works with Carlson Wagonlit Travel, which owns a piece of the five-year-old marketplace of roughly 3,000 transport providers. Inventory includes public transit systems, black cars and… Read More »
Many travel management companies and tech firms are working to process more of their clients’ hotel bookings. Continuing its push, Carlson Wagonlit Travel is rolling out a simplified rate aggregation system and using loyalty points as incentives. During a Wednesday interview, CWT president of hotels Scott Brennan said some clients in Europe that use the KDS and Traveldoo… Read More »