American Airlines will not charge fees when travel counselors call sales support for help, a press official confirmed. This was an open question when AA in February described NDC-specific support capabilities it intended to offer travel management companies. AA does charge $50 to travelers who are not AAdvantage Executive Platinum or ConciergeKey members when they…
After some initial tests of basic functionality late last year, Sabre and several travel management companies last week started an “expanded pilot” to support fares coming through American Airlines’ NDC-compliant application programming interface. Corporate travel buyers are keen to see progress as they contemplate potentially unwelcome consequences of American’s plan in nine weeks to pull…
Are native travel management company mobile apps obsolete? That’s Darryl Hoover’s question. The Direct Travel chief technology officer was playing out the implications of the company’s revised digital strategy. Leveraging collaboration platforms including Microsoft’s Teams and Salesforce’s Slack, he said, allows the travel management company to meet customers where they are. That’s a lot easier…
Travel management companies want to maximize revenues, corporate program managers want smooth servicing and no one wants debit memos. New integration between a pair of travel tech firms hopes to accomplish all of that and address some of the challenges of alternative airline distribution models. The key is using automation to overcome airline contract complexity….
The biggest knock on any discount program buyers secure with hotel properties and chains is that travelers can’t access preferred rates. That wastes the negotiating effort and eliminates some expected savings. According to Tripbam, for many enterprise clients, that’s been the case this year for chainwide deals. The reasons aren’t clear. Due to localized hotel…
Education sessions at the Global Business Travel Association’s annual convention last month had a few main themes, with risk, sustainability and payment getting lots of attention. Distribution also enjoyed significant airtime, but not the hotel or car rental kind. Airline distribution sessions were packed. For many, the prevailing feeling was that the industry had picked…
The hospitality industry’s labor issues make it hard to provide the services many corporate travelers expect. According to hotel company execs, service levels are recovering but at different paces depending on location. Travel buyers understand the staffing dilemmas facing many properties and try to ensure travelers know what they’ll encounter. Beyond the immediate term, some…
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