The new, Amadeus-endorsed model for airline distribution with International Airlines Group may or may not take hold among more travel management companies or even other GDSs. For now, it’s constructive to review the role of IATA’s New Distribution Capability. When IAG announced a GDS surcharge in May, NDC was the industry’s ticket to fee-free British Airways and Iberia… Read More »
There are three weeks to go before a surcharge takes effect on global distribution system bookings with British Airways and Iberia. Big travel management companies are revealing that they’re avoiding the fee on bookings through Amadeus thanks to the GDS company’s agreements with the airlines. Following a related Hogg Robinson Group announcement last week, American Express Global Business Travel… Read More »
Big travel management companies are beefing up their hotel programs. They say it’s a content play. Aggregating inventory, special prices and perks counteracts fragmentation. It gives their clients’ travelers less reason to stray from managed programs. That improves reporting and risk management. All good stuff. But, wait. Follow the money. First, a bit of history. U.S. airlines chipped… Read More »
Corporate travel policy has taken a lot of grief lately. It’s too long, so nobody reads it. It’s not traveler-centric. It doesn’t incorporate “behavioral economics.” Its ability to control behavior is a “myth.” Some generalizations are less true than others, and corporate policy is often misunderstood. That doesn’t mean companies can stand pat. The business environment is always… Read More »
Chrome River is showing clients a new way for sales and finance to correlate T&E spending with customer relationship management info. The idea is to optimize how and where to allocate travel dollars, based on the revenue-generating potential of customer visits. Pulling CRM data into travel decision-making is not a new concept. Chrome River aims to complete the… Read More »
The question of what’s logical in a lowest logical airfare policy has always had more than one answer. There’s much more now for program managers to think about than when such policies came into vogue in the late 1990s. In general, the lowest logical airfare is the cheapest available at the time of booking that abides by corporate… Read More »
Will blockchain disrupt processes, companies or nothing at all? The question is playing out in the contrasting market approaches of distribution startups Blockskye and Winding Tree. The former is careful. It’s into change from within. It’s talking to the old guard. The latter is boastful and aggressive. It’s using dubious claims to generate investment interest. The more aggressive… Read More »
Travel Leaders Group in July acquired Raleigh, N.C.-based Travel Management Partners. It’s another in a string of deals pushing TLG to the extremes of travel agency heft. Twenty-three year-old TMP employed about 135 people as of a year ago. According to The News & Observer of Raleigh, TMP in 2015 arranged more than $300 million in travel for about 40… Read More »
The International Air Transport Association disallows travel agencies from using their own credit cards for purchasing airline tickets on clients’ behalf. If an IATA proposal to revise its rules gains approval from members, that prohibition will be history. Even if IATA members approve the amendment at a conference in November, though, Lufthansa Group seems to have no interest… Read More »
Boston – Big hotel companies have a monumental task in keeping their properties safe. Many are in far-flung locales, some of which are deemed risky. They may be terrorist targets. They’re unwitting havens for human traffickers. They host high-profile events and high-profile guests. People from all walks of life are always coming and going. Corporate security and travel… Read More »