Total commissions paid to travel agencies by U.S. airlines in 2017 reversed a 20-year trend and jumped 15 percent year over year, according to U.S. government data. The data reflect a fight for market share as the Big Three enjoy strong demand and healthy balance sheets. On domestic U.S. tickets, commission dollar volume in 2017 rose for a third consecutive… Read More »
Chatbot maker 30SecondsToFly accepted an unspecified investment from eGlobalfares, a dozen-year-old fare search tech provider that serves a few hundred travel agencies globally. The deal also extends 30Seconds’ strategy to market to travel management companies. The partnership enables eGlobalfares customers to offer public and proprietary fares through the Claire chatbot to business travelers. Claire is available by SMS,… Read More »
CCRA’s Dic Marxen sees corporate travel agent salaries rising by double-digit percentages because of the profession’s aging workforce and dearth of new labor. He wasn’t surprised to see Travel Leaders Group this month create a scholarship program for military veterans. Marxen had a similar idea three years ago that died at the feet of federal bureaucracy, but he isn’t… Read More »
ZS Associates is running a pilot that sanctions for certain employees booking on the United Airlines website. Supported by integration between Traxo and the carrier, the direct option delivers a better booking experience and improved customer service, according to ZS Associates travel leaders. One of them is Glenn Hollister, principal at the firm and head of its travel… Read More »
Popularized by Tripbam and Yapta, hotel reshopping offers savings as rates fluctuate after initial bookings. But who controls exactly what gets reshopped and rebooked? Whose best interests are served? Microsoft’s recently released corporate travel manifesto raised these and more questions. The document alluded to conflicts of interest when travel management companies actively bias toward hoteliers in order to earn… Read More »
No one spends more on travel for work than the U.S. military. Its mission to modernize how it goes about that has taken a new turn now that the U.S. Department of Defense is looking for its next partners. Defense expects by the end of September to select vendors for travel booking, expense management and travel management company support.… Read More »
[CORRECTION, May 4, 2018: An earlier version of this article incorrectly described Traxo’s email filtering solution. It doesn’t scan traveler inboxes. Instead, it enables clients to flag travel confirmation emails when they hit company servers and forward them to Traxo for processing.] Leakage is the bane of a travel manager’s existence. When travelers don’t book through designated channels,… Read More »