When Morgan Stanley and Citi authorized employees to use Uber, cynics scoffed that they were just trying to earn Uber’s business. Managing an Uber IPO, for example, would be lucrative. The Company Dime set out to prove the skeptics wrong, but could not. Supplier vetting is a standard procurement and travel management process. Sensible practice calls for close…
Well before gamification became a corporate travel buzzword, companies had straightforward ways to reward travelers for booking cheaper flights. Traveler incentive programs that share savings with those who book coach airfare when business class is acceptable are challenging but not uncommon. Now, a variation on the concept appeals to companies without robust travel-management programs and policies. Point-of-sale price benchmarks guide…
[UPDATE, March 8, 2017: Concur decided to “phase out” the Price to Beat feature, according to Rocketrip. The two companies announced an expanded partnership. More info here.] More than a decade ago, U.S. businesses started saving significant money due to what travel professionals called visual guilt. Mainstream by 2006, the notion is that when travelers…
American Airlines this quarter brought to most of its North American travel agencies revised back-end “override” incentive programs. Based on revenue share rather than passenger count, the move may put some travel buyers on guard for higher costs. It’s conceivable that the program presents agencies a reason to either transact higher fares and/or charge higher…
SAP expects the pricey acquisition of Concur to increase its earnings in 2016, but that seems possible only with massive revenue growth or layoffs. In its fiscal year ended this past September, Concur recorded non-GAAP pretax income of $56 million. [Using non-GAAP figures reduces the effect of non-recurring items and improves comparability of performance over time.]…
SAP CEO Bill McDermott sees Concur’s TripLink supplier-direct program as a replacement for corporate travel policy. In an interview published last week by Re/code, McDermott responded as follows when asked why SAP is paying about $8 billion for Concur: “Every company has a corporate travel department, but no one wants to work with it. You can…
International SOS and iJet International upgraded their mobile apps this year while a new Healix app features distress signals with photos and audio. A “panic button” may not beat a phone call in an emergency, but apps can offer translation, destination training and document storage. Providers now also are exploring client customization and third-party integration….
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