Tag Archives: TMC

Blockskye Tests Blockchain Payment, Settlement And Reporting With ARC, Unnamed Airline

By | August 8, 2018
Michael Share

Blockchain startup Blockskye is running a proof of concept with the Airlines Reporting Corp. and also working with an unnamed airline and Fortune 100 corporate account to build a robust direct-booking and payment program. Blockchain would not enable fare shopping or make bookings. The carrier’s website would handle those computing-intensive processes. Rather, Blockskye would run some of the associated… Read More »

Startup TravelPerk’s Differentiator Is A Bit Different

By | August 2, 2018

[CORRECTION, Aug. 6, 2018: The original version of this article misstated TravelPerk’s customer count. The company claims more than 1,000 clients. The content below has been updated.] When asked what makes their outfits unique, business travel entrepreneurs tend to talk tech rather than people. TravelPerk is going the other way, and its customers seem to appreciate it. The Barcelona-based… Read More »

Mobile Is A Differentiator In Fast-Expanding GoToMeeting Parent’s Frosch Selection

By | May 29, 2018
Frosch and Obex CTO Sridhar Balaji

Boston-based LogMeIn roughly tripled its revenue and employees via acquisitions since sourcing pro Jean Johnson joined the tech firm nearly two years ago. As director of global procurement, Johnson consolidated from seven travel management companies to one. Frosch’s mobile technology helped distinguish it from other bidders. LogMeIn also is rolling out Concur Travel as part of a travel program… Read More »

BCD Travel Joins In With New Fees For Non-Standard Bookings

By | April 4, 2018
TMC fee

BCD Travel last month alerted clients to a formalized program that charges them extra for supplier bookings which are more costly to support, joining rivals American Express Global Business Travel and Carlson Wagonlit Travel. According to multiple sources, BCD Travel identifies such reservations as including those that must be booked or serviced outside global distribution systems. Also covered by the… Read More »

Small Accounts Aren’t Worth The Effort, So Claire Chatbot Seeks TMC Users

By | April 2, 2018

Three unidentified travel management companies have enlisted 30SecondsToFly’s Claire chatbot, according to co-founder Felicia Schneiderhan. Claire’s parent is de-emphasizing direct client servicing in favor of powering other business travel entities due to the cost and limited return of maintaining small-business accounts. Claire uses the Facebook, Skype, Slack, SMS and web platforms to communicate with users about their bookings. “All… Read More »

Andy Menkes On Trusting, And Verifying, Your Data

By | March 28, 2018

Today’s advisor is travel management veteran Andy Menkes of Partnership Travel Consulting. He writes that while data from travel management companies has improved over the years, travel program managers must do their due diligence. That means plugging gaps and checking everything. President Ronald Reagan made the phrase “trust, but verify” famous in the United States back in the… Read More »

Hipmunk, TripLink Moves Revive TMC ‘Friend Or Foe’ Questions About Concur

By | March 26, 2018
Concur's Mike Koetting

Some travel management company sources are concerned about competition from SAP Concur’s Hipmunk-powered small-business offering. A new TripLink-related requirement for Concur’s preferred partners is irksome to others. It’s just another day in the alliance, ever uneasy for some, between Concur and TMCs. Whether they’re resellers or preferred partners, certain TMCs have worried about the tech company’s moves in… Read More »