An agreement announced this week between Lufthansa Group and Sabre, parties with a contentious and litigious shared history, implied a mutually beneficial path forward for airlines and global distribution systems. However, there are many unknowns, and not everyone will be a winner. If Lufthansa and Sabre can agree on GDS distribution of ancillary services and…
There’s a line of thinking that says the pandemic is widening a gap between Amadeus and its key rivals, Sabre and Travelport. Not only was Amadeus already using more modern infrastructure, the theory says, but it also genuinely bought into XML-based distribution and related NDC protocols sooner. These factors position it best with airlines that…
With reaction, assessment and recovery on their minds, corporate travel professionals understandably did not focus closely on airline distribution developments this year. Inasmuch as they did, for some, it was a question of how the relevant systems could help the response to the pandemic — or not. There’s some debate about how soon the usually…
Job No. 1 for today’s managed travel program is understanding fluid government and supplier policies, and preparing travelers for what they’ll face on the road. Safety aside, crossing state or country borders is challenging, if not impossible, depending on the latest entry and exit rules. No one wants a traveling employee to run into unexpected,…
Ensuring the protection of data about European citizens transferred to the United States just became mildly to a whole lot more complicated. The Court of Justice of the European Union last week invalidated the Privacy Shield framework in use by more than 5,000 companies, including approximately 16 U.S.-based travel management companies. It found that the…
Hotels are taking hygiene very seriously. Instilling confidence is the top strategic challenge, but the practicalities are difficult. One is getting the specifics of new cleanliness programs and certifications in front of travelers when they book. Travel management companies, booking tech providers and others are working to address the issue. BCD Travel global hotel practice…
A shareholder in American Express Global Business Travel is suing two investment firms, Carlyle Group and GIC, to get them to stick to their agreement to buy into the travel management company as announced in December. “An American Express Global Business Travel shareholder, the Juweel group, filed a lawsuit against the Carlyle Group and GIC…
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