One of the most frustrating aspects of hotel relationships for corporations is that the better the negotiated rate, the more often it shows as sold out. Hotels tinker with room inventories and in the process sometimes violate contracts stipulating last-room availability. Tripbam is testing a program that alerts hotels when they fail to live up to these commitments.

The process starts with what Tripbam CEO Steve Reynolds called an "always-on" audit. When the client's rate isn't available at the point of sale, Tripbam checks . . .