• Vote At NBTA Booth #2829 For Top 3 Most Memorable BTA Meetings
The planners for 17 local BTA meetings held over the past year are competing for getaway vacations in an awards program sponsored by Business Travel Executive magazine. Winners will be determined by the votes of attendees of at the National Business Travel Association's conference and exposition in Los Angeles on July 27-30. Votes must be cast at the magazine's booth, #2829, during exposition hours. Winners, one in each of three categories, will be announced at noon on July 30 at the booth.
Ballots will be voters' business cards, with their choices written on the back and dropped in the BTE ballot box. Each voter may select up to three meetings, one in each of three categories. Profiles of the competing meetings are published for voters review in the July issue of BTE magazine; extra copies of that issue will be available at the booth. Any ties will be broken by the decision of meeting planning professionals.
AcuFlight-Cornerstone Pact Bypasses TMC Agents
Cornerstone Information Systems has signed a reciprocal-marketing deal with AcuFlight that will gives each direct to the other's customers, and allows travel agencies using the Cornerstone iQCX platform to shift flight change notifications to the AcuFlight automated option.
According to James Dargan, senior consultant for Cornerstone, a recent study revealed that agencies would be able to offload responsibility for about 35,000 outbound calls a month, "dramatically frees agent time up for more productive tasks.
Alaska Airlines Launches Flight Alerts
Passengers on Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air can now get flight information via e-mail or text message for their entire itinerary. Customers booking at AlaskaAir.com, airline call centers or ticket counters receive an e-mail inviting them to create a profile. The profile specifies the traveler's preferences for receiving e-mail alerts (desktop computer, PDA or mobile phone). Once a customer registers, the system automatically monitors all future trips and sends scheduled pre-trip updates as well as real-time alerts regarding delays, gate changes and cancellations. The system also sends connection messages that advise the customer of the status and gate of arriving and departing flights so they know their actual connection time.
The alert system, powered by FlightStats, is currently available only for direct bookings, but Alaska Airlines is planning enhancements to make it available through travel agency bookings.
Aloft Opens Chicago Hotel, Prepares For Philadelphia Debut
Starwood Hotels & Resorts has opened an Aloft hotel 1.5 miles from Chicago's O'Hare Airport, and will open a 136-room Aloft hotel near Philadelphia International Airport on August 8. Aloft, a new brand that features loft-like accommodations, opened its first hotel earlier this summer in Montreal.
American Express Network Adds 4 New Agencies
Four travel agencies have joined American Express Travel's US Representative Network. The agencies are Corporate Travel Planners of San Antonio, TX; Cruises-N-More of Orlando; El Sol Travel of Tempe, AZ; and Travel-On of Beltsville, MD. American Express says Corporate Travel Planners is the largest privately-held travel management company in Texas; El Sol Travel is Arizona's largest, independently owned travel management company; and Travel-On is the largest travel management company in Maryland.
ARC Blocked From Implementing Higher Travel Agent Fees
Airlines Reporting Corp.'s (ARC) proposed fee structure, which would have required travel agents to foot a larger part of the bill for ARC's settlement services, has been ruled as unfair by the Independent Arbitration Panel. As a result of the decision, ARC will cancel the previously scheduled July 24 collection of additional fees under the proposed plan, and recalculate its 2008 fee structure.
The fees had been contested by three agency groups - the American Society of Travel Agents, Carlson Travel Network Associates and Uniglobe USA - who said they would not fairly allocate costs between airlines and travel agencies. In December, ARC's board of directors approved an increase of the annual administrative fee from $145 to $395 for single-office travel agencies and headquarters locations; an increase of the branch-office fee/satellite ticket printer fee from $145 to $150; and a transaction-fee increase from 1.7 cents to 2 cents. The arbitration panel's decision will require ARC to recalculate the 2008 fee structure.
Avis Makes Mobility Scooters Available Across The US
Avis has made mobility scooters available to all customers via the Avis Access program, the company's suite of products for travelers with disabilities. The national rollout of battery-operated scooters follows a test of these products in Orlando and Las Vegas.
Concur Enables Reconciliation Of Line-item Data
Concur says it will unveil an expense-management solution that automatically reconciles line-item booked travel data with actual spending when it exhibits at the NBTA convention in Los Angeles next week. Concur President Rajeev Singh noted that “only by incorporating the expense-reporting process can a company capture 100 percent of the information that clients need to truly compare what was booked with what was actually purchased.”
Concur's new reporting technology is powered by Cognos.
Cornerstone Opens Market To Compliance Manager
Cornerstone Information Systems is making its Policy Compliance Manager, previously available as a private label offering to corporations, generally available to TMCs and corporate travel departments. The web-based tool gives employees the information they need to make the best travel decision for their travel purchases and allows the travel manager to step in to control travel spend prior to the money being spent. It has been in limited release since 2007.
Among the capabilities of Policy Compliance Manager:
* Defining out of policy parameters by account, cost center and division.
* Setting air fare thresholds by specified dollar amount or by amount over lowest logical fare offered.
* Requiring a statement of reason for travel.
* Setting parameters for use of first class and business class fares.
* Identifying in-policy car sizes and allowable hotel per diems.
* Establishing conditions for bypassing pre-purchase authorization such as VIP travel, excluded departments or divisions, last minute travel and weekend or holiday bookings.
Country Inn & Suites Opens In Rochester
The new 89-room Country Inn & Suites by Carlson Rochester-Brighton has opened its doors in Rochester, NY. The hotel features an indoor pool, whirlpool and fitness room. Other amenities include a complimentary hot continental breakfast and free fax and copy service. Monroe City Airport is seven miles from the hotel with complimentary scheduled shuttle service available.
Databasics Unveils Budgeting Tool
Databasics, a provider of travel expense-reporting technology, has launched Travel Expense Budgeting, an add-on to expense-reporting solution ExpenSite. With Travel Expense Budgeting, organizations can combine prospective travel with actual travel expenditures to take the guess work out of budgetary decisions, says the company. The tool automatically calculates budget status by integrating travel authorizations, agency booking and ticketing data, credit card transactions and expenditures entered by travelers on their expense reports.
Delta Offering Complimentary Copter Service To JFK
Customers traveling on Delta's domestic flights in first class or unrestricted economy to or from New York's JFK Airport can get complimentary US Helicopter shuttle service for a limited time. The promotional offer is valid for tickets purchased through August 29.
Delta Lets Customers Book Stand-alone Non-air Products
Delta.com customers now can purchase non-air travel services with or without the purchase of airline tickets. iSeatz has worked with Delta to install a new stand-alone booking engine that enables customers to book hotels, car rentals and destination activities. Customers can opt to return to Delta.com any time to browse and purchase non-air products. New Orleans-based iSeatz partnered with Delta last year to launch the capability to book hotels, car rentals and activities with air.
eBookers Relaunches Belgian Web Site
Online travel company eBookers, a brand owned by Orbitz Worldwide, has relaunched its Belgian web site on a new global technology platform. The new site aims to make booking decisions for travelers easier through simpler navigation and more product choice. As with past platform migrations in the UK and Ireland, eBookers says the Belgian relaunch is expected to triple the number of hotels accessible to customers.
The Belgian site is the first on Orbitz Worldwide's global platform where users can search for travel in a language other than English.
Egencia Adds Presence In Ireland And The Netherlands
Egencia, the full-service travel agency formerly known as Expedia Corporate Travel, plans to launch service in Ireland and the Netherlands. In Ireland, Egencia will partner with Dublin-based e-Travel. Egencia already operates in six European countries: France, the U.K., Germany, Belgium, Spain and Italy.
FirstFlight To Acquire Charter Operator
Aviation services company FirstFlight has signed a definitive agreement to acquire charter operator New World Jet Corp. The combined operations are expected to significantly expand FirstFlight's fleet of aircraft under management as well as increase its management and charter capabilities.
Hilton Lets Reservation Agents Work At Home
Hilton Hotels Corp. has introduced a work-at-home program for reservations agents. Hilton says it expects that applicants largely will be stay-at-home parents, dual-career professionals, retirees, students, primary caregivers or special-needs individuals.
Key Largo Resort Becomes A Hilton
Following a $12 million renovation, the Key Largo Grande Resort & Beach Club in the Florida Keys has joined the Hilton portfolio. Previously operated as the Key Largo Grande, the 200-room beachfront resort remains owned by affiliates of the Blackstone Group (which owns Hilton) and continues to be managed by LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels.
Lake Las Vegas Developer Files For Chapter 11 Protection
Lake at Las Vegas Joint Venture, the master developer of the Lake Las Vegas Resort, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company says a combination of poor liquidity, substantial debt, challenging real estate market conditions and other legal and financial issues led to the filing. The company has received financing from creditors to fund projects and keep operations running as normal. The 3,592-acre residential and resort community 20 miles east of the center of Las Vegas includes three golf courses and two luxury hotels: a Hyatt Regency and a Ritz-Carlton.
Marriott Offers Eco-Friendly Meeting Alternatives
Beginning this summer, Marriott, JW Marriott and Renaissance hotels will introduce a series of eco-friendly meeting products and services, including 100 percent post-consumer fiber writing pads; Bic Ecolutions biodegradable pens made from recycled content; access to recycling containers in or near meeting rooms in many hotels; boxed-lunch containers made of recycled content, including biodegradable cutlery kits and napkins; and organic flowers.
Midwest Announces Service Cuts; AirTran & NWA Step Into The Void
Milwaukee-based Midwest Airlines, which last week announced it will eliminate 1,200 jobs, now says it will end nonstop service to several cities, including Los Angeles and Seattle (the airline will instead offer one-stop service to these cities via Kansas City). Midwest will cease service to San Diego, Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers, FL; Baltimore; Hartford, CT; Louisville, KY; Muskegon, MI; Raleigh/Durham, NC; St. Louis; and San Antonio.
To compensate for the flight cuts, Midwest says it is expanding its codeshare agreement with Northwest to include service to more than 100 new city pairs. Northwest (which says it owns 47 percent of Midwest as a passive investor) says it plans to start daily service between Milwaukee and Los Angeles on September 6.
AirTran has announced that, between September 2008 and early 2009, it will launch nonstop service between Milwaukee and Fort Lauderdale and add flights on existing routes from Milwaukee to Atlanta, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York LaGuardia, Orlando, Phoenix, Tampa and Fort Myers, FL.
Names In The News 7-24-08 Hilton Hotels Corp. has announced that Craig Mance has been named senior vice president of franchise development for the US, Canada and Mexico, according to Bill Fortier, recently named senior vice president of development for the Americas. A 29-year Hilton veteran, Mance previously served as vice president of franchise development for the Northeast region and Canada.
Omni Hotels has named Tom Santora chief marketing officer and senior vice president of sales. He was executive vice president of sales and marketing for Kor Hotel Group.
Teddy's Transportation System, based in Norwalk, CT, has named John Martinez its new general manager. Martinez, who has been in the ground transportation industry for more than 18 years, is responsible for overseeing operations including dispatch, scheduling, chauffeur hiring and management, accounting procedures and vendor interface.
Vail Resorts has appointed Derek Koenig to the position of senior vice president and chief marketing officer, effective August 25. Koenig joins Vail Resorts from Discovery Communications in Silver Spring, MD, where he was senior vice president of marketing.
Worldtek Travel, a travel management company based in New Haven, CT., has announced that travel industry veterans Michael Share and Jeany Zuhde have joined the company as equity partners. Prior to joining Worldtek, Zuhde and Share were at Sea Gate/Advanced Travel, the New York-based regional agency that was purchased by Hogg Robinson in 2004. Both held president positions at Hogg Robinson.
NBTA To Unveil New Airline RFP, Corporate CSR Tools
The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) plans to unveil a new airline RFP and two new tools to help advance organizations' CSR initiatives at its conference next week in Los Angeles. The airline RFP is a product of the Association's Aviation Committee; the CRS tools, of its corporate social responsibility committee and the NBTA Foundation.
The new airline RFP can be customized to include only those features necessary, based on the demographics of a company and its travelers. In addition to the official RFP document, the aviation committee has created two supporting tools: an airline pricing and targets feature to help organize and simplify pricing categories; and a timeline for tracking the RFP process.
Both CSR tools - the 2008 NBTA CSR Toolkit: A Primer on Responsible Travel Management and a new CSR Component of the NBTA Foundation's Managed Travel Index® & Benchmarking Tool - were created with the support of Advito, the consulting division of BCD Travel.
nuTravel Inks Distribution Deal With New York's Linden Travel
nuTravel, a provider of corporate online booking tools, has signed an agreement with New York-based Linden Travel to distribute the booking tool to its clients. Linden says it has recently seen a significant increase in demand among its high-end clients for access to self-booking tools. nuTravel's CTS it says, will meet this market segment's needs of a tool "that is fast, easy-to-use and a catalyst for increased adoption."
Qantas Eschews Growth Plan, Will Cut 1,500 Jobs Instead
Qantas intends to cut 1,500 jobs worldwide by December. Also, the Australian carrier said it won't implement its previously-budgeted 8 percent growth for the 2008-09 financial year. Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon said job cuts will be concentrated in non-operational areas, although operational positions will also be affected. In addition to paring jobs, Qantas will retire up to 22 older aircraft from its 228-plane fleet and close call centers in London and Tucson, Arizona, concentrating all its call center activity in Australia and New Zealand.
Renaissance Hotel To Open Adjacent To Marriott In Panama
Marriott International will introduce its upscale Renaissance brand to Panama City in 2011, when it opens the 300-room Renaissance Panama Hotel Financial District adjacent to the existing 295-room Panama City Marriott. The hotel will be part of a mixed-use project that will include up to 150 unbranded condominiums on the floors above the hotel and a second tower with offices.
Ritz-Carlton To Take Over Management, Rename St. Regis Fort Lauderdale
Ritz-Carlton has agreed to assume management of the St. Regis Fort Lauderdale, a 192-room oceanfront hotel, on August 11. The property will be renamed the Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale and will be Ritz-Carlton's 10th property in Florida.
The hotel's owner, Castillo Grand, started seeking a new partner after Starwood Hotels & Resorts earlier this month announced it was terminating their management agreement. According to published reports, the two sides could not resolve a contractual dispute. The hotel opened as a St. Regis in May 2007.
Runzheimer Acquires Route-optimization Firm
Travel management consulting company Runzheimer International has acquired RouteSmith, a Denver-based firm that specializes in driver route optimization. Terms of the agreement were undisclosed. Matt DeWolf, formerly a managing director of RouteSmith, will now hold the position of director for new product development at Runzheimer. Jeff Smith, also a former managing director at RouteSmith, will now hold the position of development manager with Runzheimer. The operations previously of RouteSmith will remain based in Denver and will become a satellite location of Runzheimer.
Sheraton Opens Two Hotels
Sheraton has opened newly constructed hotels in Jacksonville, FL, and Garden Grove, CA. The 159-room Sheraton Jacksonville features Shula's 347 Grill, a casual restaurant opened by former National Football League coach Don Shula. The 285-room Sheraton Garden Grove-Anaheim South offers fine dining at Fusion Restaurant and 9,000 square feet of meeting space.
Star Alliance Formally Requests Inclusion Of Continental In Antitrust Immunity
Continental, United and eight other Star Alliance members have filed an application with the US Department of Transportation for Continental to join a group of nine carriers that already hold antitrust immunity. Approval by the DOT would enable Continental, United and the other immunized Star Alliance carriers to collaborate on international flight schedules, fares and service. Additionally, Continental, United, Lufthansa and Air Canada have requested DOT approval to establish a transatlantic joint venture.
Continental announced on June 19 that it plans to join Star Alliance. The airline is currently a member of the SkyTeam alliance but is not participating in any antitrust-immunized alliances with SkyTeam.
Starwood, American Express Offer F&B Credit
American Express Gold Card members in the US will get a $75 food-and-beverage credit when they book a stay of two or more consecutive nights at participating Starwood hotels under the W, Westin, Le Meridien and Sheraton brands. The credit is available through the Gold Card Destinations program, a collection of travel benefits offered at no additional cost on all consumer American Express Gold Cards. To get the F&B credit, card members must book through an American Express Travel Service location.
TownePlace Hotels Implement Redesign
TownePlace Suites hotels in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, FL; Gaithersburg, MD; and Dulles, VA, have completed brand renovations. The redesign of the extended-stay chain, announced by Marriott earlier this year, calls for the creation of a “home office” with ample space and storage for travelers who want to maintain their routines while on the road. Changes include a redesigned lobby and interaction space with a map featuring area restaurants, grocery stores and recreation; outdoor pools; food and beverage items from the “In a Pinch” Express Market; complimentary WiFi; access to PCs and printers; upgrades to every room; and a new color scheme.
Travelport GDS Deal Gives Chinese Agents Access To Galileo
Travelport will make its Galileo GDS available to users of the TravelSky distribution system in China. Under the terms of the agreement, TravelSky will implement Travelport's Reservation Sales Solution (RSS), enabling its customers to access, make reservations and issue e-tickets on global airlines in real-time via the Galileo system. Travel agents in China are expected to gain access to Galileo by the end of the year.
TRX Patents Tool That Analyzes Airline Bids Against Corporate Data
Travel technology company TRX has been issued a US patent for a tool used in analyzing corporate airline bids. The tool was developed by Travel Analytics, a company TRX acquired in 2006. The methods covered by the patent give TRX's corporate clients analytical models based on their own travel data. The clients then use the analytics to negotiate their agreements with travel suppliers. The methods have been extended into TRX's Traveltrax data reporting tool.
United Improves Cash Flow With New Co-branded Card Deal
United Airlines has reached an agreement in principle with its Mileage Plus co-branded bank card partner, Chase Bank USA, and Paymentech, one of its credit card processors, to extend the term of their respective agreements. As part of the transaction, United would receive a payment of $600 million from Chase, which relates to the advance purchase of frequent-flyer miles and the extension of the contract. In addition, the level of reserve that United is required to maintain under its credit card processing agreement with Chase/Paymentech has been reduced to $25 million. The agreement with Chase will increase United's cash position by approximately $1.2 billion, including $1 billion in the short term and an additional $200 million over the next two years, says the airline.
Wyndham Completes Acquisition Of Microtel and Hawthorn
Wyndham Worldwide has completed its $131 million acquisition of Microtel Inns & Suites and Hawthorn Suites from Global Hyatt. The addition of Microtel, a chain of 298 new-construction economy hotels, and Hawthorn, a chain of 91 extended-stay hotels, expands the Wyndham Hotel Group system to 12 brands.
