SKYTEAM
MEMBERS Delta, Continental and Northwest launched the
first jointly sponsored corporate travel Web site with G2
SwitchWorks as the ARC-accredited travel agency and Amadeus as the
GDS. Targeted toward small- and medium-size corporations, SkyCorp
Direct, at www.skycorpdirect.com, enables travelers at U.S.
points of sale to book the three airlines for free through G2, to
book other airlines for a $5 booking booking fee, and to access
hotels and car inventory through Amadeus. In a press briefing by
the three airlines for Travel Weekly at the National Business
Travel Association conference in Boston last month, officials
stated that they intend to migrate customers from their existing
corporate sites to SkyCorpDirect.com as they attempt to tap into
the small- and medium-size corporate market of unmanaged or lightly
managed travel programs. Continental intends to phase out its
Business Travel Manager program in about 90 days while Northwest
and Delta intend to continue operating CorpNet Direct and Exclusive
Discount Program, respectively, for small business in tandem with
SkyCorpDirect.com, officials said. SkyCorpDirect.com, which
launched without publicity on June 20, uses Amadeus e-Travel
Management as the foundation for its corporate self-booking
technology.
MORE ON THE
CORPORATE SIDE
" Expedia is
looking for ways to bring traveler reviews and other user-generated
content to its business travel site, Expedia Corporate Travel.
According to officials at Expedia, the company is in the early
stages of figuring out ways to bring user-generated content and
networks to ECT clients in the U.S. One option under consideration
would enable individual corporations that are ECT clients to
establish their own networks through ECT where their employees
could share their rants and raves about travel experiences, the
company said.
" BookingBuilder
Technologies renewed its agreement with Southwest, giving the
agent-desktop provider access to the airline's online fares and the
Swabiz corporate booking site. The two companies also said they
would jointly develop an interface between Swabiz and corporate
self-booking tools.
" Orbitz for
Business has launched a self-managed travel site for businesses
that spend less than $250,000 annually on travel. After small
businesses go through a self-registration process, their travelers
can book through Orbitz for Business. Orbitz said the new offering
includes some features and benefits of Orbitz's larger managed
programs, including access to corporate travel rates at no cost
beyond the transaction fees. The Orbitz for Business self-managed
site also offers dedicated site reporting, including monthly travel
summaries; the tracking of the value and expiration dates of unused
e-tickets; free online exchanges, cancellations and voids
(airline-imposed fees may still apply); and a dedicated customer
service line.
THE FEDERAL
TRADE COMMISSION gave antitrust
clearance to Travelport's proposed acquisition of Worldspan, but
the $1.4 billion deal still has to be approved by the European
Commission. Travelport has stated that it intends to merge
Worldspan into Galileo, one of its subsidiaries, to "establish a
more effective and efficient travel distribution provider." A
combined Worldspan-Galileo would also create the second-largest GDS
firm in Europe, behind Amadeus. The E.C. is expected to conclude
its inquiry by Sept. 13. For its part, Travelport said it was
"optimistic that the pending E.C. approval would be concluded in
time to permit the transaction to close in the third quarter of
2007." Travelport is also the parent of Orbitz Worldwide, Gullivers
Travel Associates and other travel firms.
ON WALL
STREET
" Orbitz Worldwide
became a public company July 20, trading on the New York Stock
Exchange under the stock symbol OWW. The company and its almost two
dozen consumer brands, still controlled by Travelport, priced its
common stock at $15 per share in an initial public offering. Orbitz
Worldwide offered 34 million shares in the IPO. The $15 price was
down from Orbitz Worldwide's previous estimate of $16 to $18 per
share. None of the $475 million in net proceeds from the IPO will
go to Orbitz Worldwide. The net proceeds, plus another $530 million
in borrowings from a new senior secured credit agreement, will go
to repay debt to Travelport and to pay a dividend to Travelport
owners.
" Expedia Inc.,
which recently said it planned to spend up to $3.5 billion in a
stock buyback, drastically scaled back that effort after market
conditions changed. Expedia on July 23 reduced the number of shares
in a tender offer by 78.6%, proposing instead to repurchase 25
million shares. The buyback price range would be the same as in the
tender offer announced June 19, $27.50 to $30.
SABRE enhanced its GDS product to
incorporate airlines' branded fares into agent displays. Agents,
Sabre said, will be able to review fare attributes in the display
and click to view summaries of the carrier's various fares. Sabre
said it would announce details "in the coming weeks" about launch
partners for the branded-fare solution.
Technology
Editor: Dennis Schaal
Phone: (201) 902-1904
[email protected]
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