ATLANTA -- Delta Air Lines will venture into the on-line business
travel segment later this summer, going head-to-head with such
companies as Biztravel.com and Trip.com as well as traditional agencies.
Delta is launching Mind Your Own Business Travel to go after the
small-business market -- companies that spend less than $500,000
per year on air travel, said Steve Scheper, Delta's director of
agency and corporate programs.
"We're providing for small-business travelers who don't handle
travel [as a full-time job] every day of the week," said
Scheper.
Companies that choose MYOB Travel may book with any airline
whose flights are listed in Worldspan, the CRS that will supply the
schedule and booking database for MYOB Travel. Also, clients will
be able to make hotel and car rental reservations on MYOB
Travel.
In addition to the booking engine, MYOB Travel will offer a
reporting tool that will provide real-time information about
credit-card charges made on the site, said Scheper.
A survey, consisting of 120 one-on-one interviews with
small-business travelers, revealed that travelers prefer to
purchase through one site, said Jackie Yeaney of Boston Consulting
Group, a company that is helping Delta launch MYOB Travel.
"Travelers don't want to go to 10 different Web sites to search
for the best fare," Yeaney said. "They say, 'If you're going to
give me a flight, I want all [the options] in one place.'
"Of course, we'd want them to buy the Delta ticket," she
added.
Delta's Scheper said there will be rewards for using MYOB
Travel, but that Delta has not yet released information about the
reward structure. However, he indicated that clients who book Delta
could receive more perks.
"I could clearly see how the [rewards program] could be weighed
toward Delta initiatives," he said.
Stratton Travel Management, a brick-and-mortar agency based in
Oakland, N.J., will be one of MYOB Travel's competitors. Stratton
pulls in about $90 million per year in sales volume and handles
numerous small-business accounts, said president Terry McCabe.
"I felt that if airlines could cut us out of the wheel, they
would," said McCabe. "But [Delta] can do what they want, it's a
free country," she added. "There's plenty of room in this business
for competition."
McCabe said she believes that agencies like Stratton can offer
services that MYOB Travel cannot.
"I don't see them sitting down with a client and setting a
travel policy," she said. "We do a lot of information-sorting --
the greatest value we offer a client. Small businesses don't do
enough volume to get a deal with a supplier directly."
Scheper said that when MYOB Travel launches, charter memberships
will be offered to corporate customers for the first six
months.
"Companies that sign up will never be charged a membership fee
or a transaction fee," he said.
After the six-month period, Scheper said Delta "may or may not"
change that policy.