BlueTie introduced a service in partnership
with Orbitz that enables business travelers to search and book
travel from their Blue-Tie e-mail calendars.
BlueTie of
Rochester, N.Y., hosts e-mail services for small businesses and
said it has 3.5 million subscribers.
From their BlueTie
e-mail calendars, business travelers enter keywords such as "Dulles
to LAX" or "Boston meeting," and Orbitz retrieves inventory that
matches the inquiries, BlueTie said.
The e-mail provider
then overlays the flight or lodging options within users'
calendars. Then they can make bookings from their calendars.
Orbitz, BlueTie's exclusive travel-planning partner, compensates
Blue-Tie when users make bookings.
Orbitz's
partnership with BlueTie represents another move to tap into the
small-business market. In February, Orbitz launched a microsite for
unmanaged business travelers.
BlueTie is not the
only vendor to offer a travel service through an e-mail
application. Portaga, based in White Plains, N.Y., recently
introduced TripSync, a tool that enables road warriors to research
and book travel through Microsoft Outlook.
To
contact the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Dennis
Schaal at [email protected].