TEMPE, Ariz. -- Honeywell is one of many companies using a
corporate on-line booking system for its business travel, but it
may be the only one claiming a 70% usage rate among employees.
For most companies, the adoption rate is somewhere between 5%
and 25%, depending on who you ask.
But Honeywell, a diversified technology and manufacturing firm,
says 70% is no exaggeration. Honeywell, which spends approximately
$135 million per year in air fares, uses Sabre Business Travel
Solutions (BTS) for on-line booking.
Patrick O'Halleran, manager of travel e-business at Honeywell,
said the 70% on-line adoption rate represents a $4 million savings
over making all travel bookings via telephone.
O'Halleran said the company uses several carrots and sticks to
steer its 35,000 travelers away from the phone.
A major stick is a behavior-altering system called Fee
Allocator, created by American Express, Honeywell's contracted
travel management firm.
When travelers call American Express to book a trip, before they
actually speak to an agent, they are informed by an automated
message that a telephone booking will result in an extra "service
charge" on the traveler's corporate card.
O'Halleran said that if travelers decide to book over the phone
anyway, the American Express agent will remind them of the extra
fee.
The theory is that travelers will immediately hop on-line to
purchase travel, because they won't want to explain to managers why
there's a penalty charge for a telephone booking on their expense
report.
Two divisions at Honeywell have taken this a step further.
"In some parts of the organization, travelers are told to not
even try to get reimbursed for that fee," O'Halleran said.
On the carrot side, Honeywell incentivizes travel arrangers who
account for 40% of all bookings in the organization, and who
wouldn't be affected by a penalty charge on a corporate card. For
every 10 bookings made on line, the travel arranger receives a
"gift check" from Honeywell.
American Express earns revenue from Honeywell by hosting on-line
ticket fulfillment at its dedicated processing center in Miami.
The major CRS vendors are raising booking fees to travel
suppliers, but Worldspan is cutting fees for reservations that are
made through a corporate on-line booking system. To read that
story, click here.