Concur Inks Deal With UAL for Open Booking
by Cheryl Rosen and Michele McDonald /Two significant developments this week provided corporate travel agencies and their clients with more options for managing travel within an open booking environment.
In one, Concur and United Airlines announced an alliance that will link corporate travelers’ Concur and Mileage Plus accounts, so travelers get corporate rates when booking on United.com or via a United app, and their companies get the data.
For travel management companies and their clients, the system offers a way to capture bookings that travelers make outside of their corporate travel systems, allowing them to better track employees’ whereabouts and spending patterns.
Runzheimer buys ProcureApp
Meanwhile, Runzheimer International acquired ProcureApp Inc., a Chicago-based travel technology firm whose managed travel solutions are part of what it calls the “consumerism” trend in business travel. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
ProcureApp’s solutions ensure that negotiated discounts are applied and itinerary information is collected at the time of booking. Business travelers can use their favorite booking tools, while travel managers don’t have to deal with policy compliance or losing negotiated discounts.
ProcureApp’s technology is “in line with our vision” for more flexibility in corporate travel management, said Greg Harper, CEO and president of Runzheimer International, which provides travel and expense solutions for corporate travel departments.
Among ProcureApp’s partners are KDS, a provider of travel and expense management solutions in Europe, and Short’s Travel Management, a large travel management company in the U.S.
United’s Concur deal
At United, John Slater, vice president of sales, Americas, said that linking the United and Concur systems, via Concur’s TripLink product, will “enable customers to realize the benefits of negotiated United corporate rates while receiving traveler authentication and integration with Concur Expense.”
Several travel management companies seemed to agree, and to like the idea.
“TripLink is in alignment with our strategy," said Steve Sedgwick of FROSCH. Sedgwick was named vice president of Concur platform services and sales by FROSCH just last month.
“The solution gives us the opportunity to deliver a more modern travel experience to our corporate customers, while at the same time enabling increased savings, improved traveler safety and greater compliance."
At World Travel Service, president Lamar Shuler said that “as the role of the TMC continues to evolve,” TripLink fits well with its strategy of “providing a complete travel solution.”
“TripLink will be a key component of our service configuration, enabling improved traveler tracking and greater policy compliance,” he said.
New solutions to an old problem
Business travelers who book their own travel outside approved channels pose an ongoing challenge in the corporate travel arena.
Companies try to collect all the travel information they can so they can negotiate deals with suppliers. But today’s travelers are increasingly likely to book directly with airlines and other suppliers, rather than through the travel agency.
Being able to get their hands on their travelers’ direct-booking data gives companies more complete information on how much they are spending. It also makes it easier for companies to locate travelers in an emergency.