Sabre Unveils Its Single Mobile Tool For Business Travelers
by Michele McDonald /
Sabre, which previewed its Traveler Experience Platform in July, officially unveiled it at its Sabre Connect corporate travel conference.
The platform provides a single integrated mobile tool that combines all the elements a traveler needs to navigate a trip from beginning to end and beyond.
“It will change the way travelers experience the trip,” Florian Tinnus, vice president of traveler experience, said. Tinnus, himself a former travel manager, said it also will change the way travel managers function with its ability to manage travel both from the office and from the road.
It also includes SafePoint, a duty-of-care solution that automatically monitors all of the corporation’s trips. Security intelligence is provided by iJET International
In addition, Tinnus said, “Travel is no longer a linear experience.” There are things that are not part of the itinerary but are still part of the trip, “and we take a lot of those items and put them into one device and make it personal.”
Ben Newell, Sabre’s vice president of product management, traveler experience, told a story to illustrate how the platform would work.
“Fiona is a business traveler who sees the technology in her mobile device as an enabler, not as entertainment,” he said. She’s been holding off on booking a hotel for an upcoming trip because she is unsure of her meeting schedule and location. So when she goes into TripCase, the itinerary manager that is integrated into the platform, a popup appears to remind her to book her hotel.
She touches the plus sign in the lower corner of her screen and lands on a set of hotels specific to her and her company that are available for her travel dates. “That’s GetThere,” Sabre’s corporate booking tool, Newell said. It, too, is integrated into the platform, along with Sabre Virtual Payments.
She selects a Sheraton to see where it is on the map, then proceeds to booking. All details of the trip are stored in TripCase, and much of the booking information is prepopulated.
Then things start to go awry: On the day of her departure, weather causes her flight to be canceled. But she receives a notification from TripCase that the airline has already re-accommodated her on the first flight out in the morning. Fiona decides to switch to an airport hotel for a quick getaway when her business is concluded. Cancellation and rebooking is as easy as the original booking.
When she arrives at the airport, she grabs something to eat and uses the camera on her phone to capture the receipt. All her receipts will be stored in TripCase in one file.
When she checks into the hotel, the desk clerk is uncomfortable: He is unfamiliar with virtual payments. But Fiona is able to show him the digital image of the virtual card, which puts him at ease.
“The Traveler Experience Platform has allowed Fiona to stay calm and confident throughout the day,” Newell said.
“A lot of energy and love and creativity went into this to make travel simple, personal and seamless,” Tinnus added.