TQ3Navigant today announced it will offer clients tiered discounts for Verified Identity Pass biometric smart cards that facilitate the airport security process. Verified Identity Pass said the deal is its first TMC partnership, with others to follow.
"If the corporation buys 500 to 1,000 cards, they get a certain discount. If they buy 1,000 to 5,000, they get another type of discount. And more than that, they get more," VIP CEO Steven Brill said this morning of the TQ3Navigant deal. He added that such partnerships could bring other benefits to corporate customers. "If they have a corporate client that wants to enroll more than X number of people, we will make arrangements to send a mobile enrollment center to that office, so they don't have to go to the airport to do that enrollment," he said. VIP sells single Clear cards for just under $80.
Hyatt Hotels in February struck a bulk-rate deal with VIP to provide tens of thousands of cards to its frequent guest program members
(BTN, March 6). The TQ3Navigant arrangement features a different pricing model.
Brill noted that the company also is in discussions with other major TMCs. "We're open to relationships with anyone, probably on a parallel basis. I don't see why we wouldn't. We started talking to the biggest ones first." Among potential partners is American Express, which in January said that it is seeking partners to launch a Registered Traveler program for its customer base
(BTNonline, Jan. 20).
The company is looking to expand relationships with other travel providers, including major airlines, which at certain airports—such as Continental Airlines' terminals at Newark Liberty International—can bypass the airport authority to open privately operated screening lanes.
Yet, in many cases, it is up to the airports to decide when and if they will operate a program. The Transportation Security Administration has set a deadline for April 20 to finalize its standards for private companies that will run Registered Traveler programs throughout the United States. "There are a lot of airports that are waiting for that as sort of the formal starter's pistol," Brill said.