BCD Clients To Manage Itineraries Through TripIt

BCD Travel this month announced an agreement with itinerary management technology provider TripIt that next year will enable BCD clients to automatically upload itineraries to share with other travelers, check in for flights through desktop and mobile devices and receive news and status alerts.

The integration, which officials expect to go live in January, will be TripIt's first with a travel management company, said TripIt vice president of business development Scott Hintz. BCD will send itineraries to TripIt from its Source technology platform.

TripIt currently integrates through an application programming interface with IBM Lotus Notes, LinkedIn, Microsoft and others, which pulls itinerary information from the platform.

TripIt similarly integrates with business expense management software providers Expens'd, ExpenseBay and SutiSoft.

BCD Travel senior vice president of strategic marketing and technology planning April Bridgeman said many employees of BCD's largest clients currently use TripIt.

BCD initially will target North American clients for the opt-in service because TripIt only is available in English. The service is free. Travelers also can upgrade to the TripIt Pro premium service, which normally costs $99 annually but is offered to corporations at a discount based on the number of travelers using the tool.

TripIt Pro provides itinerary monitoring of trips booked in and out of preferred channels, travel alerts, alternative flight schedules during delays or cancellations and enhanced sharing features. The service also provides loyalty program management features.

Sabre Holdings, TripIt's largest investor, in April 2008 helped raise $5.1 million in financing.