Online booking and expense management tool provider KDS is introducing
several new features, including a return on investment forecasting module,
automatic checking of U.S.-bound flight bookings for Secure Flight compliance
and combined fares from different airlines, CEO Yves Weisselberger told BTN Thursday.
In recent weeks, Paris-based KDS launched a business travel
ROI module, which Weisselberger said is aimed at helping corporate clients
assess whether a journey will justify its total cost. The module combines
forward booking data and historic expense management data so that managers can
assess the likely full cost of the trip, not just the price of what is booked
before departure.
For example, if a traveler books three nights at a hotel for
$300 per night, the module will analyze historic spending data to show that
hotel extras, such as food and beverage, on average amount to 30 percent on top
of room rate for that individual. As a result, it will forecast that hotel
costs for the trip will be $1,170. The calculation also can include the likely
cost of transfer from airport to hotel.
KDS also officially announced Thursday that starting in
October it would carry out automated checks on all customer flight bookings to
the United States to ensure they include the mandatory passenger data required
for the Secure Flight program. Under the program, the U.S. Transportation
Security Administration requires airlines to collect and transmit each
passenger’s full name, date of birth and gender at least 72 hours before
departure.
If the data is present, it will be sent in the passenger
name record with the booking. If it is missing, KDS will block the reservation
and alert the traveler of the need to provide details. “The timing is
essential, because starting Nov. 1 any airline failing to comply with Secure
Flight risks a financial penalty,” said Weisselberger. “The passenger in
question may well be prevented from flying. We have rapidly developed this
automated compliance check so that none of our customers will suffer this
fate.”
Weisselberger said KDS also would officially launch
combinable fares functionality next month, another feature it has rolled out in
recent weeks. This will allow, for example, a traveler to book the outbound leg
of a return trip from London to Paris on EasyJet and the inbound leg on Air
France. “This has been extremely difficult to do in the past,” said the KDS
CEO. “All the booking tool providers have taken small steps, but this is the
first time it will happen properly.”
According to Weisselberger, KDS’s revenue increased 17
percent in the company’s fiscal year, which ended March 31, owing to more new
clients and more bookings by existing clients. Since then, he said, transaction
numbers have risen, with growth especially strong in the United States.
Weisselberger added that there has been a surge in transactions outside the
booking tool’s two traditionally strong sectors, air and rail, with both hotel
and car rental doing particularly well.