Rearden Commerce on Monday said
it would enable by year-end Southwest Airlines bookings through a direct
connect to its Rearden Personal Assistant tool.
Rearden said to expect the
offering to go live in late 2010, at which time customers will be able to shop
and book Southwest fares through "the same Rearden Personal Assistant
experience to which they are accustomed."
Southwest Airlines senior
director of distribution and online solutions Brad Newcomb said the carrier
already has a similar direct connection with Concur for users of its Cliqbook platform,
as well as a bridge through BookingBuilder, which enables agencies to access Southwest
fare content.
Meanwhile, Southwest on
Monday also said it is launching on Tuesday its Swabiz corporate booking portal
for mobile devices. The carrier, however, said it is not launching a Swabiz
mobile application but rather a dedicated URL formatted for mobile devices,
through which travelers can shop, book, manage itineraries, cancel tickets and check in for flights
through smartphones.