2011: Travel Buyers Grapple with Mobile Booking

All signs are pointing upwards for business travel in 2011. The National Business Travel Association changed its name to its current moniker the Global Business Travel Association in February of that year. It also projected during its annual convention that business travel volumes would surpass $1 trillion globally for the first time ever. 

Airlines were investing heavily in joint venture partnerships, both transatlantic and, now, transpacific, vying for hegemony over increasingly active east-west routes, as tech companies like Apple, Microsoft and others made huge investments in mobile phone design manufacturing as well as mobile platforms and app technologies.  

They were also investing in upgraded product. Premium economy seats were on the minds of airlines, corporate travelers and corporate travel buyers alike. United announced its expansion of Economy Plus on domestic routes to its merger partner airline Continental would debut in the next 12 months. Delta announced it would introduce a premium economy product internationally by summer. 

Additionally, the merged United-Continental committed to investing $550 million into onboard products.  

The Mobile Tech Boom 

Apple rolled out the iPhone in 2007, and plenty of other companies contributed to the frenzy of mobile tech coming into the market by 2011. Palm, an early smartphone and operating system provider, had been acquired and then retired by Hewlett Packard in 2009. Blackberry, the corporate device OG, had cratered on the heels of the iPhone rollout. By 2011, however, Android phones and the operating system underneath them had surpassed Apple adoption. The upshot of all this is that the market was shaking out by 2011, adoption was reaching peak levels and early adopters were shifting to newer, updated technologies.  

Here are some fun 2011 stats from Mobile Future:

• 1 billion apps were being downloaded worldwide each month
• $3 billion paid by Apple to independent app developers 
• 8 trillion texts were sent—up from 1.1 trillion in 2010
• More smartphones than PCs purchased in the U.S. 
• 2.4 million American jobs supported by wireless 
• $27.5 billion investment in U.S. mobile networks by wireless carriers 
• 500,000 jobs and $400 billion to U.S. GDP with additional 500 MHz of additional spectrum 

I’m going to be honest, it took me a second to understand that last bullet point. But suffice to say, mobile tech was killing it in 2011, and we haven’t turned back. Today, an estimated 23 billion texts are sent globally each day, which totals about 3.4 trillion annually. (I personally account for about 43,000 of those texts daily—probably.) 

The travel industry felt the mobile tech boom in a very real way. While mobile travel booking had been nascently available in the consumer space for about a year with Booking.com, Expedia and a couple others, the corporate travel industry was a little behind that curve.  

Concur rolled out a mobile app in 2010, mostly for expense, but it had mobile search and hotel booking. Expedia’s Egencia (now owned by American Express Global Business Travel) had rolled out an itinerary management-style app in 2010, but mobile booking hadn’t broken through. The same could be said for American Express Corporate Travel rolling out its non-booking app in 2010, CWT’s deep partnership with Worldmate strictly for itinerary management, etc.  

To be fair, corporate travel tech is harder to configure and the limited screen real estate of the mobile device proved to be a challenge—working in policy guidance and the right messaging and how to pull the right results, according to policy, plus additional content that might be critical for the traveler.  

Air bookings were the most challenging, but 2011 finally brought the first “native” mobile corporate booking tool when then-Concur president and COO Rajeev Singh announced that the corporate travel tech provider would enable booking for “an entire business trip, from air and rail to hotel and car—all from your mobile device, and all in policy” for BlackBerry, iPhone and iPad devices. Reardon Commerce’s Deem online booking tool (Deem is now owned by Travelport), however, was already looking at “relevance” issues, rather than only offering options available in policy.  

A New Compliance Battleground 

It wasn’t just managed travel tools working to convert lookers to bookers. Supplier apps entered fast and furious in 2011, and not just for check-ins and mobile boarding passes. Mobile travel booking had become widely available, and according to a 2013 mobile booking report from Phocuswright, more than 25 percent of leisure and unmanaged travel bookers were using mobile platforms to arrange and purchase their trip components.  

This market was not lost on any travel supplier, and competition was heating up. Hotels rolled out mobile booking promotions to lure potential bookers to their direct mobile sites. Airlines were the same—now with more merchandizing power from ancillary services to throw in to sweeten the deal in addition to the occasional discount. 

While the efforts to get direct bookings may have been aimed at luring bookers away from online travel agencies—and, therefore, converting cheaper bookings (no agency or distribution fees to contend with for the airlines and hotels)—managed business travel certainly got caught up in that dragnet of direct-booking promos.

BTN issues were dotted with articles in 2011 about the ills of losing compliance control via app bookings, and whether it could be prevented or—hopefully—short circuited by providing better service, access to centralized itinerary management through the agency app and other benefits that the managed travel industry was working to provide quickly.  

It wasn’t easy—and it remains a challenge even as managed travel apps have improved.  

Flash Forward 

Of course, today we’re not worried about whether we can or cannot (or whether we should or should not) book via our mobile devices. We do it. We expect it as a table stakes for a tech provider in the managed travel space and those that haven’t been able to deliver a reasonable experience on mobile have seen proportionate user erosion. Those that have delivered on mobile experience? Well, let’s say there are other factors in play for corporate travel and one of those major factors was hitting a massive stride in 2011.  

You’ll see in the December highlights that Concur was undergoing a huge global expansion. It had acquired mobile itinerary management app TripIt earlier in the year, and as mentioned above, was the first to deliver highly anticipated mobile air bookings. KDS, the Paris-based travel and expense provider, would hit the market with Neo about six months later, which included hotel, air and rail bookings. 

It would take a few years before mobile-first tools would emerge for policy-constrained business travel booking.  

Providers like KDS and Reardon, however, were laying the groundwork in 2011. Right-sizing content for mobile display would require a layer of machine learning that KDS Neo was experimenting with in 2011 before it launched. Reardon Commerce’s Deem was also looking at how algorithms could determine “relevance” before hitting a tiny mobile screen with selections for business travelers.  

The original cohort of “mobile-first” tools like TripActions (now Navan, has raised $1.28 billion in funding and poised to go public); TravelPerk (acquired AmTrav last year, has raised $700 million in funding); Pana (acquired by Emburse, now defunct); Lola (now defunct); TravelBank (acquired by U.S. Bank); Mezi (acquired by American Express, now defunct) wouldn’t roll around until about 2015. In about four weeks, we’ll look at a “where are they now” trajectory of these next-gen providers that are now approaching their 10th birthdays. 

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January 

American Airlines wins a court order in Texas directing Sabre Travel Network to temporarily stop retaliatory actions after the GDS accused the carrier of breaching contractual commitments. It started biasing its content, rescinding discounts, and moving to end its AA distribution agreement early. 

Concur announces it will acquireTripIt for at least $82 million, and with the intent to retain all TripIt’s current employees. 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security tells a congressional subcommittee that the EU needs a unified passenger name record system to fight terrorism. 

ConTgo introduces MTA MapCast, a geo-coded mapping tool developed with Microsoft's security department. The company also announces new reseller agreements with a global distribution system and a large travel management company, which would work alongside American Express' upcoming version, Guardian Angel. 

February 

Lanyon, Inc. buys Uversa International, a provider of corporate spend management solutions. The acquisition includes Uversa’s on-demand spend management platform which helps businesses source and manage transient preferred hotel rates. 

Two airline joint ventures vie for corporate business between the U.S. and Japan are preparing to launch on April 1. American Airlines andJapan Airlines will start contract discussions by late spring or early summer. Meanwhile, United Airlines and All Nippon Airways foresee taking up to two years to move all its clients to joint agreements. 

A BTN buyer survey shows 45 percent are looking into mobile travel management programs, while 30 percent have no plans for such systems. Industry experts believe that travelers themselves will drive adoption of these tools. 

Persian Gulf airlines Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad gain corporate business due to their growing international networks, lower fares, and competition in the fast-consolidating aviation market.  

March 

US Airways and Sabre ink a multi-year, full-content distribution and merchandising deal. The carrier intends to make its fares, schedules and ancillary content, specifically Choice Seats, available through Sabre's GDS. 

The National Science Foundation tests a new air travel policy that lets travelers choose between refundable, contracted fares or nonrefundable ones, which could generate $2.7 million in savings. 

Premium economy becomes more available for US corporate clients. United Airlines seeks to expand Economy Plus to Continental Airlines in 2012, while Delta Air Lines aims to have an international premium economy product by summer. 

American Airlines, United-Continental, and Frontier Airlines reduce capacity growth plans due to rising oil prices, following Delta's lead. The hike in crude oil prices has also helped carriers justify higher fares. 

April 

Egencia announces launch of “next-generation” mobile tools for the second quarter of 2011. It initially offers itinerary and general travel information and is only available on iPhone. It does not support shopping or booking.  

Business travel management matures in Latin America, with more companies in the region tightening controls and encouraging online booking tool adoption.  

The GBTA's Airline Ancillary Product Global Task Force formed to create solutions for reporting ancillary airline fees, encounters setbacks. Ongoing pain points include standardizing data submission and coordination among industry stakeholders. 

Carriers cut capacity to and from Japan due to lowered demand after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. 

Expedia has not confirmed if its corporate travel arm, Egencia, will benefit from its new deal with American Airlines, which involves using a GDS to access fares, schedules, and services via direct connection.  

A survey from World Wide Fund-UK reveals that among large U.K.-based firms, 47 percent had cut business flights and 63 percent have enacted or will enact a policy for fewer business flights in response to climate change. 

May 

Travel management is becoming more widespread across the world, as various companies recognize that the benefits outweigh the challenges. Two newly published industry papers state there is a need to track travelers as part of global security, and that even small firms have global business travel.  

Lufthansa denies accessing competitors' pricing through corporate card data. A spokesman said that while the airline collects data from its subsidiary AirPlus International, it ensures confidentiality through data protections. 

Columbia University researchers explore how frequent business travel may negatively impact health. They urge companies to focus on wellness aspects of their programs like healthy eating incentives, fitness facilities, stress management, and education. 

American Airlines files an antitrust lawsuit against Travelport and Orbitz, accusing them of monopolistic business practices. US Airways has made a similar claim against Sabre.  

The U.S. Department of Transportation defers a ruling on whether airlines will need to make optional services fee data available via GDS. 

To cope with rising gas prices, carriers are implementing fare hikes. J.P. Morgan aviation analyst expects U.S. carriers to spend $10 billion more on fuel than they did the year prior. 

June 

American Airlines' Direct Connect program could raise operational costs for TMCs. In response, Carlson Wagonlit Travel will apply fees to search and book AA tickets outside traditional GDSs. 

The U.S. Department of Justice investigates the alleged anticompetitive practices of GDSs. The probe coincides with other plans to assess competition in airfare distribution. 

Hotel companies launch mobile apps that include shopping and booking. The platforms offer convenience but compromise data and compliance, since they enable direct bookings.  

As demand for corporate meetings inflates worldwide, it raises concerns about higher costs and the potential softening of policies many companies adopted after the 2008 recession and the push for meetings management. 

July 

Brighter Planet's study of over 9 billion airline departures has found significant variations in carbon efficiency across the flight industry. The firm proposes an advanced way for corporations to calculate the carbon footprint of air travel. 

U.S. senators call on the Transportation Security Administration to allocate more of its budget to rail security. 

Egencia finds average first-quarter ticket prices for North American travel up 13 percent year over year, driven by increasing fuel costs, higher demand, and tightly managed capacity. Average daily hotel rates in the first quarter rose in most major business areas due to the return of corporate demand and reduced scale of new supply. 

August 

Cvent secures $136 million in venture funding for technology development, global expansion and potential acquisitions.  

TripIt, which enables its parent company Concur to target the business travel market, reaches a million mobile users. Concur chairman Steve Singh says TripIt aims to eventually get to the level of 10 million users in total. 

Travel buyers say only 68 percent of hotel bookings complied with preferred vendors and policies. New online tools offering better amenities and rates are making it harder to increase hotel program compliance. 

The U.S. Department of Transportation proposes that major domestic carriers will have to disclose revenue data in 16 new ancillary fee categories. This would improve fee transparency and potentially result in new taxation. 

Citi Commercial Cards says it will issue chip-and-pin smart cards for U.S. corporate cardholders who travel internationally. 

September 

American Airlines and Sabre extend the terms of their content agreement. The carrier anticipates that the legal proceedings could last until 2012. 

Global Business Travel Association appoints the Research Triangle Institute’s Jim McMullan as its president, and the University of Texas’ Kevin Maguire as its vice president. Both travel managers ran unopposed and will serve a two-year term. 

Through 2013, United Continental Holdings says it will invest $550 million into onboard products, including flat-bed seat expansion, upgrades to transcontinental service, increased connectivity, and more overhead bin space. 

A 2011 study from GBTA Foundation predicts that global business travel will rise by 9.2 percent and surpass $1 trillion.  

Concur sets up the first native mobile air booking experience for business travelers, scheduled to deploy to all clients in the next few months. 

Following the expiry of its full-content deal with American Airlines, travel software company Amadeus faces a $5.50 per-segment bookings surcharge from the airline. 

October 

GetThere’s Suzanne Neufang succeeds BCD Travel’s Chris Crowley as the Association of Corporate Travel Executives president. 

Delta Air Lines topped BTN’s Annual Airline Survey for the first time, ranking high in 5 service-delivery categories. It marks the start of a 14-year streak.  

Sabre rolls out a new customer profile management system called Sabre Profiles. It enables those using the Sabre Red Workspace to manage and access customer data and integrate it with their travel management. The company is also working on the Sabre Red App Centre. 

GBTA launches a new standardized hotel RFP that focuses on globalization, as well as reducing the RFP’s number of questions.  

November 

Ed Adams, Navigant International former head, becomes CEO of NJ-based travel management company Directtravel.  

Maritz Travel CEO David Peckinpaugh  leads Maritz Inc.’s corporate restructuring, which includes 100 layoffs but aims to provide more “autonomy” for three divisions: Maritz Research, Maritz Loyalty and Maritz Travel. Maritz Travel would be subsumed into Maritz Global Events in 2020.  

With a limited North American presence outside of Motel 6, Accor views North American business travelers as a key customer base.  

Paul Wait, Virgin Atlantic general manager for global sales, warns that traditional corporate route deals are being threatened by the consumerization of business travel, as employees increasingly prioritize individual trip costs over company travel policies. 

European airlines reconsider card payment surcharges following the EU’s approval of a new consumer protection directive, which prohibits merchants from charging customers more than the merchant fee for card transactions. 

December 

CWT North America president Jack O’Neill announces retirement, with Håkan Ericsson will take over his role. 

The EU and U.S. signed a PNR data sharing deal that would replace the existing one from 2007. The updated contract includes new privacy protections but maintains the transfer of 19 data types from airline databases to U.S. authorities. 

Rearden Commerce creates a "relevance engine" for its Deem booking tool that organizes search results based on different travelers' preferences and spend categories. It is first rolled out for hotels.  

After reporting 23 percent revenue growth for Q3 2011, Concur aims to double its sales force over 24 months, build a new operations center in Manila, and grow its existing facility in Prague.  

Amid the boom of credit card surcharges imposed by airlines in Europe, the industry examines the benefits and costs of card payments. 

Tony D’Astolfo advises travel managers to rethink the concept of lowest logical airfare. He posits factors beyond price, scheduling and corporate discounts should be considered: like fees, productivity and status. 

Timeline produced this week by AI and BTN editorial content and engagement manager Gianna Song

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Elizabeth West is the editorial director of the BTN Group. She has reported on the business travel and meetings industries for 24 years. Beth was editor-in-chief of Meeting News from 2006 to 2008 and director of content solutions for ProMedia Travel from 2008 to 2011, when ProMedia was acquired by Northstar Travel Media and merged with BTN. She became editor-in-chief of BTN in 2015 and editorial director of the BTN Group in 2019. 

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