American Airlines yesterday became the second major U.S. carrier in a month to announce an online portal for corporate clients based on Cendant technology. In relaunching its CorporateAAccess program designed primarily for smaller companies, American said it is responding to growing demand from corporate customers for a direct booking channel. United Airlines last month cited a similar rationale when it unveiled its new corporate portal, also based on a Cendant partnership
(BTN, Oct. 17).
American termed its portal "a fully integrated solution" that includes booking capabilities for privately negotiated domestic and international fares, promotional and targeted fares—including "exclusive Web fares which are credited towards your contracted goals" —and both public and negotiated pricing from hotels and car rental companies. Like United, American also is providing shopping and booking options covering publicly available pricing from other airlines.
Other features of American's no-fee portal include refund and exchange functions, traveler profiles, multiple-passenger booking options, flight status notification, online seat selection, 24-hour support, real-time traveler data and enhanced reporting "that supports easy integration into existing back-office systems."
"Teaming up with Cendant in this situation has allowed us to provide a strong online booking platform that will deliver content and services that our corporate customers will value," said AA vice president and general sales manager David Cush. Cendant subsidiary Orbitz also powers American's consumer Web site.
In addition, American expects to lower per-ticket distribution costs by diverting some corporate bookings away from reservations channels based on traditional global distribution system economics.
The initial CorporateAAccess program launched in mid-2003
(BTN, Sept. 8, 2003). It was powered by a corporate booking engine from Accenture subsidiary Navitaire and did not have international capabilities, nor inventory from other airlines. Unlike the new system, it charged both implementation and transaction fees
American said it would test the newer version of the portal "with several key accounts" through year-end and plans a full rollout by mid-2006.