Nikki Regan
Travel management company Gray Dawes this month announced it added expense report integration and Thetrainline rail content to its KDS-powered online booking technology, used by about 40 clients. The U.K. TMC launched the system, branded gdbookonline, nearly 10 years ago, and now travelers book 50 percent of transactions online. Although KDS is its primary content aggregator and software provider, the TMC supports other booking tools selected by clients. According to the companies, the gdbookonline system now shows users "results across all U.K. and international travel options, including traditional airlines, low-cost operators, hotels, car hire and now U.K. rail. The uniquely integrated and blended view of search results allows users to quickly and easily identify the most cost-effective and convenient options for their trip, reducing cost for the company and stress for the traveler." Gray Dawes also is offering KDS' mobile applications, featuring itineraries, bookings, trip approval and the upload of photographed receipts. While the mobile apps have "our look and feel and colors," according to Gray Dawes operations director Nikki Regan, they retain KDS as their brand name. Additional comments by Regan in a recent interview with BTNeditorial director Jay Campbell follow.
How does this announcement change your relationship with KDS?
This announcement is all about bringing in train, U.K. rail, into the same environment as the other elements of travel, which is not done very widely in the U.K.. Also, it completes the picture with the expense part, the end-to-end expense integration.
Is it possible for agents to support bookings made through KDS with non-global distribution system content sources?
We work in Galileo, and the agents have an in-house desktop tool that brings content together. We get a passive notification and we can support it in the same way we would any. Anything booked outside the GDS is inserted in the GDS as a passive, so you have a full picture of reporting and servicing. We can also do PNR import, so if someone calls and makes a booking offline with the team on the phone, we can pull that into the online environment if the client wishes that to happen.
How does expense integration alter the transaction-fee model on travel bookings?
The expense part is still transaction-based, so when someone submits an expense report, that triggers a transaction fee from us, per report. It's also based on volume, so the higher the volume, the lower the fee.
How do the fees change based on the different KDS content sources?
There's a different model and different fees for low-cost carriers [than for] GDS airlines, and we're looking at trying to develop other direct links. That's quite a new concept in the U.K. market, where everything predominantly is GDS-based. But we do have a slightly different cost model for fulfillment on those types of transactions.
Are there other applications that the company recommends to clients?
There is airline online check-in, but the only other one we really look at is Travelport's ViewTrip website for managing the booking and looking at the latest data for flights, etc. We offer an online management information portal to clients, but generally we tend to partner with people for technology. The article originally was published in Business Travel News.