UATP Eyes Hotels, Car Rental

Universal Air Travel Plan president and CEO Ralph Kaiser this month told Business Travel News that the payment network is exploring expanding its merchant network next year to include hotels and car rental vendors.

"We're looking at these things now," Kaiser said. "It's a scenario where these could be centrally booked and billed, and we're doing it at a time when companies are looking to increase savings."

Though the network is owned privately by the world's airlines, broadening it to include other travel categories could be attractive to hoteliers and car rental vendors looking for savings. Network participation allows merchants to have lower service fees for payments than with traditional corporate card transactions.

Currently, more than 240 airlines and travel agencies accept UATP for air travel, service fees, management fees and net fares payment. UATP already has expanded its offering beyond its core travel product, according to the network, to facilitate alternate payment forms. Kaiser said he expects UATP's charge volume to reach $12 billion this year and grow in 2009. The network also expects the airline merchant base to grow, particularly as the industry looks to cut costs related to card processing fees.