American Express today announced an agreement with Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. to provide electronic folio data for 40 of its properties across North America.
The agreement will provide American Express corporate card clients with free reports itemizing such expenditures as meals, in-room services and parking for travelers staying at the participating Ritz-Carlton properties. Travelers can import the data directly into their expense reports.
American Express said the agreement brings e-folio coverage to nearly 80 percent of its corporate card hotel transactions in the United States. The company collects e-folio data globally from about 15,000 hotel properties, including chainwide agreements with such companies as Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Carlson Hotels Worldwide, Choice Hotels International, Omni Hotels and Ritz-Carlton parent company Marriott International.
"The hotel folio program will make us a more effective partner in helping our corporate customers manage their travel costs and streamline their expense reports," Ritz-Carlton president Simon Cooper said in a statement. "In a tight economy, more and more of our business guests want to track their costs, and we are pleased to partner with American Express on this innovative travel management tool."
Marriott has provided e-folio data across all of its non-Ritz-Carlton brands for several years
(BTNonline, April 11, 2006). Last year, Marriott announced a deal with Ritz-Carlton property management system provider Micros-Fidelio, which paved the way for e-folio data availability from Ritz-Carlton as well as Marriott properties outside of North America, where e-folio data is much more scarce
(BTNonline, Oct. 14, 2008).