American Express Global Business Travel has developed a
platform for ground transportation booking and management with Mozio.
The travel management company's new platform links to more than 750 ground
operators—including black cars, taxis, airport trains and shuttles, and through
its recent
partnership with Lyft, ride-hailing—in more than 2,000 cities across 18
countries. Travelers and agents can see and compare ground transportation
options and costs for their destinations and get real-time updates during their
journeys. Such guidance could include times when light traffic would make a cab
a faster than a train, Amex GBT EVP of global supplier relations Michael
Qualantone said.
The platform offers travel managers visibility into ground
transportation and enables them to set policy controls, such as designating
which employees are allowed to book black cars, he said. "When you think
about ground transportation, the vast majority of those bookings are made
outside of any centralized solution and clients are not aware of the spend. Whether
they're taking a car service, ride share, shuttle to the airport or getting on
a train, that's hundreds of millions of dollars that is not going through
controlled channels."
Amex GBT has been piloting the platform with select clients
in North America and EMEA, and it is now widely available, he said. Feedback
has centered on ease of use and the ability to analyze savings; some clients
thought they had a good ground transportation deal in a certain market but found
that better pricing was available, according to the TMC.
The platform also connects to Amex GBT's Global Trip Record
data tool and its travel disruption and risk management platform, Expert Care.