AirPlus and British Airways today launched a Visa-branded corporate card that helps companies track air spending, as well as enables travelers to pay for non-air expenses. AirPlus also announced plans to launch "a sister corporate card" in the United States by year-end with a yet-to-be-named airline.
AirPlus is targeting midsize and large corporations and will start with the nearly 400 clients that already use the BA Company Account, a central billing payment process for BA customers, according to AirPlus U.K. managing director Spencer Hanlon.
The BA Company Account program--launched in 2002 amid a legal spat between BA and American Express--still enables centrally billed airline payments and, like the AirPlus card, provides buyers an exclusive option to avoid fees on corporate net fares
(BTN, Oct. 7, 2002).
"You cannot buy BA corporate fares with any other lodge card provider, and the corporate card comes in to complement that," Hanlon said. "Customers say that the lodge card has got great functionality, but it has limitations."
To overcome these limitations, the co-branded card--issued by GE Capital--melds the central airline payment process with a walking card for travelers to take on the road, bringing to AirPlus customers the mobility and features of Visa corporate cards.