Inside Track - 1996-11-25

A beta test of the Airline Reporting Corporation's electronic reporting system, now in place at nine agencies, will last through the end of January and eventually will reach 30 locations, said ARC president David Collins. The system, called Interactive Agency Reporting, will roll out in two parts, starting with sales and followed by refunds and exchanges. The latter will be available by the third quarter of 1997.

The new system will cut millions of dollars out of the agency reporting process, Collins said. Weekly reporting will continue, but because the system will be available through CRSs, "agents can reach in at any time and at no cost," Collins said. "They'll save on paper and FedEx deliveries, and there will be fewer errors and more productivity."

<B>Microsoft Signs Deal With Airline</B>

Microsoft has signed a deal with a major U.S. airline to license its Expedia travel booking system as the basis for the carrier's Internet self-booking product. The company also is in talks with several other airlines, said Greg Slyngstad, general manager of the travel business unit.

Although Slyngstad wouldn't reveal the carrier's name, Expedia is a front-end system for Worldspan, one of whose major investors is Delta Air Lines. In addition, Delta and Worldspan are both based in Atlanta, as is WorldTravel Partners, Expedia's U.S. ticketing agency. Delta also is expected to announce details of its Web booking system in the next two weeks.

A Delta spokesman said that there is "no collaboration with Microsoft over our Internet booking product.''

<b>Hotel Folio Group To Meet</B>

The first meeting of the hotel folio data task force is set for Dec. 10 at Chicago O'Hare's Wyndham Garden Hotel, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Spearheaded by the National Business Travel Association and the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, the groundbreaking meeting will strive to create a universal reporting standard to allow charge card companies to break out hotel spending information in an automated format (<I>BTN</I>, Oct. 14). The cast will include NBTA president Judie Shyman and ACTE president Earl Foster; corporate buyers from AT&T, Coopers & Lybrand, Ford Motor Co., IBM, KPMG Peat Marwick LLP and Philips Electronic<B>s</B>; corporate card executives from First Bank, Citicorp Diners, American Express and GE Capital; and hotel executives from Doubletree, Hilton, Hyatt, Inter-Continental, Marriott, Sheraton, Westin and Wyndham.

<B>United To Set Interline Specs</B>

United Airlines director of distribution Sue Fullman said the airline and its alliance partners-Lufthansa, Air Canada, SAS and Thai-will convene a committee in December to begin developing interlining specifications for electronic ticketing (<I>BTN</I>, Oct. 28). She expects interlining to be introduced between the United States and one country during the second quarter of 1997, but wouldn't say which one.

<B>SRG Selects Reporting Product Finalists</B>

SRG International, the $6 billion consortium of 28 global travel agencies, is down to two finalists on an RFP for a worldwide reporting product that will consolidate customer data for member agencies. SRG also is moving its headquarters to New York and expanding its executive staff from four to 12, six of whom will work full-time in New York and six who will be based at the group's three worldwide regional offices.

In 1997, SRGI members will get "more value, better programs, more focused benefits and better integration of customer data," said co-chairman Bruce Black, noting that about 35 companies use SRGI agencies on a global basis. At Chicago-based McCord Travel Management, where Black serves as president, "about 60 percent of our new business has some reasonable presence outside the United States," he said.