<B>Inside Track</B>
<B>Swissair, Sabena Latest To Cut Commissions</B>
Swissair and Sabena earlier this month reduced travel agency commission payments to 5 percent with a maximum payment of $50 for one-way tickets for all tickets issued in the United States. The cut falls in line with the industrywide move to lower commissions, instigated by United last fall (<I>BTN</I>, Oct. 11, 1999) and follows British Airways' zero commission announcement last month (<I>BTN</I>, Jan. 24). In a related but opposite move, TWA will offer an additional $150 bonus commission for premium cabin bookings and $50 for coach bookings on flights to Cairo, Lisbon, London, Milan and Paris through March 31.
<B><A NAME="2">AA Expands International Service</B>
American Airlines on June 1 will begin daily nonstop flights between Chicago and Rome, noting that the market "represents a unique opportunity, since it is the most heavily traveled route between the U.S. and Italy without nonstop or direct service." Also on June 1, AA will transfer current Chicago-Zurich service to Dallas/Ft. Worth, and on May 1 will add a second daily nonstop between New York JFK and Paris.
<B><A NAME="3">Maritz Tangoes With Clients</B>
Maritz Travel Co. announced a licensing agreement with Travel Analytics to offer Tango, an airline program analysis tool (<I>BTN</I>, Nov. 1, 1999), to corporate clients. Maritz said the software provides an "unbiased assessment of each airline's value to corporate customers" and considerably shortens the bid process. Jack O'Neill, Maritz vice president of airline programs and marketing services, said the agency "has done these analyses for years, but its time to upgrade the process." Maritz is the first mega agency to offer the tool as part of its services.
<B><A NAME="4">Starwood Names New COO</B>
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide recently announced that it would promote president of international operations Robert Cotter to COO. Cotter, a respected industry veteran, is expected to bring stability to the day-to-day operation of the 700-hotel company, thereby freeing chairman and CEO Barry Sternlicht to focus on larger strategic issues, particularly e-commerce.
<B><A NAME="5">Colgate-Palmolive To Pilot Sabre Booking System</B>
Colgate-Palmolive Co. of New York is planning an April pilot of the Sabre BTS online booking system, using an outsourcing arrangement under which its agency signs the actual contract. Corporate travel services director Cyndi Perper called the deal "a way to push this through without using too many internal IT resources." Also on the agenda for 2000 are an upgraded version of the SAP automated expense reporting system, and mandatory e-ticketing, which took effect Jan. 15. Meanwhile, BTS in the next 30 to 60 days will bring to market a Web-based reporting product that will offer--in addition to booked data--credit card and agency data.
<B><A NAME="6">Car Rental Rates Accelerating</B>
The remainder of this year should prove positive for the car rental industry, according to the Year 2000 market forecast released by Abrams Travel Data, a unit of Purchase, N.Y.-based Abrams Consulting Group. With the airlines predicting full planes, demand for rental cars is expected to remain strong, and based on corporate car rental contracts that recently have been renegotiated, Abrams is predicting corporate rate increases of 2 to 3 percent.
<B><A NAME="7">BTN's Corporate Travel World 2000 Offers Insight</B>
Top executives of the mega agencies, innovative travel buyers, knowledgeable consultants and leading edge travel services suppliers will gather at the New York Hilton, March 20 and 21, for the 16th annual Corporate Travel World and Small Meetings and Resorts Show. New sessions this year include a face-off between pioneers of the various online booking systems and sessions that examine how to strike a multinational airline deal, how e-commerce is reshaping hotel negotiating and how to make the most of your meetings. Other sessions will focus on financial analysis for the travel manager, direct connections between buyers and suppliers, the future of corporate computing, life after profit centers and the shortening of meeting lead times. Following the Monday luncheon, professional speaker James Hennig will offer tips on how to be a more effective negotiator. The conference and trade show will wrap up with a Town Hall that will include many of the 25 most influential executives of 1999 and will feature questions posed by NBTA president Cyndi Perper, ACTE president Earl Foster and other top travel buyers. For more information, visit BTNonline.com or call Maureen O'Connell at (212) 615-2274.