<B>TechTalk</B>
<B>Northwest Plans Online Checkin Links For Intranets</B>
Northwest Airlines is hoping to integrate Web-based checkin and flight information to corporate intranets and such online booking tools as GetThere and E-Travel, said vice president of distribution planning Al Lenza. Among other features, Internet checkin gives business travelers the opportunity to arrive at the gate less than 20 minutes prior to departure. Beginning next quarter, travelers who use airport kiosks to check in will be able to indicate how much money in air travel they want in exchange for volunteering to be bumped from full flights. Northwest has kiosks in 35 airports; in Minneapolis, 31 percent of customers are using touch screens to check in.
<A NAME="2"><B>Data shows Explosive Managed Travel Growth Online</B>
Managed business travel sales on the Web will grow to 8.6 percent of all online airline ticket sales in 2004 from 3.4 percent in 2000, according to Framingham, Mass.-based research firm IDC. Online sales in general are growing at a faster rate than offline sales, representing 17.9 percent of total ticket sales by 2004, up from 8 percent this year. Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research predicted in a March report that in 2004, $9.3 billion will be spent online for managed business air travel, or 32 percent of total online air sales. In 2000, online managed travel will total $1.6 billion, said Forrester. PhoCusWright, based in Sherman, Conn., put the 2000 figure at under $1 billion, since "two thirds of Fortune 1000 companies" have not implemented an online booking tool, said a spokeswoman. Whatever the number, "Managed business travel is absolutely going to surge on the 'Net," said Forrester senior analyst for travel Henry Harteveldt. "Business airline tickets are not going to get cheaper, barring a big change in oil prices or a recession," he said. "We're projecting very rapid growth in managed travel expenditures in general, and we're forecasting that a lot of smaller companies will begin to manage travel because of the Web."
<A NAME="3"><B>SRS Division Offers Intranet Hotel Bookings</B>
Orlando-based Trust International, a joint venture of media giant Bertelsmann and SRS Worldhotels, last week rebranded its Trustcorp product as Cordira.com. Cordira.com offers direct access to corporate rates through Trust-related properties and 50,000 additional hotels via corporate intranets, as well as data for an overview of employee travel habits to prepare contract negotiations. "The repositioning of our corporate intranet product will emphasize its Web-based presence and focus attention of the hospitality industry on Cordira.com's convenience and flexibility as a reservation system," said Sven Hohmann, managing director of Trust International.
<A NAME="4"><B>PeopleSoft, Visa; Garber, Gelco Partner On Expense</B>
Pleasanton, Calif.-based PeopleSoft Inc. and Visa International last week announced a global alliance to immediately integrate Visa transaction data into the PeopleSoft travel and expense solution. "Our research shows that automated reporting systems can achieve supplier discounts of 18 percent and administrative cost reduction of more than 80 percent," said Keiron Lynch, vice president of information delivery for Visa. The alliance lets employees store Visa card information in PeopleSoft travel and expense. Card data is accessible in "my wallet," an online data file that automatically creates expense reports within PeopleSoft. Meanwhile, Boston-based Garber Travel will offer corporate clients Web-based expense management provided by Minneapolis-based Gelco Information Network as part of a partnership announced last week.
<A NAME="5"><B>Amadeus, Amtrak Offer GDS Rail Bookings</B>
Amadeus last month said it was the first GDS to offer "one ticket per passenger" GDS bookings and reservations on Amtrak. Called Amtrak RES2000, the project provides real-time access between the Amadeus central system and Amtrak's in-house CRS, Arrow. Meanwhile, Accor, Forte and Hilton International chose Amadeus to help them develop a European hotel Web site they have named andbook.com, to be launched in January (BTN, July 31). The site will offer advanced search features and hotel information. An Amadeus-led team, including BroadVision Inc., Leapnet Inc. and USinternetworking Inc., will provide hosting, maintenance and support.
<A NAME="6"><B>Starwood, Worldspan Team For Better Availability Info</B>
Worldspan last month said Starwood Hotels & Resorts had chosen to offer real-time availability directly from its reservation system for Worldspan's integrated hotel source availability product. "With a single entry, Worldspan agents can now view a complete list of Starwood properties in their client's destination city and determine instantly which properties are available for the requested travel dates," said a news release. Worldspan called itself "the first and only GDS to provide this functionality.