Travel management companies that are mutual clients of payment
solutions provider Wex and German flight aggregator and booking engine
HitchHiker now can purchase airline tickets using Wex virtual cards without entering
individual card information.
HitchHiker aggregates flight content from global
distribution systems—including Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport— direct connections
with airlines and other online booking tools. TMCs access the content through
an API connection with HitchHiker or from the Hitchhiker Agent platform.
After TMC agents select Wex virtual card as a payment option,
HitchHiker creates a Wex virtual card and pays the airline. "Typically,
what [the TMC agent] would have to do is manually enter whatever payment
instrument they're using; type in the number, expiration date and the rest; hit
submit; and wait for it to process," explained Wex SVP and general manager
of virtual payments James Pratt. "Now we're saying, 'You don't have to
type anything ... and it will still be processed by the airline like any credit
card number.'"
In October, Wex partnered with Argo,
one of Brazil's largest online booking tools, to provide a similar offering to Argo
corporate and TMC clients. And in November, Conferma
similarly eliminated the need for TMCs to create a virtual card in the Conferma
platform and then copy and paste it into the Sabre reservation.
Wex has been expanding in Europe over the past
several years, and Pratt said HitchHiker is one of "the leading
aggregators of flight information in Europe."