NuTravel Adds Direct Airline Link To Booking Tool

Corporate Travel Solutions, the online booking tool of Port Chester, N.Y.-based NuTravel Technology Solutions, last month added airline connection capabilities through an agreement it signed with G2 SwitchWorks.

Since emerging in 2002, privately owned NuTravel has provided Corporate Travel Solutions primarily to midmarket clients of such regional travel management companies as Advance Travel and BCD Canada. Last November, the company signed a CTS distribution deal with the Travel Management Alliance, a group of eight regional travel management companies.

One advantage of the CTS system, according to NuTravel president and CEO Carmine Carpanzano, is that one search query can return up to 300 results by including fares found in surrounding cities, multiple dates within the timeframe, multiple fare structures for each legs of a trip and roundtrip or single-way fares without adding additional information.

Another is its interface. "The simplicity of the tool gives a nice feel for midmarket accounts," said distribution partner David Holyoke, vice president of sales and business development for New York-based Tzell Travel Group. "CTS is a very clean site. It's straight to the point."

CTS also offers hotel-booking options that can be included on the same itinerary with a single transaction charge.

Although CTS tends to be used by small and midmarket travel buyers, Carpanzano considers CTS as a "one-size-fits-all solution" with lower costs and set-up fees than its competitors. CTS uses a performance-pricing concept, with less overall costs for more completed transactions. "All the system's bookings are created in an agency environment, but it gives the agencies an advantage to compete with online mega agencies," he said.

The five-year agreement with G2 SwitchWorks will allow CTS users direct access to domestic carriers, including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Continental Airlines and AirTran Airways. The agreement builds on the tool's interface by integrating the new flight and fare availability into the current matrix, Carpanzano said.

CTS users now have access to more fare options, but travel buyers should compare what GDSs are offering, said Grant Caplan, principal for Consulting Strategies. "Excitement about this has to be tempered with the knowledge of the fare content program of GDSs, because those are the great equalizers," he said.