JetBlue Airways aims to boost corporate marketshare by
launching a new corporate booking portal for small and midsize enterprises and
expanding its premium Mint product.
A few years in the making but officially launched last week,
JetBlue’s Blue Inc. portal targets “enterprises not really on a managed travel
program, everything from small boutique biotech, legal shops, consultants or
anyone who has a small company with a fair amount of travel,” vice president of
sales and revenue management Dennis Corrigan said.
Corporate travel management technology supplier nuTravel helped
build the portal, which is accessible on both mobile and desktop devices and allows
travelers to book JetBlue flights, including a group booking option that can
book several travelers at once on separate itineraries. Blue Inc. also brings
in hotel content from Expedia and Rocketmiles and car rental content via an
agreement with Avis Budget Group, Corrigan said. During beta testing, some travel
buyers began mandating that employees book through the portal, he added.
“All airlines realize that the vast majority of travel isn’t
with the Fortune 500s but the small
and medium enterprises that have been difficult to penetrate and hard to
manage,” he said. “We were looking for a one-stop shop, all within a single
website.”
The tool includes reporting and policy-setting capabilities.
Corporations also earn reward points toward future travel, while travelers
continue to earn their own reward points, Corrigan said. Travelers also can
store their hotel and car rewards information, as well as payment information,
in the tool.
"They had the goal to develop a system that was
separate from the consumer site and can do some different things," said nuTravel
CEO Carmine Carpanzano. Key differences include aggregating users under a
single account, reporting on travel patterns and spending, and incorporating
hotel and rental car bookings into the passenger name record.
Partner flights are not available through the tool, though JetBlue
could add them later, Corrigan said.
JetBlue also announced last week that it will expand its Mint
premium-class service this year. The carrier will add as many as six daily
flights between New York’s JFK International Airport and San Francisco on Oct.
25, and it will fly 10 times daily between JFK and Los Angeles by February as
it takes delivery of new Airbus A321 aircraft.
While JetBlue did not launch Mint with corporate demand in
mind, it has performed well among corporate travelers, according to
Corrigan.
Jay Boehmer contributed to this report.
CORRECTION, June 24: A previous version of this report stated that JetBlue has pushed back the launch of its three-tier, bundled-fare structure. The carrier still intends to launch it during the second quarter, which ends Tuesday.