American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) is stepping up its efforts in the urban transport sector. TMC recently unveiled a distribution agreement with Lyft. By teaming up with Uber's competitor, American Express GBT aims to improve the experience of business travellers, while guaranteeing Travel Managers greater visibility of booking data, and therefore greater control.
Less than a week after announcing this new partnership, American Express GBT is going one step further in its aim to capture ground bookings. The 26 AprilTMC has unveiled a new platform dedicated to urban transport. The tool aggregates more than 750 operators of VTCs, taxis, limousines, express trains and airport shuttles. Currently in the test phase with customers in the North American and EMEA markets, the tool is expected to cover more than 2,000 destinationsin 18 countries.
From the traveller's point of view, the platform makes it possible to bring together in a single tool the offers of these different operators and to compare prices by accessing negotiated rates. All backed by a 24/7 customer service.
From the point of view of the company, and in particular the Travel Manager, this new tool makes it possible to "connect the dots" within the traveller's itinerary, by linking the taxi booking to the other aspects traditionally managed by the agency, such as hotel and air travel. This gives the company greater visibility and security. In fact, these bookings can be included in the risk management programme developed by American Express, and thus improve the management of the traveller's risk. duty of care. This booking data will also be fed into the reporting to fine-tune the management of travel policy and optimise expenditure.
ground transport expenditure was a blind spot for travel managers
American Express GBT is thus tackling an area of business travel that has long been neglected, as it explains Michael QualantoneExecutive Vice President of Supplier Relations for American Express GBT. Traditionally, ground transportation spend has been a blind spot for travel managers. GBT clients found that 95% of these bookings were open-booked in 2017. For our customers, this means missed opportunities to negotiate this spend and ensure travel compliance for the traveller. Our ground transportation platform is the very first solution of its kind, for a seamless booking experience that meets both the content expectations of travellers and the essential needs of travel managers. All in one place ".
