American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) now offers more tools to help business travellers faced with flight disruptions. These tools are also used to inform travel managers about the impact of disruptions on the journey.
Such a service has become necessary at a time when transport supply no longer keeps pace with demand with the resumption of post-pandemic travel. Many passengers are facing flight cancellations. These require re-routing. According to the Flightaware.com application, passengers are almost twice as likely to experience delays this year than in 2021.
As explained by Mark McSpadden, Vice-President of Product Strategy and User Experience at Amex GBT. "As business travellers return, companies are placing greater emphasis on the end-to-end travel experience. They want to reduce the friction associated with travel. And give employees more autonomy to plan, book and modify trips. As a result, we have prioritised our proactive support services. Today, they provide more usable information. And more convenient ways for travellers to stay connected to everything they need at every stage of their journey.
Proactive assistance during your trip
Amex GBT's Proactive Traveler Care (PTC) service can send recommendations for alternative flights to travellers experiencing disruption. Travellers can also get in touch with advisers via WhatsApp, the chatbot on the Amex GBT mobile application or by SMS.
PTC is a an extremely extensive, automated travel assistance service available anywhere in the world. The service constantly monitors the status of journeys. It contacts a passenger as soon as a journey is delayed or cancelled using automated messaging. When travellers respond, they can receive alternative flight recommendations from airlines working with Amex GBT. Interaction takes place at the traveller's convenience, via their preferred information channel, with quick access to options from all carriers.
More ways to stay connected
In the Amex GBT mobile application, travellers can now share changes to their trip with partners, colleagues and customers in real time. The application generates a link to an Amex GBT web page displaying the live tracking status of a flight. No additional application is required to view this information. It saves travellers time by eliminating the need to re-enter all the details of the journey.
Analysing the impact of disruption on travel
A new interface in the cloud-based reporting tool "Amex GBT Insights" lists all data relating to trip interruptions that PTC observes on a transport provider. Travel managers can use the interface's dashboard to monitor the impact on travellers and optimise the journey itself.
This information includes the number of flights affected and the percentage of travellers who report to PTC. It also includes airlines most affected by disruptions.
Other disruption management services are in the pipeline. These will include surveys on the use of transport alternatives following a problem. They will also offer additional exchange channels for contact with travel advisors. As well as value-added services from third parties.
