Corporate travelers have a new option for planning their business trips. Orbitz for Business has partnered with Visa to create Visa Travel Manager, which is scheduled to debut in October 2015.
The program is designed to give companies a window into the way their employees spend on travel, as well as make reservation booking, account reconciliation, and reporting easier and more efficient. A payment portal and booking tool on the front end of Visa Travel Manager will act like the Orbitz site, allowing companies and employees to easily make travel reservations and pay for them. Airplane tickets, hotel rooms, car rentals, and more will be available to book.
On the back end of the tool, Visa IntelliLink will provide account reporting and expense management so companies can see what is being spent and take control of their travel budgets.
Users must have Visa business travel credit cards
After making reservations on the Visa Orbitz for Business website, employees will pay using their Visa business travel credit card. The site will be easy to use and familiar to anyone who has used Orbitz to book travel reservations. The user experience will be uniform across desktop, laptop, tablet, and mobile devices. Corporate travel agents can use it, as well as company employees.
There will be special Orbitz for Business rates available, as well as regular published rates and discounts.
Business travel market currently underserved
Charles Bacharach, vice president of global sales at Orbitz for Business, said the business travel sector is currently underserved, and the partnership with Visa aims to address that hole in the market, with a special eye toward the mid-size corporate audience. “Visa Travel Manager is well positioned to address the mid-size customer needs through this truly end-to-end solution set,” said Bacharach.
Vice president of global commercial solutions at Visa David Henstock said that Visa Travel Manager would “offer convenience, efficiency, transparency and insight throughout the travel lifecycle” and make business travel “easier than ever for mid-market companies.”
Orbitz for Business launched in 2002 and offers travel searching, booking, and planning for corporate customers. They have customer support available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, offer a full suite of expense reporting and policy management tools, and a wide choice of travel inventory at competitive prices and discounts.
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