Visa and Orbitz for Business, the corporate travel arm of the online travel services giant, announced a partnership to help mid-size businesses streamline the process of managing corporate travel.
The platform, Visa Travel Manager, is a turnkey, end-to-end business travel and expense solution designed to make booking, reconciliation and reporting more efficient.
Travel Manager combines an Orbitz-powered booking and payment portal on the front end with Visa IntelliLink reporting and expense management on the back end.
This integration is designed to give companies a greater ability to capture total travel, promote compliance and provide data intelligence to drive cost savings.
“This solution is targeted at middle market companies who want the capabilities of the Fortune 1000 without the overhead and complexity,” David Henstock, vice president of global commercial solutions at Visa, told eWEEK. “They want turnkey, easy to implement, easy to maintain solutions that drive immediate value to their employees and their bottom line. This solution provides frictionless booking through an expense management solution with a single, integrated platform.”
Henstock said the goal is to make travel management effortless for the business traveler.
“Orbitz for Business is based on the Orbitz consumer solution, which is a familiar, easy-to-use experience that consumers know and trust, adapted for the business traveler,” he said.
To book, employees will be instructed to use Visa’s Orbitz for Business portal and pay with their Visa business travel card.
They’ll receive access to all supplier published rates as well as discounted Orbitz for Business rates, while also being able to use the same platform to manage and submit their expense reports.
“Visa is integrating with Orbitz via their secure single sign on system. When Visa started their search for a partner for this product, Orbitz was thoroughly vetted against the top security standards in the industry,” Henstock said. “As a major online company, they daily protect their data and that of their millions of customers and partners – a top priority for Orbitz.”
The Orbitz for Business portal is designed to provide users with a user-friendly familiar experience that is consistent across all booking channels including online, tablet and mobile, plus access to corporate travel agents to assist with bookings and in-trip support.
“Mobile is a key aspect of travel management as the use of digital devices proliferates. Business travelers are constantly in motion–from the office, to the airport, with business meetings in between –the ability to deliver a seamless and convenient cross-channel experience is paramount,” Henstock said. “With the ability to book travel on the go, or capture receipt images, mobile devices have the power to simplify and streamline the travel and expense management process for the business traveler.”