Without a doubt, it’s a challenging time to work in corporate travel management. COVID-19 has changed the business travel landscape drastically, bringing in a whole slew of new obstacles and unknowns while the usual demands of the job remain ever-present.
The travel restrictions and economic slump brought on by COVID-19 have been a major operational challenge for travel managers, to say the least. You’re not only managing an onslaught of canceled flights, refunds, and unused tickets, but you’re also likely dealing with heavily reduced budgets. But with this disruption comes a unique opportunity.
On August 26th, Skift’s Sean O’Neill reported banking and finance giant Capital One’s acquisition of Freebird. Freebird offers smarter flight insurance and disruption services and is a very interesting acquisition for a card provider to augment its existing insurance offerings as well as potentially include ‘smart insurance’ to its credit card users.
Understanding how airlines price their fares can be a minefield – and the cost of a ticket can change multiple times per day. This makes it difficult for business travelers to secure the best price, so many corporations end up paying more than average for travel.
This week Skift reported that the industry is looking for more sustainable business models used by Travel Management Companies and that the current fee per transaction model isn’t fit for purpose.
