Get ready for a flurry of corporate travel announcements as the National Business Travel Association conference kicked off Sunday night in Houston.
Travelocity Business says it developed an algorithm that will enable its clients to get a handle on how much their employees are spending on fees for airline ancillary services such as premium seats and checked bags.
Travelocity's corporate travel unit says the algorithm analyzes customers' credit card reports and determines which charges are attributable to ancillary fees.
The issue is becoming critical as U.S. airlines took in more than $7.8 billion in ancillary-fees revenue in 2009, with much of it not easy for corporations to measure.
Travelocity Business says its new ancillary fee solution breaks down fees by carrier, category and employee.
Clients can use the ancillary fee data to set corporate travel policy and better negotiate with airlines, the company says.
Meanwhile, Egencia Meetings & Incentives, Expedia Inc.'s corporate travel unit, partnered with Cvent in an agreement which provides Egencia clients with more online tools to manage their meetings and conferences.
Cvent, based in McLean, Virginia, will provide online meetings management and venue-site selection software to power Egencia's strategic meetings' management solutions, the companies say.
The Cvent tools "automate processes, implement strategic sourcing, manage spending, ensure policy compliance, evaluate Return on Investment and generate reports," the companies say.