Newsstand - Orbitz to Aid Business Travelers

Orbitz to Aid Business Travelers

Orbitz LLC, the airline-owned travel Web site, has begun marketing a corporate booking tool designed specifically to help business travelers reduce their spending on airfare.

Orbitz for Business was unveiled Monday at a corporate travel convention in Salt Lake City, joining the burgeoning marketplace for business travel software less than a week after Expedia Inc. announced plans for a similar product.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Orbitz-Business-Travel.html

Orbitz Unveils Booking Tools Aimed at Lifting Business Travel

CHICAGO -- Orbitz LLC unveiled booking tools Monday aimed at small to midsize companies in a bid to boost business travel and meet corporate demand for broader access to Internet fares.

Many companies grapple with giving employees cheap Internet fares through corporate-travel departments, which are tied to traditional computer-reservation service systems, not Internet booking sites like Orbitz. When employees book these fares on their own, companies can lose out on discounts they have negotiated with airlines that are based on volume or market-share commitments.

Orbitz said its new suite of products, called Orbitz for Business and available within 60 days, will allow corporate travelers to integrate the negotiated rates they have with airlines and other travel companies into Orbitz's fare displays. Orbitz, which is owned by the nation's five largest carriers, will send companies a monthly data report so they can track employee trips and spending.

"We've observed that 20% to 25% of our reservations on Orbitz today are business trips," said Rick Weber, vice president of business services at Chicago-based Orbitz.

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