BTE’s Buyer Think Tank members weigh in with their wish lists for improving online booking tools
The technology business travelers use to book their trips continues to develop, as we discover in this month’s feature Tools for Tomorrow (page 24). But there’s always room for improvement, and our Think Tank members have lots of suggestions to make OBTs better.
Jennifer Steinke
Vice President Global Travel Experience,
WHoldingsThe biggest challenge with today’s corporate online booking tools is that they just aren’t that user friendly. Our travelers are desiring a better user experience and interface. I would love to see the mainstream OBT’s invest more into creating more user friendly tools, so our travelers are less enticed to shop elsewhere.I would also encourage online booking tools to utilize more artificial intelligence to learn about my travelers. Then they can present options that are both personalized and policy compliant. We need the tools to be smarter so our travelers don’t have to work harder!
David Smith
Travel and Relocation Manager, Americas,
AmdocsWhat I would like to see is some sort of new metric to establish lowest logical fare. I know, I know, that’s not only an OBT wish. But almost everything is there already – traveler profile to know status level and preferences, access to details of each branded fare, the usual flight and pricing info, etc. I’m sure there are other metrics that could help create something more “logical” than today’s LLF.
Chris Brockman
Manager – Travel, Events and Marketing,
TriNetOnline booking tools have been a part of business travel for about 20 years and there have been a lot of refinements since their inception. However, there is functionality I would like to see improved. For instance, ticket exchanges; while many tools offer this feature, most programs have it turned off as it is still error prone and needs agent intervention.I would also like to see OBT’s checking for better airline rates by utilizing one-way tickets on a single carrier instead of pricing a single roundtrip on one ticket. Many times booking two one-way tickets on the same airline is less expensive than a single round-trip even with additional transaction fees.
Wendy Palmer
Manager, Event Experience Team,
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)I would like to see a more robust online booking tool interface for meetings and events. To ensure a great experience for our attendees, start with the invitation and registration process. Make it easy for travelers to register and book the event hotel rate in one transaction. On the flip side, integrate attendee registration with key financial information for the event planner. Attendee registration, corresponding travel bookings and preferences, as well as hotel pick-ups and attrition reports are vital to a successful event. It would be even better if a booking tool could seamlessly manage multiple event hotels for one event!
Cheryl Benjamin
Travel Services Manager,
Dart Container CorporationOnline booking tools serve a valuable purpose and the technology in this space has advanced by leaps and bounds. However these days OBTs have been outpaced by consumer sites which offer a personalized experience. Travelers want an easy-to-use solution that provides the same experience as the consumer site. As a travel manager, I would love the same thing, without sacrificing the corporate travel guidelines.
Mark Ziegler
Senior Travel Manager,
NetApp, Inc.Online booking tools seem to have stalled in real development. They work but still depend on the GDS behind the scenes to deliver the content. No matter how much they pretty up the screen, the tool is all about the content. One key feature that would most benefit the corporate traveler would be true direct connect availability in the OBT, bypassing the old GDS systems and using the tool as a conduit to suppliers’ own sites (e.g., Southwest). The technology exists and could use some tweaking, but would improve the quality of content available to travelers. The trick is how best to store the data and get reporting.
Kevin McDonald
Senior Director for Strategic Procurement,
PPDOBT improvements I would like to see:
• Better calendar links, so reservations would automatically populate with reminders
• Better mobile support – the OBT optimized on mobile devices
• Multiple payment options or integrated payment gateway to support virtual cards
• Easier toolsets to allow for auto-fulfillment
• Ability for traveler to search and import deals, coupons, membership benefits, etc., to optimize cost
• Allow channel management and support of alternative sourcing platforms (i.e., Lyft, AirBnB, etc.)
• Better language and multi-currency support
• Punch out to supporting sites like expense management, FLIO, hot spots, and more.
Rosemary E. Maloney
Senior Manager, Global Travel,
TapestryThe OBT of the future should have flexibility and scalability, with a global reach. There is nothing that I find more frustrating than finding a great software or service and then learning that it’s not available in all of my markets. This dream online booking tool would have “follow the sun” support that would cover my employees without after-hours calls.