Business Travel News (USPS 0728-870, ISSN 8750-3670) August 14, 2017 Issue 823 Vol. 34, No. 12. Business Travel News is published monthly except semi-monthly in March, April, May, June, September and October
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Flight disruptions are
unavoidable, but the
effect on travelers can
be mitigated. Here are
two mobile-friendly
websites that analyze
travelers’ ;ight itineraries against other
data feeds to anticipate
;ight disruptions. Freebird positions itself as
a seamless way then to
book a different ;ight.
Flightsayer, meanwhile,
considers itself a data
feed that travel management companies
and corporates can
push to travelers.
How It
Works
When a flight is canceled or severely delayed, Freebird
sends the traveler a text or email with new flight options,
which are based on policy and traveler preferences. The traveler selects and books a new flight on Freebird’s mobile-friendly
website, and Freebird books that flight at no additional cost.
The TMC can seek a refund or credit for the original ticket.
Travelers receive alerts as their flights’ likelihood of delay
or cancellation changes. The service displays flight alternatives but does not facilitate new bookings. In pilot now,
it sends email alerts, but an app is coming in September.
Flightsayer will also provide a data feed service to TMCs
and corporate clients to push through their own platforms.
Itinerary
Feed
The client indicates which travelers should receive the service, and Freebird’s system monitors for related passenger
name records to originate in the global distribution system.
Travelers email their itineraries to Flightsayer,
though TMCs piloting the tool also feed client itineraries to Flightsayer.
Data
Feeds
Flight alert providers, weather feeds, flight availabilities
via GDSs (Sabre and Travelport’s Apollo and Worldspan,
plus Amadeus in the works), historical employee passenger
name record data (usually from TMCs) and travel policy.
Real-time and historical FAA flight data, flight alerts
from FlightView, weather feeds and flight schedules
from OAG. As TMCs sign on, Flightsayer will be able
to leverage TMCs’ GDS access for rebooking options.
Where
It Works U.S. airlines. Canadian, European and U.S. carriers.
How to
Access It
TMCs Altour, Casto, Flight Centre, Options Travel, Safe
Harbors Business Travel, Short’s Travel Management and
Travel and Transport resell it, as does Upside. A travel
program also can work directly with Freebird.
The app is in pilot with consumers and corporates;
TMCs are piloting application programming interface
connections that push data/notifications to their
proprietary apps or agent platforms.
Cost Quarterly fee that adjusts each quarter based on the travel program’s historical flight patterns. Come September, app pricing will be per trip and month- ly subscription. API pricing will vary based on usage.
Editor’s note: Email as displayed
on mobile.
