GetThere Helps Companies Cash in on Unused Tickets

Published on: October 21, 2008

GetThere has announced the planned introduction of several enhancements targeted at helping corporations maximize the use of purchased, unused air tickets. GetThere enhancements focused specifically on unused air ticket banks and online ticket exchange are anticipated for early 2009. GetThere, a Sabre Travel Network business, facilitated the booking of $9.4 billion in travel in 2007. A 2006 PhoCusWright report found that voids, refunds, exchanges and unused tickets account for approximately 30 percent of average corporate travel spending. Anecdotal estimates on the percentage of overall business travel trips that are altered after purchase differ by industry vertical, from a low of 25 percent to higher than 50 percent.

The new features follow on the heels of the successful global introduction of the multi-lingual Travel Arranger portal (www.getthere.com/travelarranger), rolled out to GetThere’s entire client base of corporations and travel agency resellers in August. With travel arrangers and administrative assistants handling a significant amount of schedule and travel changes for executives, the new features will seamlessly incorporate information on available ticket inventory that can be applied at the point of sale to new tickets. New unused ticket bank functionality, anticipated in January 2009, builds off current technology that informs travelers and arrangers of available tickets via dynamic messaging. The new functionality incorporates availability of applicable tickets in the actual shopping process, cleanly utilizing the pre-paid inventory for the new trip. GetThere also intends to drive a notation in the PNR for the value of the specific unused ticket to be applied by the fulfilling travel agency.

Later in 2009, GetThere intends to introduce enhancements to its online ticket exchange functionality. In an anticipated development project with ITA Software, GetThere plans to leverage ITA’s proven ReShop capabilities with the requirements of managed travel programs to offer a comprehensive array of shopping and pricing options to travelers and arrangers making changes to air itineraries online. The ITA-GetThere integration intends to provide corporations with several new features. It will provide exchange, refund and void capabilities for domestic and international customers in all the applicable ATPCO fare categories for public and private customer fares. It will apply mixed and partial itineraries; and seamless technology that clients can use on any GDS across the globe. Companies using GetThere can leverage existing online ticket exchange functionality to record an average saving of 55 percent on procurement costs and an additional 14 percent savings on airfare. Use of GetThere’s online ticket exchange functionality has consistently increased on a year-over-year basis since its introduction in 2004. For more information, visit www.getthere.com.