News Roundup: Partnerships forged with big names in travel joining forces: Accor and Visa launching payment card, HelloGbye’s tie-up with Travelport to service TMCs, Lufthansa Group expanding cooperation with Amadeus to enhance traveller experience
Accor, Visa team up to introduce payment card
Hospitality group Accor has entered into a global partnership with Visa to launch a co-branded payment card that promises to “bring new payment experiences” to its Accor Live Limitless (ALL) members.
The loyalty programme members who apply for the ALL Visa card will be able to use it for all purchases where Visa is accepted.
Leveraging on Visa’s global payment capabilities, the card will offer ALL members tailored rewards based on their preferences and earn more points when staying at an Accor property or when making purchases.
Accor will be collaborating with Visa partner financial institutions and banks in key markets across Europe, North and South America, Middle East and Asia Pacific to issue the new card (no dates mentioned for its issuance).
According to Accor, the tie-up with Visa enhances the benefits of its ALL loyalty programme to its estimated 64 million member base and more than 250 million customers globally.
For Visa the partnership will boost its global network and digital capabilities.
“This new initiative will provide unmatched benefits to our members and reinforce the success of our ALL loyalty programme by increasing our member base, driving additional engagement and giving each member incentives to stay with us more frequently and easily,” commented Accor chairman and CEO Sébastien Bazin on the partnership.
Al Kelly, Visa chairman and chief executive officer, said today’s digitally-savvy consumers expect rewards that are tailored to their needs. He believes the combination of the “power of Accor’s expertise in hospitality” and Visa’s “global network and digital capabilities” will translate into attractive loyalty and payment products for consumers.
HelloGbye and Travelport offer email automation to TMCs
HelloGbye has formed a “strategic relationship” with Travelport to offer email automation to the latter’s network of travel management companies (TMCs).
Based in Toronto, Canada, HelloGbye uses artificial intelligence (AI) to make travel planning more efficient by optimising agent response times and improve the traveller experience.
Through the tie-up, HelloGbye and Travelport will provide a complete digital itinerary planning solution to corporate TMC customers. The solution uses proprietary technology that leverages AI and machine learning techniques to generate itinerary recommendations.
Regardless of the complexity of the e-mailed travel request the solution can generate recommendations in less than five minutes, reducing corporate agents’ response times and enable them to deliver a better booking experience, according to the statement announcing the collaboration.
“Email continues to be the preferred channel of communication for corporate travellers. Many of them find their designated online booking tools to be restrictive and book outside of their corporate policy causing issues around duty of care for the TMC, along with violating their corporate expense policies,” said Michael Carr, CEO of HelloGbye.
He explained the technology delivers results “in minutes, improving the productivity of the travel agent while staying within the corporate policy” with the agent involved in the process in event of any questions or issue.
The HelloGbye solution will be available to Travelport’s TMCs in the Americas later this year, followed by other markets. The company currently services travel requests in English, while exploring other languages.
Lufthansa Group expands collaboration with Amadeus
Lufthansa Group and Amadeus have renewed and expanded their longstanding technology partnership, as part of the airline’s move to improve passenger experience and operations.
Through this agreement Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines and Air Dolomiti will continue to use the Altéa Passenger Service System (PSS) — Amadeus’ airline IT system — to manage reservation, inventory, ticketing, disruption management at the airport and departure control.
The expanded collaboration also benefits the airline group in other areas such as operations, disruption management at the airport, merchandising, shopping and airport services.
Amadeus said, the key element of this renewed partnership is Lufthansa Group now has a single contract, so that airlines can pick and choose from a menu of solutions those that best fit their needs. “The new contract provides more agility to all airlines in the group, allowing them to easily implement new capabilities when they wish.”
For Lufthansa Group brand, this new long-term agreement will also facilitate the integration of airlines in the group to ensure a consistent and high-quality passenger experience for all travellers, no matter which airline they fly with.
Amadeus’ platform strategy also accompanies this expanded technology partnership. The Amadeus Airline Platform provides airlines with more agility and greater collaboration opportunities with startups and partners to innovate, experiment and shorten delivery cycles.
“With this agreement, we not only strengthen our cooperation and ensure operational stability, we also set the foundation for fostering innovation and boosting digitalisation across our various business areas,” says Dr. Roland Schütz, executive vice president information management and chief information officer at Lufthansa Group.
• Featured image credit: Accor
