TRAVEL MARKET REPORT | JULY 29, 2015
Concur’s TripLink to Capture Lufthansa Bookings
Month: July 2015
SALT LAKE CITY, UT, July 15, 2015 – Christopherson Business Travel is set to launch two new products to assist companies in achieving higher travel policy compliance, duty of care fulfillment, and simplified travel management processes.
“Our two new technologies, Travel Approval and Hotel Attachment, are solutions that solve common problems faced by corporate travel managers—the inconsistent and often undocumented travel approval process, and reduced travel policy compliance as a result of low hotel attachment rates,” said Mike Cameron, Christopherson’s CEO.
The first technology, Travel Approval, is a digital notification process that obtains and tracks approvals from booking to traveler to manager. Once a traveler makes a reservation—whether online or with a full-service travel agent—a series of synchronized emails are sent to both the traveler and the traveler’s manager through which the booking can be approved, modified, or canceled at any step or permission level.
“Online booking tools have done a good job in digitizing travel approvals but there has always been a gap in the approval process for agent-assisted bookings,” Cameron said. “We built Travel Approval as a complete, digital solution for approving those agent-assisted reservations. The result is the unification of online and full-service approvals and a greater ability to enforce travel policy compliance.”
Christopherson’s second new technology, Hotel Attachment, is a hotel compliance system that identifies itineraries with missing hotel bookings and provides the traveler with four options to close that gap: 1. Make a hotel reservation; 2. Request another reminder for a later date; 3. Attach a hotel reservation made outside the system to the itinerary; and 4. Waive the need for a hotel reservation. With Hotel Attachment’s digital reminders, companies can ensure trip plans are complete and hotel compliant prior to travel.
“Low hotel attachment results in weakened vendor negotiations and compromised duty of care,” Cameron said. “Hotel Attachment solves these problems. First, it meets the needs of the travelers who want an acceptable hotel included in every itinerary. Second, it meets the needs of the travel manager who wants savings, a knowledge of where travelers are in order to fulfill duty of care responsibilities, and the ability to satisfy the company’s commitments with contracted hotel vendors.”
Travel Approval and Hotel Attachment are both integrated into and supported by Christopherson’s proprietary technology platform, AirPortal. They will be released at the 2015 Global Business Travel Association Convention in Orlando, Florida, July 25-29.
About Christopherson Business Travel
Christopherson Business Travel, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah is the independently owned leader in business travel management, online travel tools, and business travel resources. As the 11th largest business travel agency in the United States, with 365 team members and five full-service locations, the company supports more than a half-billion dollars in annual travel bookings for more than 900 successful organizations across the country including Fortune 500 companies, publicly and privately-owned business, universities, and government entities. Christopherson is an affiliate of BCD Travel and a Preferred Partner of Concur. To learn more, visit CBTravel.com.
GBTA PRESS CENTER | JULY 27, 2015 
Christopherson Business Travel Ensures Travel Policy Compliance and Duty of Care with New Technologies
TRAVEL MARKET REPORT | JULY 27, 2015
Christopherson Unveils Travel Approval, Hotel Products
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH—Christopherson Business Travel is set to launch two new products to assist companies in
achieving higher travel policy compliance, duty of care fulfillment, and simplified travel management processes.
“Our two new technologies, Travel Approval and Hotel Attachment, are solutions that solve common problems faced
by corporate travel managers—the inconsistent and often undocumented travel approval process, and reduced travel
policy compliance as a result of low hotel attachment rates,” said Mike Cameron, Christopherson’s CEO.
The first technology, Travel Approval, is a digital notification process that obtains and tracks approvals from booking
to traveler to manager. Once a traveler makes a reservation—whether online or with a full-service travel agent—a
series of synchronized emails are sent to both the traveler and the traveler’s manager through which the booking can
be approved, modified, or canceled at any step or permission level.
“Online booking tools have done a good job in digitizing travel approvals but there has always been a gap in the
approval process for agent-assisted bookings,” Cameron said. “We built Travel Approval as a complete, digital solution
for approving those agent-assisted reservations. The result is the unification of online and full-service approvals and
a greater ability to enforce travel policy compliance.”
Christopherson’s second new technology, Hotel Attachment, is a hotel compliance system that identifies itineraries
with missing hotel bookings and provides the traveler with four options to close that gap: 1. Make a hotel reservation;
2. Request another reminder for a later date; 3. Attach a hotel reservation made outside the system to the itinerary;
and 4. Waive the need for a hotel reservation. With Hotel Attachment’s digital reminders, companies can ensure trip
plans are complete and hotel compliant prior to travel.
“Low hotel attachment results in weakened vendor negotiations and compromised duty of care,” Cameron said.
“Hotel Attachment solves these problems. First, it meets the needs of the travelers who want an acceptable hotel
included in every itinerary. Second, it meets the needs of the travel manager who wants savings, a knowledge of where
travelers are in order to fulfill duty of care responsibilities, and the ability to satisfy the company’s commitments with
contracted hotel vendors.”
Travel Approval and Hotel Attachment are both integrated into and supported by Christopherson’s proprietary
technology platform, AirPortal. They will be released at the 2015 Global Business Travel Association Convention in
Orlando, Florida, July 25-29.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JULY 15, 2015
Media Contact: Krista Maurer
801-327-7615, Krista.Maurer@CBTravel.com
About Christopherson Business Travel
Christopherson Business Travel, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah is the independently owned leader in business
travel management, online travel tools, and business travel resources. As the 11th largest business travel agency in the
United States, with 365 team members and five full-service locations, the company supports more than a half-billion
dollars in annual travel bookings for more than 900 successful organizations across the country including Fortune
500 companies, publicly and privately-owned business, universities, and government entities. Christopherson is an
affiliate of BCD Travel and a Preferred Partner of Concur. To learn more, visit CBTravel.com.
###
Categories
2015 Power List
TRAVEL WEEKLY | JULY 15, 2015
2015 Power List
THE BEAT | JULY 15, 2015 
Christopherson Thinks It Has Solved The Hotel Attachment Problem
The Harvard Business Review, recently published the article, “Are the People Who Take Vacations the Ones Who Get Promoted?” by Shawn Achor.
The premise is this:
Too many people limit their happiness and success by assuming that taking time off from work will send a negative message to their manager and slow their career advancement. But new research, says that the exact opposite is true. Taking a vacation can actually increase the likelihood of getting a raise or a promotion.
Achor then lists four reasons why it makes good business sense to take a vacation. My personal favorite was No. 2, where explains that “to be truly engaged at work, your brain needs periodic breaks to gain fresh perspective and energy.” He follows up with this knock-out punch:
But not all vacations are created equally. Consider research that shows that the average vacation yields no improvement in people’s levels of energy or happiness upon returning to work. In these cases, it wasn’t the time away that caused the negative or neutral impact, it was the travel stress. In a study of over 400 travelers from around the world, Michelle Gielan from the Institute for Applied Positive Research and I found a strong negative correlation between travel stress and happiness. However, we also found that 94% of vacations result in higher levels of happiness and energy if you 1) plan a month in advance and prepare your coworkers for your time away, 2) go outside your city (the further the better), 3) meet with a local host or other knowledgeable guide at the location, and 4) have the travel details set before going. Smart vacations lead to greater happiness and energy at work, and therefore, greater productivity, intelligence and resilience.
At Andavo Travel (the vacation travel division of Christopherson Business Travel), we are a network of experienced travel agents who specialize in reducing travel stress. Let us handle the stressful travel planning, arrange for a local host or guide at your destination, and figure out those travel details before you leave. This just leaves you the task of preparing your work/company/coworkers for your time away. We can send you on a “smart vacation” so that you can return to work happier and more productive – and hopefully ready for that promotion!
Delta Air Lines will stay at Dallas Love Field while their rival Southwest Airlines argues in court about space at the crowded airport.
Currently Delta operates five daily flights between Dallas and Atlanta using leased gate space Southwest is sub-letting from United Airlines. Southwest and United negotiated a lease agreement for two gates in early 2015, and Southwest agreed to allow Delta to use gate space until July 6. The two airlines are now trading legal arguments, with Delta refusing to vacate the space and Southwest accusing Delta of trespassing after the upcoming deadline.
The city of Dallas also filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court requesting that the court intervene ahead of the July 6 deadline to settle this long-running fight over which airlines can operate out of its local airport. Under a federal law that stood for more than 30 years, airlines at Love Field could only fly to other places in Texas or a few nearby states unless they used very small planes. Those limits expired in October which resulted in the fight for gate space.
The extension of Delta’s operations is indefinite while the airlines seek a long-term settlement in the courts.
COLORADOBIZ | JULY 1, 2015
2015 Top Woman-Owned Companies