Farelogix for Corporate Travel Managers

Optimized Travel Sourcing, Profile and Policy Management

Corporate travel managers are increasingly frustrated by the lack of transparency and unnecessary complexities in the travel supply chain. Content continues to fragment, whether in the form of unique fare classes, websites, surcharges or privately managed ‘waivers and favors’. As suppliers forge ahead with content differentiation and promising new business models (including ‘unbundled selling’), corporations find themselves, and their travel technology, unable to keep up and take advantage of new value-based supplier relationships. So ironically, although today’s corporate traveler is increasingly self-sufficient, mobile and techno-savvy, the actual amount of technical workarounds and “lost opportunity” in the world of corporate travel management is on the rise.  

To address these challenges, a growing number of corporations are assuming control of (or requiring their agency to implement) the technology that controls travel sourcing and optimization, as well as traveler profile data. It is this desire for independence, control and rapid innovation that leads many corporate travel managers to seek out Farelogix as a technology partner for their CTD and/or their travel agency of choice. Farelogix is a proven provider of low-cost distribution technology with which corporations can benefit from total content access while simultaneously increasing cross-channel policy compliance and overall process efficiency.

Content Independence

The Farelogix FLX™ Platform is a middleware solution that enables corporate travel counselors to access content from virtually any travel data source, including:

• Farelogix direct connections to supplier host reservation systems (and corresponding corporate-specific unique functionality negotiated with the supplier)
• Multiple GDS systems
• Private fare databases
• Independent pricing engines including ITA QPX
• Supplier websites
• Online inventory

All content is normalized and standardized, simplifying the process of dynamic multi-source management.

The Farelogix FLX platform facilitates a seamless shopping and booking experience regardless of source – including intelligent handling of unbundled selling models (“flight merchandising”) and traditional itinerary based itineraries. Farelogix customers have full control over which content sources they elect to use, as well as how the data is presented at the point of sale.

Reservations booked through the FLX platform are stored within the respective source system, as well as within the FLX Master Itinerary PNR database. The data is subsequently available for back office reporting using the Farelogix back office interface (MIR-FLX).

At the heart of the Farelogix FLX Platform is the Distribution Manager (DM), a robust sourcing and transactional business rules engine. Using DM, corporate travel managers have full control over which content sources are accessed for searching, shopping and booking, as well as what other customer-defined rules (including travel policy items) should be applied and under what conditions.

There is no limit to the amount of user-defined rules (XML and server-side java script) that can be used to preference or otherwise customize requests to/responses and from travel sources.
For example, corporate travel organizations use DM to accomplish the following:

• Sourcing management
• Travel policy enforcement
• Preferencing, Filtering, Sorting of either outbound requests to travel sources, or incoming responses
• Pricing and revenue controls including rules to find lowest possible fare or other corporate-specific business rule requirement
• PNR automation and quality control routines

The corporation, working with its agency, determines which sources and rules are applied and under what conditions, and/or for which group of travelers, department, or cost center. Sourcing and business logic may even be defined down to the individual traveler/itinerary level if needed. In this way, DM not only facilitates management of contractual relationships, but also supports management of sourcing and travel policy across multiple channels.

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Independent Profile Solution

One of the most challenging areas for any corporation seeking to use multiple different technologies, distribution systems and technologies is the management of traveler and corporate profiles. As portable devices, online booking systems, and new distribution channels proliferate, an increasing number of travel managers are recognizing the need for centralized, low cost and effective profile solutions. 
Farelogix FLX Files™ provides independent profile solution for management and storage of traveler and corporate profiles. Using FLX-Files, corporations and travel management companies can lower the costs and inefficiencies associated with maintaining travel profiles in multiple places, and also supports application of profile information for multi-source environments. The solution ensures independent profile data ownership not tied to Farelogix or any other third party or distribution company.
Learn More About FLX-Files

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Corporate Booking Solutions & ‘Open for
Business Travel’

The Farelogix platform may be integrated (via web services API) with existing corporate booking solutions. In addition, Farelogix is currently evaluating development Open for Business Travel, a new breed of corporate booking software as described below.
Open for Business Travel is a proposed initiative to build and deliver the travel industry’s first Open-Source, ‘No-Frills/Low-Cost’ Corporate Booking Solution. If successful, Open for Business Travel has the potential to be a landmark travel industry community project directly benefiting all members in the travel supply chain– buyers, sellers, TMCs, suppliers, vendors, and technology companies.
Learn More About Open for Business Travel

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SPRK Platform

SPRK is a travel-selling platform that enables agents to take their supplier relationships and customer service offerings to a new level. Travel counselors using SPRK have access to expanded content sources, including direct connect and flight merchandising, delivered in an intuitive, flexible environment that requires little or no agent retraining to get started. Learn More About SPRK

Multiple POS options exist for TMC’s that are seeking to implement the FLX platform. Corporations with their own proprietary point of sale application, website, or corporate traveler booking tool may use the Farelogix Web Services API to easily integrate their POS with the FLX platform. Alternatively, they may elect to use a point of sale application that is already fully integrated with the FLX platform. A sample of these fully integrated solutions is noted below:

• SPRK Platform
  SPRK is a travel-selling platform that enables agents to take their supplier relationships and customer service offerings to a new level. Travel counselors using SPRK have access to expanded content sources, including direct connect and flight merchandising, delivered in an intuitive, flexible environment that requires little or no agent retraining to get started. Learn More About SPRK 
  
  
• Project Hawkeye™ (Open Source Development Platform)
  Hawkeye is the travel industry’s first open-source, web-based travel management point of sale application. Built using Microsoft .NET and C# technology, Hawkeye supports a rich (and constantly growing!) set of functionality for shopping, booking, ticketing, PNR servicing, profile management, exchange, refund…and more.
  Learn More About Hawkeye

• PASS Virtual Travel Organizer™
  VTO is a powerful agent user interface available from PASS Consulting. VTO supports a wide range of air, car, and hotel shopping, booking and ticketing capabilities for the corporate or leisure travel management company.

Implementation of the FLX platform provides a significant opportunity to lower total cost per transaction, in particular exchange and refund transactions. Travel counselor search (and total call) time is dramatically reduced simply by consolidating all source data into one environment and user interface. Utilization of business rules to automate travel policy enforcement and file finishing activities, as well as to optimize sourcing and channel management, combine to deliver even more minutes and dollars saved in the life of a transaction.

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Supplier Relationship Opportunity

An increasing number of suppliers are experimenting with new selling models and innovative ways to satisfy and strengthen relationships with top corporate clients. The “supplier-corporation” relationship is no longer just about low corporate rates; new possibilities are emerging for value-based relationships including custom functionality, upgrade or other ‘flight/travel customization’ features available to particular supplier clients. Farelogix has distinguished itself as a leading provider of technology that supports these newer, highly flexible selling models and customized Supplier Solutions.

Corporations whose agency (or CTD) implements the FLX platform are able to access these new supplier functionalities (and/or content) that may not be available in all other channels. This significantly strengthens the scope and quality of the supplier-corporate relationship, as new levels of collaboration and ROI become possible on both sides.