Amadeus e-Travel Management launches New Features

Amadeus has launched a new version of Amadeus e-Travel Management (v10.1). Specific enhancements have been developed to enable travellers and travel managers to improve real-time communication - using handheld wireless devices while on the move. The new features should also help travellers to further streamline their travel booking process and improve their overall user experience.

Use of Handheld Devices

- Approval in ‘real-time’: The approval process is made quicker and more efficient, as the travel approver is able to sanction trips from handheld devices (such as a BlackBerry) while away from their desks. 

- Hotel Preferences: In addition to setting default preferences on smoking/non-smoking rooms, the traveller will be able to conveniently send requests, such as for early or late check-in, direct to the hotel from a handheld wireless device; this means calls to TMC call centres can be reduced as the traveller is empowered to modify their own travel arrangements as necessary.

Improved Management of Approvals

- Enhanced workflow management: Corporations will be better able to control the flow of approvals by forcing approvers to choose a delegate in case they are “out of the office”. This saves valuable time and money by ensuring that travel is approved efficiently before a trip takes place, increases in ticket prices and room rates are avoided, and the traveller does not need to choose an alternative approver themselves.

- List of arranged trips on one screen: For increased ease of use and flexibility, travel arrangers booking trips for several people can review all trips and their approval status on one screen, search for individual travel details.

Control and Enforcement of Travel Management Policies

- If travel arrangements are made without a hotel booking, the traveller will be asked to justify this in terms of whether an ad-hoc booking has been made outside the system. This will help corporations and TMCs to increase adoption by pushing hotel bookings within policy. It can also help to increase customer satisfaction as the company will receive useful feedback from travellers by capturing these explanations.

Enhanced selection of flight availability from alternative local airports

- Travellers more very often that not have a wide range of airports and fares to choose from when planning a business trip, which can take extra time to review and select from. One user-friendly screen within v10.1allows travellers to quickly view and compare all options and fares for airports within a 150 mile / 300 km radius – for example Glasgow and Edinburgh. This enables the traveller to make convenient, informed choices that save both time and money.

Jerome Destors, Commercial Director, Amadeus e-Travel said, “The easier SBT technology is to use, the more positive the user experience will be. As a consequence, it empowers the traveller to use the tool for all his or her needs. The latest enhancements to Amadeus e-Travel Management v10.1 will also help the travel arranger increase their productivity by further streamlining the booking process thus leading to valuable time savings.”

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