Flight Centre Business Travel (FCBT) is giving UK customers the option to book and manage business travel via an online solution for the first time with the launch of HelloFCBT, a proprietary travel technology platform.
HelloFCBT has been developed to meet the increasing demand from the specialist Flight Centre division’s 2000 SME business travel clients in the UK for user-friendly technology that enables them to quickly self-book point to point business travel. Until now clients were serviced purely offline via phone and email by highly experienced local travel consultants at FCBT’s 20 offices across the UK. The new digital platform is designed to complement FCBT’s continued personal offline service offering particularly for complex bookings, or those clients who still prefer to arrange travel via their dedicated consultant.
The platform’s interface reflects a leisure travel booking experience and enables business travel bookers and travellers to search and book an extensive choice of air, hotel, rail and car content quickly and easily. This includes Flight Centre negotiated fares, client specific fares, public air fares, scheduled and low-cost carriers, as well as Flight Centre negotiated hotel content, properties and rates.
HelloFCBT can be implemented for a customer within 24 hours and not only provides an online booking solution, it enables the user to manage payment solutions, traveller profiles, traveller tracking, integration of travel policies, preferred suppliers and reporting all in one place. An innovative ‘traffic light’ approval feature can be set up by FCBT to guide users if they are about to make a booking outside of travel policy. This soft approval process means that the travel approver is notified when a booker or traveller over spends on a flight or hotel. Billboard announcements can also be tailored to be relevant to the client’s internal travel communication needs.
HelloFCBT is device reactive and can be accessed via smartphone, tablet or desktop. Bookings made offline by the client’s dedicated FCBT consultant are also fully synchronised within HelloFCBT, including traveller tracking functionality.
Also new for FCBT in terms of technology is the launch of Sam, a next generation mobile app that supports business travellers before, during and post trip. Development of Sam was pioneered by FCBT’s sister business travel division FCM Travel Solutions who already have around 40,000 of their clients’ travellers using the app. The highly interactive, travel-savvy and anticipatory app delivers personalized contextual information via a conversational interface on the user’s smartphone. Sam makes recommendations and performs actions relevant to the individual traveller’s trip, assisting business travellers with everything from itinerary management, air and hotel bookings, online check-in, flight updates and local weather forecasts to security notifications, taxis and transfers and city guides and destination information. Users can also manage their expenses more easily via Sam as FCBT has partnered with Certify enabling the user to upload photos of their receipts.
Joe Beevis, UK General Manager, Flight Centre Business Travel comments: “We are very excited about introducing technology to our service offering for the first time. FCBT was born out of Flight Centre’s leisure business almost 15 years ago to meet the increasing need for business travel support from customers who already booked leisure travel with us. Since then we have become the fast-growing division within Flight Centre and evolved into a specialist business travel provider in 20 locations across the UK and Ireland for clients ranging from individual business owners to larger corporations spending £50K to £2M on business travel per annum."
“Our people have always been at the heart of our business, delivering an amazing personal service and cost savings to our clients – and that’s not going to change. But technology and the expectations of our clients have changed. Our aim with the launch of HelloFCBT and Sam is to complement the exceptional personal service from our travel experts with appropriate technology solutions. Booking business travel doesn’t need to be complicated. Our aim is to make it as easy and straightforward as possible for our customers,” summed up Beevis.
Joe Beevis, UK General Manager, Flight Centre Business Travel comments: “We are very excited about introducing technology to our service offering for the first time. FCBT was born out of Flight Centre’s leisure business almost 15 years ago to meet the increasing need for business travel support from customers who already booked leisure travel with us. Since then we have become the fast-growing division within Flight Centre and evolved into a specialist business travel provider in 20 locations across the UK and Ireland for clients ranging from individual business owners to larger corporations spending £50K to £2M on business travel per annum."
“Our people have always been at the heart of our business, delivering an amazing personal service and cost savings to our clients – and that’s not going to change. But technology and the expectations of our clients have changed. Our aim with the launch of HelloFCBT and Sam is to complement the exceptional personal service from our travel experts with appropriate technology solutions. Booking business travel doesn’t need to be complicated. Our aim is to make it as easy and straightforward as possible for our customers,” summed up Beevis.
Source: TravelDailyNews international
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