MINNEAPOLIS, USA, 27 November 2018: Carlson Wagonlit Travel, a global travel management company, has expanded its mobile air booking offerings in 20 key markets worldwide, giving travellers the ability to book flights directly on the myCWT™ app.
In Asia, the company rolls out the app in Singapore, where there is a big demand from corporate travellers to use their mobiles to book company travel.
The service was originally piloted in early 2017, and launched commercially in the second quarter of 2018.
Mobile air booking capability is now being rolled out in some of the largest markets around the world, including the US, Germany, France, the UK, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Australia, Poland, Brazil, Denmark, Hong Kong, Singapore, Spain, Ireland, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
“Travellers can now do everything they need to do right on their smartphone,” said CWT’s chief technology officer digital, Amir Kirshenboim. “The process is simple, fast and clients have full control over what their travellers can book – so travellers save time, and companies save money.”
A typical domestic booking can take as little as 60 seconds from start to finish. Early analysis shows that clients with air booking capability have seen a 30% shift from offline to online, saving on fees. CWT’s mobile air booking supports global distribution system (GDS) and low-cost carrier content, as well as client rates and preferred airlines.
The air booking capability has a set of innovative features, including a “best time to book” indicator, which alerts travellers when prices are expected to increase, and recommends an optimal time to book. That generates savings and encourages early booking.
A 24-hour search function gives travellers a complete list of options, including cheaper flights outside a specified window. This simplifies the booking experience for travellers, while again saving costs for their employers.
MyCWT™app already features check-in functionality for most major airlines, as well as notifications for flight delays, cancellations, gate changes, and safety and security travel alerts. It also offers mobile hotel bookings for 850,000 hotels worldwide, calendar synching, traveller profile integration with loyalty programmes, and advanced sharing functionality. Since launching in 2013, more than 1.2 million travellers have signed up for myCWT™.
Carlson Wagonlit Travel every day looks after enough travellers to fill more than 260 Boeing 787s and 100,000 hotel rooms. It operates in around 150 countries, and in 2017 posted a total transaction volume of more than USD 23 billion.
