Users to book Amtrak travel through GetThere's online corporate travel reservations
system
WASHINGTON, DC & MENLO PARK, CA - Amtrak and GetThereTM, a Sabre company,
today announced an agreement that will enable business travelers to book Amtrak
using GetThere's online corporate travel reservation system. Through this new
alliance, GetThere will integrate Amtrak reservations into its system, thus
making rail travel available in the corporate travel reservation system used
by more than 800 of the country's top corporations including half of the Fortune
200.
Online air, car rental, and hotel reservations have become a significant and
fast-growing percentage of corporations' travel bookings. With GetThere's Amtrak
integration, users will have the ability to view rail options alongside air
travel options and make a selection. Once complete, a user's reservation will
include any rail selections in the context of their complete reservation and
itinerary, rather than as a separate booking.
"Our alliance with GetThere gives millions of travelers at America's largest
companies the convenience of booking their Amtrak reservation online,"
said Barbara J. Richardson, Amtrak's executive vice president. "As Americans
increasingly choose Amtrak as their travel alternative, the ability for business
travelers to book their entire trip online, including rail, means an even greater
number of travelers will consider Amtrak when making their business travel plans."
"Many companies are already cutting travel costs significantly, simply
because employees make good decisions when they see their choices online. Corporate
employees are now more seriously considering taking the train for certain trips
instead of flying, both to save money and even to save time. To make this process
work most effectively, travelers may need to see rail options on the same page
as flights, and we will make that completely seamless," noted Mark Orttung,
vice president of Product Marketing at GetThere.
"When our employees make their travel reservations online through the GetThere
system, we see substantial cost savings, so it is important to drive the maximum
employee usage," said Alex McAdam of Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage
Corporation), a GetThere customer. "In the northeast corridor, rail is
an integral part of corporate travel, and the GetThere and Amtrak integration
provides yet another incentive for our travelers to book travel online."
To integrate rail reservations, GetThere is using technology it created to directly
connect airline, hotel, and car rental suppliers to the GetThere travel reservation
system. The most important facet of the technology is how it provides the traveler
with an integrated view of options on their screen.
Another key component is called GetThere SuperPNRTM (Passenger Name Record),
the system that stores a traveler's trip record, or itinerary. SuperPNR maintains
a record of bookings from many different sources, such as an air booking made
through a global distribution system, a direct booking from a hotel, and a direct
booking with Amtrak. This combined record keeps a corporation's travel spending
and trend information consolidated and helps corporate agents support travelers
who are on the road.
The first phase of the Amtrak integration is underway with completion anticipated
this year
