CHICAGO, Aug. 9—2010—Orbitz for Business (www.orbitzforbusiness.com), the corporate travel brand of Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW), today announced a strategic partnership with trip management service TripIt (www.tripit.com). Available immediately to Orbitz for Business customers, TripIt helps road warriors share travel itineraries with colleagues and clients in their social and professional networks, and provides innovative travel tools that improve the overall travel experience.
Under the agreement, travelers have the option to synchronize their Orbitz for Business bookings with TripIt’s trip management platform with a simple click within the familiar Orbitz for Business interface. Through this collaboration, Orbitz for Business customers will now benefit from a variety of essential travel tools, including:
- Comprehensive travel itineraries, including integrated maps, directions, weather, seating advice, online check-in, calendar synchronization, and more;
- Mobile access to itineraries through TripIt’s iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and other mobile applications;
- Social tools that facilitate itinerary sharing and collaboration with colleagues and clients, plus notifications that identify additional networking opportunities while traveling;
- Private company groups where Orbitz for Business clients have the option to see where and when other employees at their company are traveling, making it easy to schedule meetings and to maximize the value of time spent out on the road;
- Preferred access to TripIt Pro, TripIt’s premium service.
“Orbitz for Business is known for its innovative technology and its savvy clients who value tools that improve the traveler experience,” said Scott Hintz, co-founder and vice president of business development for TripIt. “So it’s no surprise that many Orbitz for Business travelers have been using TripIt independently for years. Now we are excited to integrate more closely to make the TripIt experience even better for our existing mutual customers, and to extend our service more broadly within the Orbitz for Business client base.”
“We continue to innovate to find new opportunities for consumer and social media technologies to improve the travel experience for our corporate customers,” said Frank Petito, president, Orbitz for Business. “Although use of social features to improve corporate travel is still evolving, TripIt’s service complements the Orbitz for Business post-booking traveler experience in important ways and helps corporate travel managers maximize the return on their travel spend. Our customers will have the flexibility to determine how this service fits into their overall managed travel strategy.”
About Orbitz for Business
Orbitz for Business (http://www.orbitzforbusiness.com/) is the corporate travel brand of Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW). Launched in 2002, Orbitz for Business offers a complete portfolio of travel products and services that help customers plan, search and book business travel. Orbitz for Business leverages the Orbitz Worldwide technology, customized for corporate travelers. In addition to its innovative technology, Orbitz for Business delivers full service, cost effective travel management solutions including 24x7 customer support; VIP executive desk services; expense reporting and policy management tools; and comprehensive choice in travel inventory.
About Orbitz Worldwide
Orbitz Worldwide is a leading global online travel company that uses innovative technology to enable leisure and business travelers to research, plan and book a broad range of travel products. Orbitz Worldwide owns a portfolio of consumer brands that includes Orbitz (www.orbitz.com), CheapTickets (www.cheaptickets.com), ebookers (www.ebookers.com), HotelClub (www.hotelclub.com), RatesToGo (www.ratestogo.com) and the Away Network (www.away.com). Also within the Orbitz Worldwide family, Orbitz Worldwide Distribution delivers private label travel solutions to a broad range of partners including many of the world’s largest airlines, and Orbitz for Business (www.orbitzforbusiness.com) delivers managed corporate travel solutions for corporations. For more information on partnership opportunities with Orbitz Worldwide, visit corp.orbitz.com. Orbitz Worldwide uses its Investor Relations website to make information available to its investors and the public at http://www.orbitz-ir.com. You can sign up to receive email alerts whenever the company posts new information to the website.
About TripIt
TripIt, the trip management company, helps people organize and share their travel plans no matter where they book. Travelers simply forward their travel confirmation emails from over 1,000 sites to plans@tripit.com. TripIt automatically creates a master itinerary that combines all their travel plans plus weather, maps, restaurants and more. With TripIt it’s easy to share and collaborate on trips with friends and colleagues in social networks and over 10,000 TripIt Groups. TripIt itineraries can be accessed via online, mobile device, free Android, BlackBerry and iPhone apps, personal calendars and social networking sites including the free LinkedIn travel app. TripIt is an open itinerary platform that works with a growing eco-system of travel and mobile partners. The new TripIt Pro premium service for frequent travelers automatically monitors travel itineraries, providing mobile alerts, alternate flight options, frequent traveler point tracking and automated trip sharing. More at www.tripit.com.