Orbitz listens to business travelers, goes mobile

When you’re out on the road for your company, wouldn’t you rather use a mobile device to book your trips and get information? Well, the travel industry is catching on.

Orbitz for Business, the division of Orbitz that caters to laptop-toting folks, just announced that it has launced an “end-to-end mobile solution” that the business travel community can use to book their flights, hotels and such from their smartphones via a mobile-optimized website. This could make life a lot easier for road warriors who don’t book until the last minute … or look up hotel details until they are en route to the airport.

“Business travelers increasingly want to use mobile devices to search and book trips that adhere to their companies’ travel policies – we do not believe a comprehensive, end-to-end solution has been available until today,” said Frank Petito, president, Orbitz for Business. “The Orbitz for Business mobile solution enables travelers to plan and purchase air, hotel and car travel through a streamlined, intuitive interface optimized for mobile devices. Equally important, the solution was built to support the policy, control and compliance requirements of corporate travel managers and their programs.”
So, what does this new solution do? The company said it allows users to make new reservations, track their trips and itineraries and watch for flight statuses and updates. It can also be used in accordance with a company’s travel policies … always important when someone is approving your expenses.

What really makes this development interesting is that business travelers have been leaning in this direction. In a Deloitte report on business travel back in November, we learned, “Twenty-six percent of respondents have downloaded a hotel app to a device, with 54 percent of them using it ‘primarily to book a room.’ “

See, someone’s listening!