Orbitz, the online travel agency started by US airlines - American, Continental, Delta, Northwest and United - claimed a first with its expansion into the US corporate travel arena by launching Orbitz for Business TravelBuilder in September last year.

Rival Expedia matched its move two months later with Expedia Corporate Travel, and has just rolled out phase two in June.

Both claim to lower travel management costs significantly, and Orbitz says it is interested to launch the product in Asia if there is demand.

By reducing transactions fees and helping travellers to find low fares, Orbitz claims a company with an annual spend of US$4.1 million can save more than US$800,000.

He cited research by PhoCusWright: a telephone reservation handled by a travel agent can cost between US$40 and US$60. Booking online with Orbitz for Business TravelBuilder costs between US$5 and up to US$20.

The profile of an Orbitz for Business TravelBuilder user is a company with an annual air spend of between US$1 million and US$2 million or a Fortune 500 company spending US$30 million a year, Orbitz corporate travel general manager, Mr David Cerino, told BTN Asia-Pacific.

Expedia, on the other hand, claims to save up to 80 per cent on transaction fees versus a traditional travel agency. Its online service fee is US$5 per booking and its phone-based fee is US$20, compared to between US$26 and US$60 for an offline agent. It also claims a saving on average of US$72 to US$113 per airline ticket.

Expedia Corporate Travel is targeted at companies with an annual travel and entertainment spend of between US$1 million and US$10 million.

Orbitz's Mr Cerino told BTN Asia-Pacific why it ventured into corporate travel. “Even though Orbitz started out as an online leisure travel agent, when we started looking into the bookings in the US, between 20 and 25 per cent looked like business bookings. Travellers were booking on a Tuesday and returning on a Wednesday, for example,” he said.

With TravelBuilder, Orbitz can integrate a company's negotiated rates, published fares and Orbitz's web prices. There is no installation cost.

“No training is required so the traveller, the travel manager and the travel administrator can use the booking system immediately. But we can provide it if the user wants it and we also provide 24/7 customer service,” Mr Cerino said.

In April, the product was enhanced with the addition of executive-level customer service features, customised online tools that curb unnecessary spending and instant tracking of purchases and traveller itineraries.

With Premier Traveller, corporate travel managers can give premier-level online support to designated executives and frequent travellers. Special services include the processing of upgrade request, priority waitlisting, preferred seat requests and confirmations.

Orbitz will also send Premier Travellers “care alerts” with late-breaking, personalised information to them via cellphone, PDA (personal digital assistant) or e-mail.

Exception codes set by the corporate travel manager, corporate fare and rate filtering of preferred suppliers and flash reports offering real-time data and to assist companies in crisis management by tracking employee locations are some of the new features.

Expedia's enhanced version, meanwhile, aims to provide stronger policy controls, enhanced reporting functionality and a broad range of inventory options, according to vice-president, Mr Matt Hutllet.

An enhanced reporting wizard provides granular detail on travel spend on a daily basis where travel manager can view timely, reconciled data on all bookings in one location, whether booked online or via an agent.

An In Progress Report tracks on-the-road travellers and their whereabouts if needed in case of emergencies.

In addition, the new version offers flexible data collection, bulk loading of profiles and an online travel manager resource centre which can provide account setup guidance, traveller adoption tools and other helpful materials.

With Expedia Corporate Travel, offline technical support is free, but there is a basic account setup cost of US$149.

Expedia Corporate Travel service pledge says 80 per cent of calls to its Corporate Service Center will be answered in 20 seconds following the initial introductory greeting and 100 per cent of e-mails will be answered within four hours.