American Express GBT Promotes Traveler Confidence

Mark McSpadden, VP of Product Strategy at GBT: “Business travel is less predictable than it was before the pandemic. To best tailor their programs, travel managers are looking for new ways to gain insights into the traveler’s experience and provide travelers with up-to-date COVID-related information throughout their journey. We are expanding our solutions for timely communication across all channels to meet these needs.”

Immediate insight into the traveler’s experience
GBT provides travel managers with new insights, drawn directly from their travelers’ experiences, to help them make informed decisions and reassure employees when they travel again.

• Traveler surveys collect information directly from travelers on an opt-in basis for an analysis of flight and hotel experiences. Travel managers can evaluate suppliers against required health and safety standards, and change policies regarding preferred suppliers if they fail to meet travellers’ expectations.
• The Live Travel Dashboard is a new reporting in GBT’s Premier Insights™. It uses anonymized data about GBT customers’ destinations and provides a visual summary, showing at a glance where organizations are sending travelers. Views are possible by region, country and city.

Travel managers can see to which destinations business travel is possible and they can adjust their travel policy and pre-trip approval processes accordingly. This can also help give travelers confidence when they get back on the road.

Travel-specific information during each stage: booking, departure and return
GBT has expanded the ways it provides travel-specific information to travelers. Travel managers can easily and efficiently keep up with the rapidly changing COVID restrictions and measures.

• Neo™, GBT’s online booking tool, now automatically shows travel-specific COVID guidelines at the time of booking. Travelers can easily access the most up-to-date information from Travel Vitals about limitations and health risks. This allows them to make informed booking decisions, without having to navigate outside the booking tool.

• During each stage of their journey, GBT travelers can proactively receive notifications. These are notifications such as a reminder, 48 hours in advance, which COVID test or vaccination status is needed before departure, or what is needed for the return trip. Travelers automatically receive email notifications and access through their preferred channel, be it the Amex GBT Mobile App or the desktop GBT Account platform.
• GBT travel advisors can also guide travelers through the relevant COVID information from Travel Vitals by telephone or via the chat channels of GBT.

These improvements are part of GBT’s #TravelReady initiative. The #TravelReady website is a resource for travel managers, tour operators and travelers around the world. GBC, GBT’s consulting arm, is also working with clients around the world to adapt their travel programs to allow travel again. GBC’s data-driven benchmarking enables clients to assess their progress against global best practices .

GBT’s Traveler Surveys and Travel Vitals in Neo are now available worldwide. The Live Travel Dashboard and email notifications are currently only available in the United States, with plans for a phased rollout to GBT customers in other parts of the world.