Passengers will now be able to book TWA travel, hotel, and car rental in one place
Trans World Airlines, Inc. (AMEX:TWA) and GetThere.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: GTHR), the leading provider of Internet-based business-to-business travel procurement systems, today announced that TWA has selected GetThere’s FlightRez? system to provide complete Internet travel booking - from flight to hotel to car - through the TWA website at www.twa.com.
The enhanced TWA website is targeted to go live this summer. FlightRez is a state-of-the-art online reservation system that allows TWA to maximize revenues and reduce booking costs by using the Internet as a new distribution channel for ticket sales. FlightRez links an airline’s existing website with GetThere’s data center, allowing the passenger to access hotel accommodations and car rentals as well as the ability to purchase air tickets. FlightRez’s modular, highly customizable architecture allows an airline to quickly launch a booking site.
Four of the top ten U.S. airlines and six of the world’s largest airlines now use GetThere for online travel booking. GetThere also hosts corporate travel systems for Fortune 500 companies spending an aggregate of $10 billion in travel annually.
“GetThere gives us a fast track to offer an easy-to-use booking capability that allows travelers to book virtually every aspect of a trip,” said Keith Bounds, TWA’s vice president - distribution. “After reviewing technologies available on the market, it was clear that GetThere provides the most advanced system and complete suite of services to put TWA.com on the leading edge of travel booking web sites.”
Later this year, TWA expects that members of Aviators®, TWA’s frequent flyer program, will be able to redeem miles for award travel and take advantage of other online frequent flyer services through the TWA website. The GetThere system also provides the Super Site capability, the most advanced technology in the industry, allowing the airline to create sub-sites targeted at distinct market segments.
GetThere is focused on providing the technology infrastructure for online travel, enabling airlines to maximize revenues by taking advantage of the ability to sell tickets online,” said Gadi Maier, president and CEO of GetThere. “TWA is an excellent addition to the roster of major airlines using GetThere, and this deal continues to reinforce GetThere’s leadership in providing comprehensive, highly-available services to the travel industry.”
TWA joins GetThere’s expanding list of airline customers that includes Air New Zealand, Alitalia, All Nippon Airways, America West, British Airways, National Airlines, Northwest Airlines and United Airlines. GetThere also provides the booking engine for the Star Alliance network, an alliance dedicated to addressing the demands of the international business traveler.
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