UNIGLOBE Custom Travel, a leading Corporate Travel Management Company in Western Canada, and its operating subsidiary Custom Travel Solutions, along with KDS, the leader in on-demand travel and expense solutions, are pleased to announce that they have completed all necessary implementation, quality coordination and live testing of the KDS online booking tools.
UNIGLOBE Custom Travel partnering successfully with KDS in Canada
UNIGLOBE Custom Travel, a leading Corporate Travel Management Company in Western Canada, and its operating subsidiary Custom Travel Solutions, along with KDS, the leader in on-demand travel and expense solutions, are pleased to announce that they have completed all necessary implementation, quality coordination and live testing of the KDS online booking tools.
An ongoing project for the past 12 months, starting with the implementation of KDS Portal in 2008, and KDS Corporate in 2009, UNIGLOBE Custom Travel has successfully launched the online booking service to several major Western Canadian corporations. The new tool provides corporate travellers with a faster booking process, more in-depth content, an enhanced user interface and more sophisticated One-way and Flexible faring options.
Custom Travel Solutions and KDS have worked together to implement a self-booking tool that will empower Custom’s corporate clients, and the TMC itself, to compete head-on with online retailers by offering both lower fares and superior support. The tool enables customers to achieve substantial budgetary savings as a result of improved travel policy compliance, the automatic highlighting of lowest-cost fare options, and efficiency gains in the booking process. In addition, it offers the advantage of full corporate reporting and risk management. The companies have also successfully developed the interface for corporately owned and charter aircraft content to appear within display results, alongside commercial flights, accommodation and ground transport. Canadian content is easily incorporated into the search and booking process so that policy compliance can be guaranteed.
Other new features include an enhanced user interface, requiring fewer clicks to complete a booking, along with a wide variety of faring options allowing travellers to combine fares from multiple carriers and different sources. As a leader within Canada, KDS and Custom Travel Solutions were the first to successfully integrate both the Air Canada Flight Pass system on the KDS online tool, plus the enhanced connectivity between KDS and Air Canada through an API link to display full Air Canada fare attributes.
Vaughan Payne, President of UNIGLOBE Custom stated, “The demand for an online tool in Canada meant that any decision to partner with an online solution provider relied on their ability to recognize the unique offering of Air Canada and its flight passes, the low cost applications of WestJet, and to think out of the box based on the Canadian market. KDS met this critical demand in all applications.” Keith Johnson, Manager, Interactive Services at Custom Travel also noted that, “the tool is very straightforward to deploy, meaning there is no technological burden or disruption to daily business for our customers”.
"We are delighted that UNIGLOBE Custom Travel selected KDS as its online travel management solution provider, and we are also delighted that it chose to be our distributor of the Corporate KDS application in Western Canada, but also our distributor Internationally of both the online tool and the KDS Expense Management Solution as well," said Yves Weisselberger, CEO of KDS. "We believe that Custom Travel Solutions market expertise, together with the strength of KDS Portal and Corporate, and Expense Management will provide Custom Travel’s corporate customers with the right resources and tool to best control their travel spend."
About : UNIGLOBE Custom Travel Solutions
Over the past 14 years, Custom Travel’s executive has worked to assemble a service team that is committed and passionate about building long-term partnerships with Western Canadian companies and institutions. In 2007, they recognized the importance of forming a strategic relationship with KDS so as deliver on its long-term business goals and position themselves for future opportunities. The individual employees of Custom Travel Solutions bring the unique combination of experience, technical knowledge and vision required to deliver outstanding travel and logistics program results. Our Western Canadian local service exhibits the ability to deliver exemplary service with dedicated technical and training managers in a niche environment with the addition of strategic partners from KDS and InteliSys, the leaders in online and charter reservation processes.
In addition, Custom Travel has the ability to support its customers with exemplary full service agents of our own, anywhere around the world through its association globally with UNIGLOBE Travel and its associate offices. UNIGLOBE Travel is now the world’s largest single-brand travel franchise company with over 700 locations in more than 30 countries. The company has annual, worldwide sales of over $2 billion.
