Flight Centre drives away with Uber

Montreal, Canada - July 23, 2016: Personal perspective view of hand holding phone ordering a Uber ride while a rain storm is going on in the background. Photographed in the streets of Rosemont area in Montreal, Canada.
By Travel Weekly


Flight Centre Travel Group and Uber for Business have announced a partnership that aims to enhance the travel experience for corporates.

The partnership, which was revealed yesterday at Illuminate 2019, will see Uber for Business’ services fully integrated with Flight Centre’s corporate travel platforms for traveller profiles, booking, mobile apps, reporting, and reconciliation.

Flight Centre’s corporate brands include FCM Travel Solutions, Corporate Traveller and Stage and Screen.

Users will have exactly the same experience they have now in terms of using the Uber app, tapping their Uber for Business profile within the app, which links to their corporate travel profile.

The booking will then automatically sync with systems and show in the client’s travel reporting.

James Kavanagh, executive general manager of Flight Centre’s corporate division, said the partnership will give corporates more visibility of traveller spend and activity, and also support clients with their compliance and duty of care obligations.

Expense reporting and reconciliation of spend on the Uber app will also be much easier, according to Kavanagh.

“Through the process of consulting with our customers, we sought to understand their pain points when it came to ground transport,” he said.

“By keeping our customers at the centre of our innovation and understanding what they needed, we were able to partner with Uber to create a solution that provides real tangible benefits.

“The inclusion of the Uber platform in our systems makes it easy for individual travellers, travel bookers, and finance and procurement teams because their bookings will appear in the itineraries and invoices just like airfares, hotels or car rates would do.

“We know that when it comes to corporate travel programs, companies like to have everything in one place for ease of use, more visibility for reporting and travel risk management.”

Ronnie Gurion, the global head of Uber for Business, said: “As the largest travel provider in the region, we’re excited about the opportunities this partnership will bring Flight Centre corporate customers and support staff who will benefit from our analytics and policy controls.”

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