SOUTHLAKE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 12, 2005-- Offers Recognizable "TotalPrice for Cars" Consumer Online Shopping Experience With Powerful Capabilities for Managing Corporate Travel Costs
GetThere(R) introduced an enhanced online rental car shopping path
today, giving business travelers the complete price of their rental
car, including taxes and fees, prior to choosing and booking a car
online. The enhancement marks the next phase in the broad-reaching
technology sharing initiative between GetThere and Travelocity(R),
with corporate customers now benefiting from Travelocity’s
award-winning TotalPrice(SM) for Cars functionality. GetThere is the
world’s leading corporate travel reservation technology, helping more
than half of Fortune 200 companies manage travel online.
The new car shopping experience follows the recent implementation
of GetThere’s enhanced hotel booking path. Corporations using GetThere
now enjoy powerful corporate travel technology that integrates
negotiated rates, GDS fares and content from multiple Web sites in a
familiar platform that makes it easy for travelers to book
policy-compliant trips.
In addition to an improved look-and-feel in a more leisure-like
approach, other new features in the GetThere car shopping tool
include:
-- New easy-to-read grid display with up to five car sizes and sample car images -- Out-of-policy selections and exceptions more clearly noted in display -- Ability to sort choices by car rental vendor, company-preferred selection or price -- Ability to display other applicable rates, including daily and extra day and hourly rates -- Increased on-screen detail for car pick-up location, either at airports or other locations
Travelocity and GetThere’s TotalPrice for Cars functionality
displays all rental car taxes, mandatory fees and government-imposed
fees, simplifying the traveler’s rental car selection process. This
functionality is especially important since airport car rental taxes
and fees, which can often be hidden from the traveler until booking,
have continually risen since 2003, according to a 2005 Travelocity
Rental Car Study. The national average (based on the nation’s top 100
airports) has increased from 24.4 percent in 2003 to 25.8 percent in
2005, with pricing on car rentals varying from state to state.
“Our enhanced car offering provides corporations with true
transparency into car rental costs so that corporate travelers are not
blind-sided by additional taxes and fees at the end of a business
trip,” said Bev Heinritz, general manager of GetThere. “This release
is all about delivering more relevant and easy-to-understand car
rental information to the traveler desktop, helping corporate
travelers make more informed buying decisions that can ultimately have
a positive effect on the company’s managed travel program.”
About GetThere
GetThere is the world’s leading online corporate travel
reservation technology, and is one of the key solutions offered to the
corporate marketplace by Sabre Holdings Corporation. GetThere enables
global corporations and government agencies to provide a convenient
way for employees to book travel and plan meetings while significantly
reducing costs. GetThere’s advanced technology works with all major
global distribution systems (GDS) and all travel management companies.
More than 3,000 corporations, including 60 percent of the Fortune 200
companies that have online booking sites, use GetThere. More
information is available at www.getthere.com.
Sabre Holdings Corporation (NYSE:TSG) is a world leader in travel
commerce, retailing travel products and providing distribution and
technology solutions for the travel industry. More information about
Sabre Holdings is available at www.sabre-holdings.com.
MULTIMEDIA AVAILABLE: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=4928164 CONTACT: Vollmer Public Relations Kristi Manning, 972-488- 4790 kristi@vollmerpr.com or GetThere Michael Brophy, 682-605-2565 michael.brophy@travelocity.com SOURCE: GetThere