Capita’s business travel technology ‘drives duty of care and cost savings’

Capita Travel and Events says its clients and their travellers are benefitting from easy bookings, enhanced wellbeing and cost savings as a result of new solutions added to their suite of technology (iris) in 2019.

The iris suite features communications to influence booking behaviours; the iris:go mobile app providing travellers access to their accommodation, air and rail booking information; the iris:smart itinerary consolidating travellers’ bookings with calendar invites; iris:intelligent tracking providing companies with 24/7 access to their travellers’ locations during their business trips with real-time communication for enhanced duty of care; and management information that enables 24/7 access to multiple booking type reports.

In the rail sector, Capita Travel and Events has moved to e-ticketing along with its ‘rail fare checker’ proposition and delay and repay technology powered by Railguard

Josh Collier, Capita’s Head of Proposition, Rail and Ground Transport, said: “Currently, 11 per cent of our customers are opting for e-tickets and we expect further demand for them in 2020. Equally, our delay and repay service has realised the value of Smarter working, with cost reduction, increased wellbeing and enhanced productivity – with the latter saving customers collectively over £20,000 alone.”

The company also released a new Air Fare Checker, a solution that tracks the flight price fluctuations so customers can rebook if a lower fare becomes available. Where bookings exceed £1,000 or include multiple stops, the technology will trigger an audit by an air fare specialist to assess whether it complies with the client’s policy.

Jessica Gallimore, Capita’s Head of Proposition – Air and Ancillaries, said: “Over the last year, the results have been fantastic; we have saved our customers over £60,000 on like-for-like flights in over 130 bookings with the Air Fare Checker.”

In addition, the firm’s automated air delay and repay service has identified in excess of £145,000 worth of compensation opportunities with its first two customers adopting the service. 

Capita Travel and Events plans to develop the iris:go app throughout 2020 to include traveller wellbeing and risk management information, while all customers will be auto-enrolled onto the rail and air delay and repay solutions, as well as their respective fare trackers. It also intends to focus on enhancing the end-to-end travel experience with increased ancillary options such as taxis, lounge access and more.