Skift Take
Along with the proliferation of travel booking sites and deals, more business travelers are going rogue and rejecting corporate travel portals. Incentives are needed on a corporate level so both parties continue to work together.
Rocketrip, an incentives-based platform that encourages business travelers to trim travel costs, launched its beta service today for companies with up to 750 employees. The startup incentivizes business travelers to spend within company travel budgets by rewarding them with a percentage of the savings.
Rocketrip also announced a seed round of $575,000 from Genacast Ventures, friends, and family that closed in May 2013.
Business travelers are given a budget calculated by Rocketrip’s Smart Budget algorithm that considers a corporation’s travel policy, real-time trip pricing, and available inventory.
Travelers are then able to book airfares, hotels, and rental cars on preferred independent travel sites. Employees are rewarded with Rocketrip points, which can redeemed for cash or gift cards, every time they find better-than expected-fares.
Corporations with stiff travel management systems can use the platform to give travelers flexibility and gain greater control of customer booking behavior. Rocketrip’s platform be used as a standalone platform or integrated into existing corporate portals making it a viable solution for large companies.
The launch is timed to coordinate with the PhoCusWright Conference currently underway in Florida.
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Tags: funding