United Airlines to Launch New Platforms for Corporate Customers

Different business travel buyers may have their own priorities when it comes to features such as access to loyalty programs, more spacious seats, Wi-Fi and discounts on leisure travel for employees.

With a new platform that United Airlines will launch later this year called United for Business Blueprint, corporate customers will be able to choose from features like those while fully customizing their business travel program contracts, the company said in a Thursday (Aug. 11) press release.

Previously, the only option the airline offered during this process was discounted airfare, per the release.

“The needs of our customers are changing, and it’s the right time to move beyond the one-size-fits-all contracting model that has become standard across the industry,” Doreen Burse, senior vice president of worldwide sales at United, said in the press release.

For those who prefer to book business travel through united.com or the United app, the airline is also making it easier for corporate customers to enroll and manage travel through those platforms, per the announcement.

When the new website is rolled out later this year, corporate customers will be able to register with United for Business with just a few clicks, easily rebook and exchange travel, view and use future flight credits, view reports on travel activity and get more choice in setting payment options and spending guidelines for their travelers, according to the release.

These new offerings come soon after the U.S. Travel Association (USTA) found that about a fifth of business travelers surveyed said that they were unsure when they’d make a trip for a meeting or trade show in the next six months.

Read more: Has Business Travel Been Permanently Grounded?

In its “Business Travel Tracker—2022 Q2,” survey taken in May, USTA found that “more than two-thirds of corporate executives expect the company they work for will spend less on business travel over the next six months compared to the same period in 2019.”