MasterCard tips

The new credit cards offer exclusive travel benefits, Marriott Bonvoy Elite status and the ability to earn points on everyday purchases.

A new study from Mastercard highlights how decision makers and travelers perceive sustainability, vacation rentals, and other topics in corporate travel.

Mobile virtual cards aren’t new. A virtual card assigns a unique number to a transaction or a specific period of time. Companies can set spending controls on these card numbers so that employees don’t go over a limit. You can store these virtual cards on your phone. 

Providing consistent sustainability information is key to driving travelers’ trust. Striving to transform the travel industry into a more sustainable one, by providing people with sustainability information, is a shared journey and both Mastercard and Sabre are fully aligned with Travalyst’s mission.

The latest figures anticipate T&E spending to recover its 2019 height of $1.4 trillion sometime in 2024 and reach $1.8 trillion in 2027.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, September 7. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

A shift towards experiential journeys, growing demand for premium travel options – Indians approach to travel is evolving, according to Mukul Sukhani, senior vice president of business development at Mastercard.

Mastercard is planning to make a minority investment in Conferma Pay, a fintech company acquired earlier this year by Sabre Corporation.

Mastercard Inc forecast current-quarter revenue growth short of Wall Street estimates on Thursday, saying the boost from pent-up demand for travel will diminish going forward.

Credit card, payment and expense companies have seen a massive jump in transactions for the first quarter.

Nearly 97 percent of Indian travelers intend to make greener travel decisions over the coming 12 months, according to Booking.com’s annual Sustainable Travel Report. Amid rising climate anxiety, Indian travelers say they are making conscious accommodation and transport choices with 83 percent of respondents feeling that doing so would help protect the planet for future generations. Now in its eighth year, the research highlights a dilemma where people are forced to choose between affordability and making sustainable travel choices. Around 84 percent of Indians think the global energy crisis and rising cost of living are impacting their spending plans. Nearly two-thirds of them (66 percent) believe sustainable travel options are too expensive, while 80 percent are willing to pay more for sustainable travel options to feel reassured they are driving impact. “India has emerged as one of the top 10 countries with 20,000 properties now being recognized for their sustainability efforts on Booking.com. We are listening and together with our partners across the industry, we are examining every part of the trip to not only support our travelers but also benefit local communities and environment,” said Santosh Kumar, country manager of India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia at Booking.com. The report is based on insights gathered from more than 33,000 travelers across 35 countries and territories.  

March was a record month for American Express, with the credit card company recording its highest ever spending volume following a surge in people booking flights and eating out.

Expedia Group and Mastercard are teaming to power a loyalty points redemption program that enables banks and credit unions that issue Mastercards to enable their cardholders to redeem credit card loyalty points after booking Expedia-provided trips.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Monday, May 1. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Despite significantly higher airfares, domestic bookings in India surpassed pre-pandemic levels in March, while international travel reached 99.5 percent, according to travel technology provider Sabre’s booking data. Sabre expects international travel capacity to exceed pre-pandemic levels by the second quarter.

Navan, the corporate travel agency previously called TripActions, rolled out a feature that enables companies to retain the benefits of their Visa and Mastercard corporate cards and still gain access to Navan’s automated expense management features.

Online travel company Ixigo has introduced “Plan by Ixigo,” an artificial intelligence trip planner that uses OpenAI’s ChatGPT to help plan itineraries and accommodation options. The tool also delivers real-time destination information and automatically maps and generates a detailed itinerary, along with weather and air quality index updates.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand is actively focusing on the Middle East as a crucial source market for tourism, aiming to attract 400,000 visitors from the region this year. Saudi Arabia is expected to lead the way with a projected 150,000 visitors, driven by the restoration of direct flights and enhanced diplomatic relations with Thailand.