Southwest Airlines Connects to Kayak for Business

Southwest Airlines has started providing content to Kayak’s corporate travel platform, Kayak for Business, Kayak announced.

In addition to its fares, which can be booked directly through Southwest via an API connection with Kayak for Business, the platform also enables users to access discounts and book travel with Rapid Rewards points as well as add the EarlyBird option for automatic check-in 36 hours prior to departure, according to Kayak. The connection is Southwest’s latest move to make “business travel…easy and simple,” according to Southwest director of B-to-B channel strategy and relations Eric Hall, and is the latest announcement in its evolving distribution strategy over the past few years, which also has included full global distribution system participation for corporate travel.

“Our list of API-connected partners continues to grow, making our content available to more travelers in their preferred channel of choice,” Hall said in a statement.

In addition to Southwest’s participation, Kayak for Business, which reports more than 10,000 small and midsized business users, also announced two new features meant to improve business travel flexibility. The features give users the capability to cancel and change trips and to use unused tickets or travel credit to pay for upcoming trips.

Michael B. Baker  www.businesstravelnews.com