Ansett Australia Launches Ansett Travel Account

ANSETT AUSTRALIA LAUNCHES ANSETT TRAVEL ACCOUNT TO TRAVEL AGENTS WITH UATP

WASHINGTON, March 5 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ -- Universal Air Travel Plan, Inc. (UATP), in conjunction with Ansett Australia, announces the launch of Ansett Travel Account (ATA) to the travel agent community. ATA incorporates Ansett's complete suite of travel management tools, including the Ansett UATP Card for air-only expenses and the Ansett Visa Corporate Card, for corporations considering full travel and entertainment expenses. Previously known as the Ansett Travel Card (ATC), ATA has been enhanced to offer corporate customers greater convenience and security. Through UATP's global network, ATA can be used to purchase travel not just on Ansett Australia, but on nearly every airline worldwide. Ansett Australia joins fellow Star Alliance partner, Air New Zealand, with an emphasis on UATP as part of an enhanced payment system solution for corporate customers.

Through UATP, ATA enables travel agents to offer their corporate clients the most convenient and effective way to manage air travel expenses. Having first launched to direct corporate accounts six months ago, the UATP component of ATA offers corporations consolidated billing statements directly from Ansett with the most extensive details on all flight activities, regardless of the sales channel used. As an ATA benefit for travel agents, corporate customers may lodge their account with a preferred agent, minimizing potential business risk by eliminating the need for customer accounts. ATA is free, without establishment costs or merchant fees and is a convenient method of payment for net fares.

Richard Crum, UATP President and Chairman, said, "It is clear that Ansett Australia recognizes the important role of travel agents in the corporate travel marketplace. UATP is valuable in its ability to solidify relationships between airlines, travel agents and their corporate clients. Ansett's UATP program is symbolic of our rapid growth in the Australia and New Zealand marketplace.

"Blair Smith, Ansett Manager of Corporate Pricing & Payment Products, said, "Ansett has a business development area dedicated to designing and building better products for our corporate markets. The ATA product is a perfect example of this as it seamlessly combines dedicated reporting, MIS, and complex customer revenue sharing requests with a global acceptance network. The benefits of ATA to both our customers and Ansett are enormous and though these are early days, the feedback and sales on the card continue to be very encouraging."

Universal Air Travel Plan Inc., formerly known as the Air Travel Card(R), is the world's first business travel payment system. Founded in 1936, UATP was an innovator in the charge card industry, developing such standards as the magnetic strip and lodged accounts. With annual global billings of over USD8 billion, owned and operated by each card-issuing airline and accepted by virtually every airline in the world, UATP offers the most complete data and lowest administrative cost of any charge product. Multi-national corporations, including 73% of the Top Global 100, utilize UATP to better manage their travel expenses. Airlines currently issuing UATP accounts include Aer Lingus, Air New Zealand, Alitalia, Ansett Australia, American Airlines (NYSE: AMR), British Airways (NYSE: BAB), Continental (NYSE: CAL), Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL), Japan Airlines (Nasdaq: JAPNY), KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (NYSE: KLM), Lufthansa German Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines System, Swissair, Trans World Airlines (Amex: TWA), United Airlines (NYSE: UAL) and US Airways (NYSE: U). For more information, visit UATP.com.

SOURCE Universal Air Travel Plan, Inc

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