Carlson Wagonlit Travel is considering outsourcing "some of its mid- and back-office transaction technologies to Amadeus," the companies announced. They said they also recently signed a global distribution system agreement. CWT president for suppliers, products and technology Andrew Winterton was quoted as saying, "Outsourcing certain elements of our mid- and back-office technology to Amadeus would free up our internal resources to focus on more value-added services that drive client satisfaction. Instead of reinventing the technology wheel every time there's a change that impacts the travel community as a whole, we would rely on Amadeus to develop what is needed."

Nearly two years after creating its first mobile application, Rearden Commerce launched an iPhone app offering "flight alerts, detailed itinerary information, weather forecasts, flight search capabilities, interactive mapping, dining reservations and car service bookings." Rearden already provides a BlackBerry application.

Sabre's GetThere "formally launched a new packaged offering of collaboration options" for North American companies with 500 to 5,000 employees and less than $5 million in annual travel expenses, incorporating "travel, meeting and networking solutions with options for expense management and consulting services." GetThere charges "per employee per month" for the service, which includes private social networking tools for employee knowledge and itinerary sharing. GetThere announced its collaboration suite last year. The new midmarket offering provides travel management companies with referral revenue, according to a spokesman.

American Airlines said "only premium customers" will be eligible for the no-charge standby list on the day of travel, effective for tickets purchased from Feb. 22 for flights within the United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada. Those customers include elite-level loyalty program members, those booked in premium cabins and those who purchased unrestricted economy class fares. All other customers interested in switching flights on the day of travel can purchase a confirmed change for $50, based on availability. AA said its changes "are similar" to competitors' policies.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide in conjunction with Tata Communications opened Cisco TelePresence meetings suites in a W property in Chicago and a Sheraton in Sydney. Two more telepresence suites will open during the first half of 2010 including the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers and Sheraton Centre Toronto, followed later by the Westin Los Angeles Airport and other locations in Brussels, Dallas, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Paris and San Francisco.

Starwood's Aloft property in Lexington, Mass. is testing radio frequency identification keycards that allow travelers to skip front desk check-in and head directly to their rooms. Facilitated by VingCard Elsafe, the program involves activating cards one day prior to the date of the stay via a text message on travelers' mobile phones.

Total U.S. travel agency sales in January rose 11.1 percent year over year, the highest such increase since May 2007, according to ARC. It also marked the third consecutive month of rising sales. Transaction volume in January grew nearly 7 percent--about the same increase recorded for December.

UATP is expanding the payment network to hotel and car rental, and announced La Quinta Inns & Suites as its first hotel merchant. Client demand to expand centrally billed payments beyond air, travel agencies and Amtrak prompted UATP to talk to hotel chains and car rental firms, according to Universal Air Travel Plan president and CEO Ralph Kaiser. UATP founder American Airlines is the first issuer to expand to hotel payment acceptance, in service of client Walmart. The retailer has been using its AA UATP account to centrally bill hotel charges at La Quinta since last year.