corporate traveller southwark

Find the joy in booking.

Get the best negotiated rates and keep all your travellers safe. All anywhere, anytime.

• Bookings in less than 5 minutes.
• Email responses in 10 minutes.
• All your calls answered by the 3rd ring.

Welcome to seamless travel management.

Melon has your back.

Our new digital booking experience, Melon, is pretty sweet. It’s the solution to every booking problem you’ve ever faced. Manage your entire travel programme from anywhere, any time.

• Lost touch with your traveller? Found.
• Upcoming emergency? Notified.
• Need to change everything last-minute? We got you.

Melon keeps an eye on all your travellers and connects you to our team of travel-savvy consultants. Find and make bookings in minutes. Bring on the savings with competitive deals at your fingertips. Melon makes everything from levelling up your travel policy to personalising your search easier.

Book, save and boost safety. All from anywhere, anytime.

Tech like magic

Want to make corporate travel easier? 

Level up your policy

Your bookings, your way

Let’s talk safety

New Era Travel Case Study

Things you’ll love.

Your personal travel experts

Bring on the deals! You’ve earned it

More savings? Yes, please!

Specialised travel needs? Easy.

Where do you fit in.

I’m making the big calls

I’m hitting the road

See how easy your booking future could be.  book a demo..

Login to your Online Booking and Reporting Tools

Need Assistance? If you need help with your login details, please contact your Travel Manager.

Within aus: 1300 732 280                           outside aus: +61 7 3170 7907.

All your corporate travel needs in one place.

All your travel needs?  Sorted. Our omnichannel platform is supported by travel experts to cover every part of your journey.

You can have it all.

Over the last 30 years, we’ve seen what growing companies like yours need when it comes to travel. Simpler bookings, unified systems, better user experience, convenience, tracking, 24/7 support, flexibility, savings, speed, and more. We took everything you need and combined them into one seamless travel experience.

Let us fuel your growth with Melon, one platform, powered by travel experts.

Helping companies travel the globe simpler, faster, easier.

Tech like magic.

Melon is your one-stop-shop for booking, safety, reporting, policy, and expenses. Make bookings in 5 minutes and access millions of travel options from the palm of your hand.

Check us out

Things you'll love.

Greater Choice, More value

Your personal travel experts

Bring on the deals! You've earned it

Specialized travel needs? Easy.

Your travel program deserves an upgrade.

It’s time for a travel program makeover.  Book a chat with our specialist and let’s make travel magic.

• English (UK)
• English (CA)
• Deutsch (DE)
• Deutsch (CH)

The 2024 guide to corporate travel management

What is corporate travel management, what does a corporate travel manager do.

• Booking trips for travelers (not only c-suite executives, but employees in any role).
• Helping individual departments track their travel spend so they can stay under budget.
• Providing travel support to travelers before, during, or after their trip.
• Selecting and managing any travel vendors or travel tools used.
• Working to negotiate corporate rates on hotels that the company uses often.
• Booking group travel.
• Organizing ground transportation like rental cars or rail
• Analyzing company travel spend, or delivering travel spend reports to the CFO for analysis.

What does a travel buyer do?

Stakeholders in the travel management process.

• In-house corporate travel manager
• Office manager or office team
• Head of operations / COO
• CFO and finance managers
• Panel of frequent employee travelers
• Current corporate travel agency or company

What solutions are companies using to book their business trips?

Consumer booking sites, traditional travel agencies, travel management software.

Save your company time and money on business travel

What are the drawbacks of each solution.

• Need to compare various websites and pay out of pocket in order to secure the best price
• Many hidden costs, with fees for cancellations and changes
• Many back-and-forth emails when booking for companies
• Need to pay upfront
• No support for issues on the road
• Time-consuming manual reimbursing and expense tracking
• Impossible to ensure compliance with company travel policy
• Online booking tools are typically buggy, with bad UX
• Employees end up calling support or book, when they’d rather save time by booking for themselves, with the options they want
• Costly service
• Above-market transport/accommodation prices
• Company policy compliance is difficult to guarantee
• Lack of travel inventory and options
• Clunky user experience that travelers don’t enjoy
• Offshore customer service, typically ranked as the top frustration in customer reviews
• Often overly complicated and feature-laden
• Impossible to control travel when travelers can’t or won’t use the tool
• Lacks low-price flights and hotels available online
• Impossible to guarantee company policy compliance

The pillars of modern travel management:

• Trust – Trust travelers to book using the approved process and policy, and make it easy for them
• Transparency – Let travelers see what they’re allowed to spend and choose accordingly, and let finance and administrative teams see what is being booked and why.
• Simplicity – Create a process that works and meets everyone’s needs.
• Impact – Measure the impact of business travel on the company and reduce unnecessary trips that leave travelers exhausted and businesses with needless expenses.
• Duty of care – Ensure a thorough duty of care strategy is in place to mitigate risks for employees when traveling
• Sustainability – Being aware of the impact of travel on the environment and adopting good practices to reduce the effect

How can a good corporate travel program help companies to save money?

Ensuring compliance with company travel policy, access to more affordable flight options, stay on top of travel spending trends, six steps to managing corporate travel effectively.

• Choose a smart booking tool
• Assure 24/7 travel support
• Create policies and approval workflows
• Organize and utilize travel spend data in real-time
• Improve collaboration between admin and finance
• Reduce your company’s carbon footprint

1. Choose a smart booking tool

• Self-booking within policy – Trust your travelers to book what they need, and set up policies and parameters
• Consolidated invoicing – The ability to get one monthly invoice for all travel from one vendor, instead of having it spread across the web
• Travel spend reporting – Easy access for all finance and administrative team members who need to track travel itinerary details and spend by cost centers, tags or labels
• Easy booking process that travelers love – Invoice consolidation and accurate reporting are impossible if employees want to cheat on the approved tool, so choose a tool that’s easy to use with consumer-grade UX. Make their entire travel experience, from booking to coming home, as easy and smooth as possible. Introducing a mobile app is just an added bonus!
• Great inventory – Inventory is not a side note. Make sure the platform you use has every available option you can find online and that the company is committed to adding more inventory
• Travel support – You need travel assistance that’s available 24/7 in your native language so that employees can get help even when the internal admin team is unavailable

2. Assure 24/7 travel support

Here are the requirements to look for in travel support:.

• Available 24/7
• Easy to reach a real human
• Guaranteed follow-up and follow-through
• Native language support
• Fast escalation for big issues

3. Create policies and approval workflows

• Maximum cost of airfare
• Maximum cost per hotel per night
• Minimum amount of days booked in advance
• Hotel star rating
• Flight class allowed

Travel Management: The Ultimate Guide

Approval workflows.

• No approval required for any trip
• Approval required for some trips
• Approval required for every trip

4. Organize and utilize travel spend data

• Cost centers – Does your company use different payment accounts for different geographical regions? How many cost centers does the company have? Make sure that travel spend is getting charged to the right accounts and that you're making accurate expense reports.
• Tags and labels – Beyond cost centers, are there any important filters that the finance team would have to have when viewing travel spending reports? For example, would they like each trip tagged by team or by project? Decide upfront so that the tagging system can be implemented clearly from the get-go.
• Keep all travel in one place – to get accurate travel data, you need to keep all travel in one place—whenever possible. Work with a travel management solution that integrates with providers that matter to your company, such as budget airlines, AirBnb or European train lines. If your company has negotiated hotel rates, you want your corporate solution to be able to book those rates for you, so you don’t lose the travel data by booking directly.

5. Improve collaboration between admin and finance

• Streamlined approvals process – If your approval process requires action from the admin and the finance team, try to make this as seamless as possible.
• Easy access invoices – The finance team needs to grab all invoices quickly so they can reconcile expenses and set clear reimbursement processes. The best way to do this is to use a platform that consolidates travel spend into one monthly invoice.
• Ability to track spend instantly – Consolidate all travel spend into one platform so that they can generate reports on what is being spent, by who, and why (when using tags and labels). Same as with the invoices, determine whether you need to send them a monthly report, or if they want to download it themselves.
• Cost savings on trips – Fixing travel isn’t just about saving time. Many businesses are still using travel booking platforms that were built in the 80s and 90s. This means that they markup the inventory so that the company is paying more than a consumer would! Impress the finance team by reducing travel costs and introducing consumer-grade prices for trips.

6. Reduce your company’s carbon footprint

• Work out your starting point by calculating your company’s travel carbon footprint
• Design a green business travel program, which creates data-driven strategies to increase employee commitment
• Choose economy class
• Reduce your fuel consumption where possible
• Pick low-emission airlines and avoid layovers
• Vet your accommodation for sustainability practices
• Utilize green travel tax breaks

The bottom line: it's time to upgrade your travel management

Let’s bring it all together.

• Choose a smart booking tool – Meet everyone’s needs
• Share the burden of travel support – Don’t try to do this alone
• Set up cost centers and labels – Let the tool reflect the business
• Create policies and approval workflows – Put the policy inside the booking process
• Improve collaboration between admin and finance – Grab invoices and reports

Make business travel simpler. Forever.

• See our platform in action . Trusted by thousands of companies worldwide, TravelPerk makes business travel simpler to manage with more flexibility, full control of spending with easy reporting, and options to offset your carbon footprint.
• Find hundreds of resources on all things business travel, from tips on traveling more sustainably, to advice on setting up a business travel policy, and managing your expenses. Our latest e-books and blog posts have you covered.
• Never miss another update. Stay in touch with us on social for the latest product releases, upcoming events, and articles fresh off the press.
• Business Travel Management
• Offset Carbon Footprint
• Flexible travel
• Travelperk Sustainability Policy
• Corporate Travel Resources
• Corporate Travel Glossary
• For Travel Managers
• For Finance Teams
• For Travelers
• Thoughts from TravelPerk
• Careers Hiring
• User Reviews
• Integrations
• Privacy Center
• Help Center
• Privacy Policy
• Cookies Policy
• Modern Slavery Act | Statement
• Supplier Code of Conduct

How Southwest Business Is Simplifying Corporate Air Travel Management

Southwest Business + Skift

May 29th, 2024 at 10:00 AM EDT

As business travel approaches pre-pandemic levels, Southwest Business is streamlining corporate air travel management. By enhancing booking systems, introducing a self-service portal, and maintaining dedicated support, Southwest aims to ensure flexibility and efficiency for travel managers and travelers alike.

Southwest Business

This sponsored content was created in collaboration with a Skift partner.

Business travel is back — well, almost. According to Skift Research , business travel will reach 95 percent of its pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024. This resurgence marks a significant recovery for corporate travel, which had been lagging behind leisure travel. 

In this resurgent landscape, travel managers have become more critical than ever in streamlining the air booking process, ensuring it aligns with company policies while seeking solutions that simplify management tasks and maintain compliance. 

Southwest Airlines has continued to expand its services within the business travel sector to help travel managers achieve their goals, offering enhanced capabilities to book, modify, and manage flights through multiple distribution channels, including global distribution systems (GDS), direct connect application programming interfaces (API), and its own proprietary booking platform, SWABIZ. 

“Anticipating the growth in business travel this year allowed us to move forward with many key enhancements to enable travel managers to manage their Southwest travel programs better,” said Ryan Green, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Southwest Business. “Our goal is to make business travel simple and easy for everyone involved — and for travel managers, that starts by offering flexible self-service options, customizable programs, and robust tools to simplify program management.”

A Flexible and User-Friendly Self-Service Portal 

Leaning into flexibility led Southwest Business to create a self-service portal in 2022, Southwest Business Assist , which enables travel managers to manage travel more autonomously, reducing friction and improving the customer experience. The unified portal is a “one-stop shop” for travel managers to oversee travel agreements, handle requests, track funds and credits, and stay updated with promotional content. 

“With the rise of hybrid work environments and blended travel scenarios, our priority for Southwest Business Assist is to remove friction and provide as much flexibility for travel managers as possible,” Green said. “Since launching the portal, we have continually added new functionality, including improved reporting, more in-depth dashboards, sustainability tracking, and the ability to contract and book travel for meetings and events.”

As unique corporate travel opportunities emerge, Southwest Business Assist provides actionable insights and user-friendly tools that support travel managers in managing complex travel programs and situations, extensive reporting requirements, and duty-of-care responsibilities. 

“Southwest Business Assist is a valuable tool in my travel manager toolkit,” said Sabrina Kronk, travel manager of a university that works with Southwest Business. “It gives me a near real-time overview of all that’s happening in my travel program. Every day, there’s a plot twist or multiple plot twists, so having partners that support me when something unexpected happens is essential.”

Simple Contracts and Multichannel Distribution 

According to Green, another key differentiator for Southwest Business is its emphasis on simple, straightforward, and easy-to-understand contract terms, reflecting a move away from complex agreements and restrictive policies. 

“We put customers first in every aspect of the travel experience, and this extends to everything a corporate travel program entails, including contract simplicity and offering diverse channel options,” Green said. “Our goal is to continue differentiating ourselves by removing friction in this space while bringing flexible, unique offerings to the marketplace to meet those needs and make it easier to do business.” 

Kronk appreciates the flexible terms outlined in her contract with Southwest Business, which allows refunds on non-refundable tickets if necessary and lets her change the name on a ticket to allow a different person within her organization to travel if the original attendee cannot.

“These may seem like simple tasks, but having the ability to leverage these options within our contracts is incredibly valuable,” Kronk said. “We also appreciate that Southwest offers multiple booking channels — having all those flights in the GDS is incredibly important for us because it keeps everyone in compliance.” 

Dedicated Support for Travel Managers

At a time when some airlines are scaling back or even eliminating their sales teams, Southwest Business remains committed to offering dedicated account manager support for travel managers. 

“Our team of trusted advisors significantly contributes to creating a more efficient and supportive environment for corporate travel managers,” Green said. “Team members are readily available to help travel managers address any issues or concerns that may arise before, during, or after travel occurs.” 

In addition to the human hospitality found within those support teams, the digital tools offered by Southwest Business Assist provide comprehensive insight and analytics in near real-time, so travel managers can make necessary data-driven decisions and manage their travel programs more effectively. 

“By streamlining those administrative tasks and offering robust reporting options, these tools alleviate the burden on travel managers and allow them to focus on their more important duty-of-care responsibilities,” Green said.

What’s Next for Southwest Business? 

With more business travelers getting back on the road this year, Southwest Business continues to develop additional tools, capabilities, and enhancements designed to meet the ever-evolving needs of those managing their company’s travel.

“Before we take on any initiative or pursue new capabilities, we seek feedback from customers to better understand their needs,” Green said. “For example, we’re working on a revamped tool to make booking groups easier and more manageable. Enterprise-wide, we’re hard at work adding in-seat power and larger overhead bins, and improving our digital hospitality for customers with new features on our app, including tracking bags and listing to fly standby on earlier flights. These combined investments support our goal to be trusted travel partners for businesses across the country as we work to design flexible solutions that fit their needs.” 

To learn more about which business travel offerings are right for you, click here .

This content was created collaboratively by Southwest Business and Skift’s branded content studio, SkiftX .

Have a confidential tip for Skift? Get in touch

Tags: airlines , business travel , SkiftX Creative Studio , SkiftX Showcase: Technology , southwest business , travel managers

Former Chinese takeaway worker jailed for money laundering after police seized 61,000 bitcoins — currently worth $4 billion

• A British-Chinese woman has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for money laundering.
• Police seized 61,000 bitcoins — now worth more than $4 billion — from Jian Wen's home in 2018. 
• Authorities were alerted when Wen attempted to buy luxury London homes valued at more than $50 million.

A British-Chinese woman has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for her part in a bitcoin money laundering scam.

Jian Wen, 42, was initially found guilty at London's Southwark Crown Court on March 20, the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said in a press release at the time.

She was sentenced to 80 months in prison on Friday.

Wen first came to the attention of authorities after she made a series of attempts to buy luxury homes in London from 2017 to 2018. The three properties were valued at £23.5 million ($29.7 million), £12.5 million ($15.8 million), and £4.5 million ($5.7 million).

The subsequent investigation culminated in police seizing devices containing 61,000 bitcoins — currently worth more than $4 billion — in 2018, in what was the UK's largest-ever crypto seizure.

The funds are said to have come from an investment fraud operation in China led by her "employer," Yadi Zhang.

Related stories

In her sentencing remarks , Judge Sally-Ann Hales, KC, said that more than 128,000 investors pumped 40 billion Renminbi (roughly $5.6 billion) into the scheme.

"Some of the proceeds of this fraud were exchanged for bitcoin, loaded onto a cryptocurrency wallet and smuggled out of China on a laptop," she added.

According to the CPS press release, Wen was convicted of converting "significant amounts" of the bitcoin into cash and other assets on her boss's behalf.

Despite declaring an income of just £12,800 (around $16,200) and £5,979 (roughly $7,600) in 2015 and 2016, Wen moved into a six-bedroom property in London in 2017, paying over £17,000 (around $21,600) a month.

Wen and her boss claimed to run an international jewelry business, with Wen acting as the "front person." They also paid for Wen's son to move to the UK from China to attend a private school and purchased two properties in Dubai.

But her attempts to purchase extravagant London homes triggered anti-money laundering checks, and the sales stalled as she could not explain the source of the funds.

Wen was not accused of involvement in the original fraud, but Hales told Wen that she was "in no doubt that by 22 June 2019, you knew, rather than merely suspected, that you were dealing in the proceeds of crime."

In March, Andrew Penhale, chief prosecutor, said: "Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used by organized criminals to disguise and transfer assets so that fraudsters may enjoy the benefits of their criminal conduct."

"This case, involving the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the UK, illustrates the scale of criminal proceeds available to those fraudsters," he added.

Check out Business Insider's picks for best cryptocurrency exchanges

Watch: How money laundering for the cartels actually works, according to a former undercover agent

• Main content

Former Royal Philarmonic Orchestra conductor found guilty of child sex offences is spared jail sentence

Jan Latham-Koenig, 70, has been "humiliated in the public eye", the sentencing judge at Southwark Crown Court said, after the world-famous conductor admitted arranging sex acts with someone he thought was a teenager but who in reality was an undercover police officer.

Tuesday 28 May 2024 16:48, UK

A world-renowned classical music conductor who admitted to child sex offences, including messaging a teenager on a dating app and arranging to meet him, has been spared jail.

Jan Latham-Koenig, who was awarded an OBE back in 2020, has been given a 14-month prison sentence suspended for two years after previously pleading guilty to three charges.

London's Southwark Crown Court heard how the 70-year-old conductor, who has in the past been employed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and all the BBC ensembles, in one instance believed he had been messaging a 14-year-old boy he knew as Jacob.

In fact, he had been talking to an undercover police officer.

Sentencing him on Tuesday, Judge Alexander Milne told him he has been "humiliated in the public eye".

The judge also told the defendant that his successful career meant that, unlike other defendants who may be "unknown before and unknown after, that is the not case for Mr Latham-Koenig".

Latham-Koenig, from Belsize Park, north-west London, was sentenced to 14 months each for attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming and also arranging or facilitating the commission of a sexual offence with a child between 9 December 2023 and 11 January this year.

He was also given 10 months' imprisonment for engaging in sexual communication with a child. All sentences are to run concurrently.

'Deeply worrying'

Latham-Koenig was made an OBE in 2020 for services to music and UK-Russian cultural relations.

The judge, who described Latham-Koenig's actions as "deeply worrying behaviour", told the court: "This is a gentleman of 70 years of age who has a long and distinguished cultural career behind him.

"I would give credit for the pleas and at an early stage.

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

"I accept that there is clear remorse on the part of the defendant and that he has suffered - effectively this would have brought his career to an end.

"He is humiliated in the public eye."

Latham-Koenig had used a dating app to make contact with someone he knew as Jacob.

He believed Jacob was a 14-year-old boy, who was in fact an undercover police officer.

Their conversations became sexual and Latham-Koenig gave him a train ticket to Victoria station in London so they could meet but instead, the conductor was arrested.

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

No child was physically put at risk at any stage, the court heard.

Prosecutor Bill McGivern said the contact began on a dating app before moving on to WhatsApp messages.

Mr McGivern said that at one point during the conversations: "The defendant said he was a conductor in classical music and was dying to meet someone like Jacob."

Defence counsel Eleanor Laws said the case has had a "devastating effect" on Latham-Koenig, who has suffered "a loss of his career" which was something he "worked very hard at and was his great passion".

He is also dealing with the "feelings of distress" and "upset" he has caused to his family.

She added that Latham-Koenig's friends, who say he is "kind, humble and generous with his time", are sticking by him and he has taken "considerable steps to address his offending behaviour", including undergoing intensive therapy.

Related Topics