American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) announced the launch of Hotel Lobby, an agentic AI capability within its hotel sourcing consulting service designed to shorten sourcing cycles and support continuous, year-round program optimization. The TMC also announced enhancements to its partnership with Delta Air Lines “bringing new loyalty capabilities directly into the booking experience to create a more seamless, connected journey for travelers.”
Hotel Lobby, said the announcement, uses specialized AI agents for coverage, negotiation and sourcing that can help automate time-intensive tasks including data cleansing, wish rate calculation and RFP validation. Unlike conversational AI copilots that simply respond to questions, said the announcement, the multi-agent system automates the sourcing workflow, freeing teams to focus on the moments where human judgment makes the real difference. It draws on negotiated rate benchmarks across thousands of global properties, supplier performance metrics from more than $5 billion in managed hotel spend and compliance trends across Amex GBT’s client portfolio.
“Hotel Lobby gives you the rigor of a full sourcing cycle and the speed to spend more time negotiating,” said Sara Andell, director of consulting strategy, Amex GBT. “Our AI agents now handle the data work, compress sourcing cycles, and free our consultants to focus on what actually drives savings, backed by rich proprietary travel data and years of consulting experience.”
Hotel pricing, demand and traveler behavior shift constantly, said the announcement, yet many travel programs still run a single annual sourcing cycle. This creates coverage gaps, compliance drift and missed savings between RFPs. Because Hotel Lobby takes care of the data prep and cuts the time it takes, said the announcement, teams can start the sourcing cycle with richer data available and complete it faster. It also lays the groundwork for continuous, year-round monitoring that protects negotiated value long after the RFP closes.
The announcement concerning the Amex GBT partnership with Delta said the companies are piloting new enrollment capabilities that allow eligible travelers to join SkyMiles and enroll in Delta’s Fast Track to Medallion Status offer without leaving their preferred booking channel.
New capabilities being developed for participating corporate customers and their travelers include:
- Participating corporate travelers who are not yet SkyMiles members will be able to enroll within the Egencia (an Amex GBT division) booking experience through a simple, one-click enrollment process. This new capability makes it easier for travelers to access SkyMiles Program benefits and start earning miles from their very first trip.
- Participating corporate travelers will be able to enroll in Delta’s Fast Track to Medallion Status offer — a new enrollment experience — within the Complete by SAP Concur and Amex GBT booking experience. Travelers who earn Medallion Status through this offer will unlock “valuable perks,” including Medallion mileage earn, waived bag fees and Complimentary Upgrade eligibility and other Medallion benefits. Eligible travelers will be able to enroll in the offer through a simple, one-click enrollment process, allowing them to earn Medallion status faster.
Rajiv Ahluwalia, chief revenue officer at Amex GBT, said: “When we build with our partners, rather than alongside them, our customers feel the difference. This pilot puts SkyMiles and Fast Track to Medallion Status where business travelers are already booking, and it shows what’s possible when partners share one goal: a better experience for the people who travel for work.”
