Ramp Launches Integrated Travel Booking Product Designed to Help Companies Spend Less

Rhea-AI Summary

Ramp has launched Ramp Travel, a new integrated travel booking product, in partnership with Priceline Partner Solutions. The tool aims to simplify booking and managing business travel by leveraging AI, automations, and Ramp's expense management system. Travel and entertainment spend on Ramp's platform has grown from 10% to 20% of annual card spend since 2021, and this number is expected to rise as corporate travel demand returns to pre-pandemic levels. The new product offers access to Priceline's global inventory and rates, integrates deeply with Ramp's existing features to eliminate cumbersome processes, and provides real-time insights into travel expenses. Ramp Travel is part of Ramp's broader strategy to expand its platform capabilities, following a $150 million raise in April 2023. The product is available now for existing customers, aiming to streamline travel bookings, automate expense workflows, and provide cost controls and insights to businesses.

Positive

• Ramp Travel launch marks significant platform expansion, enhancing Ramp's capabilities.
• Partnership with Priceline provides access to extensive global inventory and competitive rates.
• Ramp Travel integrates with Ramp’s expense management to automate workflows, reducing manual work.
• Travel & entertainment spend on Ramp has doubled to 20% of annual card spend since 2021.
• Product offers real-time insights into travel expenses, enabling better cost control.
• Ramp raised $150 million in April 2023, demonstrating strong investor confidence.

Negative

• Potential challenges integrating Ramp Travel with external travel providers may arise.
• Increased emphasis on travel and entertainment spend might expose Ramp to higher market volatility.
• Dependence on Priceline's inventory and rates could create vulnerabilities if the partnership faces issues.

Insights

Financial Analyst

Ramp's launch of an integrated travel booking product highlights its commitment to expanding its service offerings and enhancing value for corporate clients. Given that 20% of annual purchases on Ramp are travel-related, this new product could significantly increase revenue. This move comes shortly after Ramp raised $150 million in April, indicating a robust financial position and strategic expansion plans.

Ramp's integration with Priceline also offers competitive advantages through access to extensive travel inventory and industry-leading rates. This partnership could drive user adoption and retention due to the cost savings and convenience it brings to businesses. In the short-term, investors might see increased adoption rates and an uptick in user engagement, which can be critical metrics for growth.

In the long-term, this strategic shift could position Ramp as a comprehensive financial operations platform, differentiating it from competitors focused solely on expense management or travel booking. However, investors should watch out for how Ramp manages potential risks, such as integration challenges and maintaining service quality as it scales.

Tech Expert

Ramp Travel leverages AI and automation to streamline expense management, providing real-time insights into travel and entertainment spend. This tech-centric approach is designed to reduce administrative burdens and improve compliance with company policies. The integration with Priceline ensures access to a vast global inventory without the usual booking fees, creating a seamless user experience.

Technologically speaking, the ability to automate everything from collecting receipts to coding transactions is a significant advancement. This not only enhances operational efficiency but also minimizes human errors, which can be costly and time-consuming to correct. The use of Ramp AI to route expenses accurately and streamline accounting processes represents a forward-thinking application of technology in finance operations.

For investors, this innovative use of technology signals Ramp's commitment to continually enhancing its platform. The success of this integration will depend on the stability and scalability of the technology as user adoption increases. Continuous improvements and updates will be vital to maintaining a competitive edge.

Ramp Travel combines Ramp's policy controls, expense automations, and spend analytics with Priceline's global inventory and exceptional deals – saving businesses time and money from booking to book-close

• Leading finance operations platform Ramp introduces new way to book business travel using AI, automation, and integration with Priceline.
• Travel & entertainment (T&E) spend accounts for 20% of annual purchases made on Ramp, and is poised to grow as demand returns to pre-pandemic levels.
• Represents Ramp's second major category expansion this year, following Procurement for managing software vendors.
• Follows Ramp's $150 million raise in April as company accelerates platform expansion and place in the AI economy.

NEW YORK, June 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ramp, the finance operations platform designed to save businesses time and money, today announced the launch of Ramp Travel – a solution designed to make booking travel and automating expenses easy, low cost, and intuitive. The news marks Ramp's entrance into the business travel booking category, and is a significant step in Ramp's journey to help companies automate non-strategic work and make smarter decisions about every dollar spent.

Today, over 25,000+ businesses choose Ramp to consolidate spend, control costs, and simplify their financial operations. Already these businesses are allocating more of their budgets towards travel– representing 20% of annual card spend on Ramp, up from ~10% in 2021. This is expected to scale as demand for corporate travel rebounds.

As part of the launch, Ramp is partnering with Priceline Partner Solutions to give Ramp customers streamlined access to Priceline's global network of airline partners, extensive accommodation inventory, and industry leading rates. The tool is deeply integrated with Ramp's powerful expense management and workflow automations to eliminate the busywork and hassle typically associated with traveling for work– like expense reports, cumbersome approval processes to book travel, and delayed visibility into how employees are spending on trips as they happen.

"Ramp already makes companies' finances more efficient by streamlining expenses and automating busywork," says Eric Glyman, CEO, Ramp. "By integrating travel booking, which has traditionally been a pain point for busywork and bloat, organizations have more time and resources to focus on what really matters: their business."

A new model for business travel
Ramp Travel departs from conventional corporate travel offerings that profit off of high fees in exchange for guaranteed control over how and where employees spend. These traditional systems force businesses to choose between low prices and low controls – or high prices and better controls, are frustrating and manual to use for employees and accountants alike, and keep companies in the dark about the real-time flow of T&E spend across the business.

Ramp believes companies deserve better, and built Ramp Travel to:

• Eliminate the financial compromise between friendly rates and precise controls by pairing Ramp's customizable policy guardrails with access to exceptional deals on flights and hotels globally- powered by Priceline Partner Solutions.
• Simplify how employees book, with an intuitive interface to find in-policy flights and hotels in one place, all without extra booking fees.
• Automate everything from collecting receipts to coding transactions, so employees on the ground can focus on making the most of their trip and finance teams can focus on their business, not busywork.
• Give real-time insights into T&E spend, so companies can prevent non-compliant activity and uncover negative trends as they happen.
• Preserve flexibility and choice in how companies book travel, by integrating with external providers like Corporate Traveler, TravelPerk, and more. No matter where businesses book, Ramp AI will effortlessly route expenses to the right trip, show compliance against policies- down to per diems- and streamline accounting.

Ramp is uniquely able to realign incentives in business travel because it's approaching the space as a software and workflows company designed to help businesses spend less time on manual work and less money across their expenses, rather than a travel solution with specific interests. Instead of inflating rates, adding booking fees, or creating friction with external providers, Ramp is leveraging its technology and expertise to make traveling for work more simple and compliant.

"I've used so many systems for travel, and Ramp really knows how to take the best parts of each and make it so seamless and efficient," says Staci Robinson, AP Manager, Pair Eyewear. "Employees don't have to navigate to three different places just to book travel, and all their spend when they actually take the trip is all in Ramp, too. From approvals, to coding, to automatically attaching receipts to each trip – it's brilliant."

Through the new relationship with Priceline Partner Solutions, Ramp customers now have access to Priceline's full breadth of global travel products spanning over 116 countries worldwide. 

"Priceline's extensive inventory and highly competitive rates will help users seamlessly find the right travel offering to suit their needs," says Matthew Shutt, Vice President and General Manager, Priceline Partner Solutions. "We're excited to partner with Ramp to help take the friction out of business travel for corporate customers, and improve the experience for both employees and employers."

Ramp Travel is available now for existing customers to experience a smarter, better way to travel.

About Ramp
Ramp is the ultimate platform for modern finance teams. From spend management and expense management software, to bill payments, vendor management, and procurement, Ramp's all-in-one solution is designed to automate finance operations and build healthier businesses. Over 25,000 businesses have switched to Ramp to cut their expenses by an average of 5% and close their books 8x faster. To date, the company has saved its customers over $1 billion and 10 million hours. Learn more at ramp.com.

About Priceline

Priceline, part of Booking Holdings Inc. [NASDAQ: BKNG], has been a leader in online travel for twenty-five years. Priceline's proprietary deals technology pairs negotiation with innovation to analyze billions of data points to generate deep discounts for customers they can't find anywhere else. Travelers have access to millions of hotels, flights, alternative accommodations, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages and experiences from trusted brands in over 116 countries around the world, 24/7 customer service and incremental savings when becoming a Priceline VIP. By making affordable travel within reach for all, Priceline helps millions of customers each year be there for the moments that matter to them. Because where your happy place meets your happy price, that place is Priceline.

Media Contact
press@ramp.com 

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SOURCE Ramp

FAQ

What is Ramp Travel?

Ramp Travel is an integrated travel booking product launched by Ramp to simplify business travel bookings and expense management, leveraging AI and automations.

How does Ramp Travel benefit businesses?

Ramp Travel enables businesses to streamline travel bookings, automate expense reports, and access Priceline's global inventory and competitive rates, reducing costs and manual work.

What percentage of Ramp’s annual card spend is allocated to travel and entertainment?

Travel and entertainment make up 20% of annual purchases on Ramp, up from approximately 10% in 2021.

What was the recent financial move by Ramp to support its platform expansion?

Ramp raised $150 million in April 2023 to accelerate its platform expansion and establish its place in the AI economy.

Who is Ramp partnering with for the Ramp Travel product?

Ramp is partnering with Priceline Partner Solutions to provide access to Priceline's global network of airline partners, accommodation inventory, and competitive rates.