Newly Launched Travel Portal Should Help Cut Costs, Make Booking Travel Easier

Ioana Patringenaru | July 21, 2008

Traveling for business? Need an airplane ticket or a rental car? How about a hotel reservation? A new Web site is making all travel at UC San Diego, and throughout the University of California, easier.

Click here for an overview
for the Connexxus program.

Click here to access the Connexxus portal.
(All employees who have had travel preauthorized in the last year, and who are associated with a travel preauthorization (travel preparers and approvers), are able to log into Connexxus through their existing Single Sign On.)

UCSD launched Connexxus, the new travel portal, June 9, to provide a convenient one-stop shop for business travel and to save on travel costs, said Dawn McDevitt, acting assistant director for UCSD Travel and project manager for Connexxus at UCSD.

The new service is being rolled out at all UC campuses. It also provides employees with new business travel discounts for airlines and hotels, and with deeper discounts for rental cars. That’s where the savings come in, McDevitt said. In addition, the Web site is designed to show employees all their options before they book their travel.

“Before, people were hunting for the best price all over the place,” McDevitt said. “Now, they’ve got the freedom of choice in one place.”

About 14,000 employees at UCSD have been designated as Connexxus users based on their previous travel history. That includes travelers themselves and those who may be booking trips for others. All of them had been involved with travel plans in the past year or had upcoming trips. Since the service was launched last month, Connexxus performed more than 570 bookings. Half of them were done online and the other half with the help of a travel agent, McDevitt said. In addition, employees created 232 profiles that allow them to use the system.

The system allows the University of California to save money thanks to discounted rates for travel, McDevitt said. Airline discounts include up to 25 percent off on American, up to 15 percent off on United and up to 5 percent off on Southwest airlines. Hotel discounts include 20 percent off for Starwood Hotels, 15 percent off for Marriott Hotels and 15 percent off for the Wyndham Hotel Group. Finally, rental car services provide 15 percent off prior UC agreements for Enterprise, Hertz and National.

In addition to booking travel directly, employees can also work with travel agencies that are Connexxus service providers, McDevitt said. This is particularly convenient for travel that includes multiple stops and travel abroad, she said. Agencies include BCD Travel, Orbitz and the UC Travel Center, managed by UCLA. McDevitt pointed out that Balboa Travel, one of the agencies employees often used, will complete reservations for BCD Travel.

In the future, she said more employees will probably start booking their travel online. The university also should be able to realize major cost savings, she added. “With all the travel cost increases happening today, UCSD can really contain costs by using Connexxus,” McDevitt said.