Simplification Meets Aggregation: WEX and HitchHiker Partner to Improve the TMC Experience

Online travel agencies, tour operators, consolidators, travel management companies and airlines have sought to make the travel experience better for both business and leisure travelers for decades, but for these organizations, the traditional payment process has been cumbersome, risk-prone, and a hindrance for cash flow.

Seeking to address this challenge, WEX and German content aggregation, booking, and ticketing platform HitchHiker have partnered to simplify the travel booking and payment process, allowing mutual customers the ability to use virtual debit, prepaid, or credit cards on the HitchHiker platform without needing to re-enter information and wait for it to process.

How It Works

In coverage provided by Business Travel News, WEX SVP and General Manager of Virtual Payments shared how the agreement will make booking and payment easier for travel companies:

HitchHiker aggregates flight content from global distribution systems—including Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport— direct connections with airlines and other online booking tools. TMCs access the content through an API connection with HitchHiker or from the Hitchhiker Agent platform.

After TMC agents select WEX virtual card as a payment option, HitchHiker creates a WEX virtual card and pays the airline. “Typically, what [the TMC agent] would have to do is manually enter whatever payment instrument they’re using; type in the number, expiration date and the rest; hit submit; and wait for it to process,” explained WEX SVP and general manager of virtual payments James Pratt. “Now we’re saying, ‘You don’t have to type anything … and it will still be processed by the airline like any credit card number.'”

A Better Experience for TMCs

Travel Daily News spoke with Ian Johnson Commercial Director of Virtual Payments at WEX Europe, adding in their coverage,

“At WEX we see great opportunity for our payments and new technology solutions in Europe. We have been expanding rapidly into new markets over the last few years and focus on providing our customers with more powerful and effective solutions. Germany is a key market for us and having HitchHiker, a leading innovator in the travel technology space, working with us is a huge gain for our business and our mutual customers.”

Thomas Boffo, Managing Director, HitchHiker, said,

“In our role as aggregator of flight content from Global Distribution Systems, airline direct connects, global flight wholesalers, and other third party content providers, it has become vital to be able to offer a breadth of cost efficient and safe payment options which our customers can manage according to their business requirements. For our customers across the globe virtual payments have become the preferred method of payment, offering benefits such as reduced risk of fraud and misuse which conventional company cards cannot offer. Through our agreement with WEX our mutual customers will benefit from an increased cash flow through the credit funding option.”

Learn More: WEX Solutions for Travel Companies

Available without conversion fees in 24 currencies and many more through its network of currency partners, WEX Virtual Payment solutions are used in more than 190 countries worldwide, allowing you to pay in your own currency and your supplier to be paid in their local currency, minimizing markups, reducing risk, and easing the payment process. Learn more about travel billing currencies from the WEX Europe site, and see how WEX works for travel brands here.