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Pegasus Solutions, Inc.
(Nasdaq: PEGS) signed a three-year renewal agreement with Phoenix-based Best Western International for continued centralized
management of worldwide travel agency commissions. After several years of
gradually adding international Best Western properties to the Pegasus service,
this contract formalizes a global relationship with the world's largest hotel chain.
As a result, Best Western is strongly encouraging its 4,000-plus hotels in 80
countries to participate in Best Cheque, Best Western's central commission
program, which is fulfilled by Pegasus Commission Processing, the hotel industry's leading travel agent commission processing service. The
Pegasus Commission Processing service was launched in 1992 by Dallas-based Pegasus
Solutions, a leading provider of hotel industry transaction processing and
electronic commerce services.
According to Will Jansen, vice president of North American
reservations for Best Western International, "Pegasus plays a vital liaison role between Best Western
hotels and the thousands of agencies that help bring travelers to our properties.
Best Western's long-term vision is to have nearly all of our properties outside the
U.S. utilizing automated commission processing. We plan to achieve this
goal through an expansion of our good working relationship with Pegasus and the
ongoing implementation of new technologies."
"Best Western was one of the first major hotel chains to join Pegasus
Commission Processing, and we're pleased to begin a second decade of serving
this prestigious client," said Jeff Bzdawka, senior vice president of Pegasus
Financial Services. "Best Western's commitment to process its commission
payments worldwide through Pegasus reaffirms our status as the undisputed
global leader in hotel commission processing services. This agreement also
highlights the growing presence of Pegasus Commission Processing on the international stage,
enhancing relationships between hotels and agencies while facilitating timely commission payments for all relevant parties."
Each month, Pegasus collects actual guest stay information related to
Best Western hotel bookings made by travel agents by extracting the information from
Best Western's central reservations system. After consolidating Best Western's
information and commission payments with that of other Pegasus participating
hotels, Pegasus sends a consolidated commission payment to its member travel
agencies worldwide. Payments are delivered in the agency's choice of currency.
Pegasus provides commission processing services to member travel
agencies in more than 200 countries, including the 10 largest U.S.-based agencies. By
participating in Pegasus Commission Processing (formerly known as "HCC"),
most member travel agencies realize a significant growth in commission revenue,
as well as cost savings due to a sizable reduction in expenses associated with
typical manual methods for managing hotel commissions.
Travel agencies can also elect to receive total automated commission
management through Pegasus' Electronic Reconciliation & Tracking service.
Pegasus also maintains highly responsive customer service support for travel
agencies, with more than 70 percent of commission queries being serviced and
satisfactorily answered while agents are on the phone with Pegasus. With the
majority of travel agencies worldwide as members and more than 35,000 hotel
property participants, Pegasus processes an average of $41 million in travel
agent commissions per month on behalf of more than 110 hotel companies in
159 countries. |
