Advantage Travel Partnership, a network of travel management companies (TMCs), has strengthened its payment and technology offerings. The company announced new deals with Mastercard and three technology platforms.
At its conference in Malta on Thursday, 15 May, Advantage revealed a partnership with Mastercard. This agreement aims to improve payment services for Advantage’s member TMCs and their corporate clients.
The UK-based group explained that current corporate travel payment systems are often “complex and ineffective.” Mastercard’s research shows that half of business travellers are unhappy with how they manage payments and expenses.
Through this deal, Advantage will offer TMCs various payment tools. These include virtual cards, billing products, procurement options, and pre-paid cards.
Andrea Caulfield-Smith, managing director of global business travel at Advantage, said the Mastercard partnership will give members “the tools they need to stay competitive in a complicated financial environment.”
Advantage also works with payment specialists AirPlus and Wex. This is part of its effort to let customers use different payment methods.
In a separate announcement, Advantage said it is expanding its global technology marketplace. It added three new tech partners: Tripism, mTrip, and Procon.
Stephen Baxendale, technology partnerships manager at Advantage, said these companies will offer new tech choices to members.
“These partnerships show how we continue to provide members with a complete range of tools,” Baxendale said. “They help improve operations and services, whether through data, automation, or user-friendly processes.”
Tripism collects data from suppliers, travel teams, and business travellers. This helps TMCs create a personalized portal for corporate clients. The portal can share updates on travel policies and supplier news.
mTrip offers TMCs a mobile app that works offline. It provides travelers with personalized itineraries, travel guides, interactive maps, and other useful features.
Procon offers cloud-based software to help agencies run their back-office systems more efficiently.
During her presentation, Caulfield-Smith highlighted Advantage’s growing “commercial impact” over the past year. She said the programme has expanded in scale.
Advantage has increased its airline partnerships from 50 last year to more than 70 carriers in 2025. New airline partners include Virgin Atlantic, Etihad Airways, Delta, Air India, United Airlines, Air Canada, and Turkish Airlines.
Caulfield-Smith also mentioned Advantage’s accommodation joint venture with Hickory Global Partners, announced at the 2024 conference in Cancun. This partnership has grown the number of available properties to over 45,000. It includes serviced apartments and bed banks, all with competitive negotiated rates.
“Our mission is to bring the business travel community closer together,” Caulfield-Smith said. “We want to raise our collective voice for all our members. With our new brand, this is a fresh chapter for Advantage and global business travel.”
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