The Global Business Travel Association along with Fast Company honored Hertz in three of seven categories of the 2012 Business Traveler Innovation Awards on July 12.

Hertz was recognized for sustainable practice, travel personalization and travel productivity.

After business travelers submitted their nominations for services, products and ideas that help to make life on the road more productive, each innovation was categorized for the public to determine a winner.

The winners for each category include:

Category 1: Sustainable Practice

• Criteria: Outstanding and original environmental efforts in the travel industry

• Winner: Hertz

• Innovation: Green Traveler Collection

• The Hertz Green Traveler Collection is their line of hybrid, electric and clean diesel vehicles.

Category 2: Traveler Comfort

• Criteria: Products/services that focus on travelers’ ease and well being

• Winner: ExpertFlyer

• Innovation: Seat Alerts

• A flight alerting system periodically checks for availability on the flights and seats and notifies travelers via email to mobile devices when seats open up or when new flights are added.

Category 3: Travel Personalization

• Criteria: Innovation and excellence in customizing the business travel experience for the individual

• Winner: Hertz

• Innovation: Gold Choice

• With Gold Choice, members always skip the counter and go straight to the car, and if members booked a mid-size car or larger, different models and colors are available at no extra cost.

Category 4: Outstanding Apps

• Criteria: Applications that help business travelers organize and/or make best use of their time on the road

• Winner: Carlson Wagonlit Travel

• Innovation: CWT To Go

• Easy to download and use, travelers enjoy automated and integrated travel updates for their travel plans while companies benefit from no setup and simple and secure integration.

Category 5: Travel Convenience & Efficiency

• Criteria: Services that expedite the travel process

• Winner: Kayak.com

• Innovation: Kayak.com

• Kayak.com website and mobile apps enable travelers to easily compare hundreds of travel sites at once in one comprehensive, fast and intuitive display.

Category 6: Travel Management

• Criteria: Not Stated

• Winner: Sabre Travel Network

• Innovation: Sabre Virtual Meetings

• Sabre Virtual Meetings is the industry’s first, patent-pending solution for telepresence room distribution and scheduling. 

Category 7: Traveler Productivity

• Criteria: Not Stated

• Winner: Hertz

• Innovation: Hertz NeverLost Online Trip Planning

• Hertz’s fleet of full-size or larger vehicle is equipped with the newest version of the Hertz NeverLost navigation system, by reservation, which supports Online Trip Planning.

The People’s Choice Award honoring the innovation that received the highest number of votes will be presented at the 2012 GBTA Convention in Boston, Mass. on July 24 along with the Judge’s Choice Award after judges hear presentations from innovators.

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