Google Flights vs. TravelBank: Freenome Cuts Booking Time in Half by Switching
“I’ve saved hours and hours of time with TravelBank vs. Google Flights. I’ve been booking two to three trips per month, and the time needed has gone from six to eight hours down to only two or three.”
– Homaira, Administrative Assistant
At a Glance
The Customer
A leading artificial intelligence (AI) genomics company working to reinvent disease management through early detection and precision intervention.
The Challenge
Using Google to search for flights and hotels was time-consuming and inefficient.
The Solution
- Selected TravelBank due to the user-friendly interface and reasonable pricing
- TravelBank’s passionate employees provide excellent support
The Results
- TravelBank’s ease of use enabled Freenome to launch quickly and easily
- Booking trips takes less than half the time
- The necessary expense info is now all in one place, also saving time for the accounting team
The Customer
By using AI to recognize disease-associated patterns among billions of circulating, cell-free biomarkers, Freenome is developing simple, accurate, and noninvasive blood tests for early-cancer screening and mapping the new frontier of cell-free cancer biology. Freenome’s most recent research, presented at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, examines prediction models using cell-free DNA fragment coverage to predict gene expression and infer 3D chromatin organization to identify tissues of origin.
The Challenge
As a startup, Freenome has three staff members handling all office management, along with executive travel and calendar management for seven different executives. “We were just using Google to search for flights and hotels, while also remembering travelers’ preferences, such as hotel loyalty program memberships. There’s so much to do at a startup, so we’re always thinking about how we can be more efficient and considering tools to help. We knew travel management tools could streamline our manual travel booking process and help us save time,” stated Homaira, Administrative Assistant, Freenome.
The Solution
Homaira and her colleagues researched a variety of travel management service providers and evaluated over ten different companies. “We considered a variety of service providers. Some were newer companies, and others were traditional travel agencies. Some had high fees for calling to speak to a travel agent, exorbitant costs for initial startup, or ongoing annual fees. Others were dated, clunky platforms with a poor user experience,” explained Homaira.
Freenome selected TravelBank due to the user-friendly interface, reasonable pricing, and excellent support. Additionally, Freenome reached out to OrgOrg, a community of people who work in the business and people operations field, and heard positive reviews from professionals around the Bay area, which further influenced the decision.
“The TravelBank employees we spoke with were amazing, very knowledgeable and passionate about their company. We were also pleased that TravelBank, as a fellow startup, understood our challenges, could grow with us, and seemed willing to consider our input in making customizations,” explained Homaira.
The Results
Quick, Easy Launch
“Setting everyone up and launching TravelBank was super easy and quick. I have to give an A-plus to TravelBank for that! TravelBank is intuitive and makes a lot of sense. The user interface is great, and using the platform is seamless,” stated Homaira.
Book Trips in Less Than Half the Time
“In terms of Google Flights vs. TravelBank, I’ve saved hours and hours of time. I’ve been booking two to three trips per month, and the time needed has gone from six to eight hours down to only two or three. For the average trip, it now takes less than half the time previously needed.
“When I use TravelBank, I spend less time filtering through hotels. The selection is great, and the results always consist of the best hotels you can get for your money. I’ve done a few searches on Google for comparison, and the TravelBank results were consistently filtering the best hotels to the top of the results. This has been another excellent time-saver,” explained Homaira.
Excellent Service
“We’ve had excellent service. TravelBank representatives go above and beyond. Additionally, now that we’re using TravelBank for all travel in the company, we’ve added a travel credit card to the account. Our accounting team now has the necessary expense info all in one place, which has saved time for them as well,” concluded Homaira.
