Amex, Maritz End Joint Venture

Meetings & Conventions: Incentive News

Amex, Maritz End Joint Venture

American Express and Maritz Travel Co., a division of Fenton, Mo.-based Maritz Inc., have dissolved a group travel business-referral arrangement that was in place for more than two years.

Under the arrangement, American Express, based in New York City, referred its large business travel clients to Maritz for incentive and meeting services for “all the land-based portions of the program,” according to a spokesperson for American Express.

Now, American Express clients are referred to the company’s subsidiary, American Express One, which previously received Amex’s group travel referrals for clients with less than $10 million in annual travel volume.

According to Maritz president Jeff Reinberg, “it was a good relationship, but it ran its course,” adding that the business American Express passed on to Maritz (for a price) did not always guarantee a new client. “We still had to bid for those pieces of business,” he said.

American Express Incentive Services (AEIS), another joint venture between Amex and Maritz, geared toward merchandise and debit card-based incentive programs, will remain in place, as both firms are happy with the arrangement.

Back to Incentive Newsline