Otto blog

We're on a mission to make business travel easier, smarter, and more personal. Read our latest thoughts and insights.
What Are Travel Management Companies? 2025 Complete Guide

Discover what travel management companies do, who uses them, and modern alternatives like AI assistants for business travel booking and support.

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Self-Booking Tools for Business Travel: A Complete Guide

Self-booking tools for business travelers: compare consumer sites, corporate OBTs, expense platforms, and AI assistants to find your fit.

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5 Strategies for Smart Business Trip Planning

Make business trips work for you, not against you. 5 strategies to arrive rested, avoid disruptions, and maximize your company's travel policy.

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7 Best Travel Mobile Applications for Business Travelers in 2025

Discover 7 travel mobile applications that solve real business travel problems: AI-powered booking that learns your preferences, jet lag management, fast customs clearance, accurate translation, and more. Most are free.

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6 Biggest Business Travel Challenges and How to Fix Them

Discover 6 business travel challenges road warriors face daily, from flight disruptions to expense tracking, and practical fixes that actually work.

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How AI Virtual Travel Assistants Automate Business Travel

Learn how AI virtual travel assistants automate flight research, booking, and disruption management for business travelers.

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10 Best AI Executive Assistants for Busy Professionals

Compare the 10 best AI executive assistants for 2025. Find the right AI tool to automate meetings, travel, and administrative work for busy professionals.

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What Happens If You Miss Your Connecting Flight: What to Do Next

Miss your connecting flight? Learn what airlines owe you, how to rebook fast, and the exact steps that get you to tomorrow's meeting when connections fall apart.

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Business Travel Itinerary Guide 2025: Templates & Tips

Business travel itineraries break when meetings shift. See a 3-day example and how to handle last-minute changes.

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9 Best Sites Like Expedia for Business Travel

Discover 9 sites like Expedia that enforce policy, automate expenses, and handle disruptions when your corporate trips go sideways.

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Solo Business Travel Expenses Management Guide 2025

Master business travel expenses with practical tips for tracking, reporting, and staying compliant. Save time and money on your next trip.

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Business Travel Compliance 2025: Complete Step-by-Step Guide

Master business travel compliance in 2025 with this complete guide. Learn policy enforcement, duty of care, expense management, and AI tools that automate compliance.

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AI Travel Safety Solutions for Business Trips

Learn how AI travel safety solutions protect self-managed travelers with predictive alerts, automatic rebooking, and real-time disruption support.

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Mileage Runs: How to Maximize Elite Status Step-by-Step

Strategic mileage runs help frequent travelers earn elite status efficiently. Learn the 5-step system to maximize qualifying miles and dollars.

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Corporate Travel Policy Template for Growing Companies

Corporate travel policy template with booking guidelines, expense limits, and automation tips. Cut costs and save time.

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B2B Travel Solutions: The Ultimate Guide

Explore four types of B2B travel solutions: expense platforms, booking portals, and safety tools. See how each category serves different business needs.

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ChatGPT for Business Travel: What You Need to Know

ChatGPT recommends flights but can't book them. Discover why business travelers need AI that handles the full booking process, not just suggestions.

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Top Corporate Travel Trends Shaping 2025

Discover the 6 corporate travel trends transforming business trips in 2025. From AI assistants to sustainability mandates, see what's reshaping the industry. URL slug: /corporate-travel-trends-2025

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Top 7 Reasons Flights Get Delayed and What You Can Do About It

Learn the 7 main reasons for flight delays, from crew timeouts to tech outages, plus actionable strategies to stay ahead of disruptions.

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Understanding Per Diem Rates for Business Travel: What You Need to Know

Master per diem rates with our IRS compliance guide. Learn high-low method calculations, avoid tax traps, and handle travel disruptions.

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Top 9 Expedia Alternatives Built for

Compare 9 business travel platforms built for corporate needs. Find tools that handle disruptions, enforce policy, and deliver real support when flights get cancelled.

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Which AI Travel Assistant Works Best for Business Travel?

Compare top AI travel assistants for business trips. Find the best tool for booking, disruption management, and personalized travel support.

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Flight Delay Travel Insurance: What it Covers and What It Doesn't

Learn what flight delay insurance actually covers and why business travelers need real-time solutions.

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5 Travel Tools That Actually Work for Self-Booking Business Travelers

Discover the best business travel tools that handle disruptions, learn your preferences, and work like an executive assistant.

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How to Achieve Corporate Travel Savings Without Enterprise Software

Cut corporate travel costs with smart booking strategies, policy compliance, and AI automation. Real tactics for small businesses.

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Business Class vs First Class: When the Premium is Worth It

Should you upgrade to first class? This cost-benefit analysis breaks down when the premium is worth it for business travelers and deal closers.

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Boost Your Corporate Travel ROI: 5 Proven Strategies

Cut travel waste by 40% with these 5 strategies. Track the metrics that matter, eliminate hidden costs, and boost your corporate travel ROI.

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Choosing a Business Trip Hotel: 7 Factors That Actually Matter

What makes a good business trip hotel? Location near meetings, reliable Wi-Fi for video calls, and real workspace that lets you focus on closing deals.

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Top 5 Business Travel Apps That Save Time & Stress

Compare Otto, Navan, TravelPerk & top business travel apps. Real reviews of AI booking, disruption handling & features that matter for road warriors.

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Smart Ways to Book Business Travel Accommodation

Stop wasting hours comparing hotels. Get practical strategies for booking business travel accommodation that saves time and money.

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Best Luxury Hotels for Business Travelers

Discover which luxury hotel brands deliver the best value for business travelers. Compare elite status benefits, upgrade rates, and amenities that matter.

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Can I Book a Hotel the Same Day? Guide for Business Travelers

Learn how same-day hotel booking actually works. Get the best rates, avoid pricing traps, and secure rooms today for tonight, even during peak demand.

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9 Tips for Getting a Standby Flight

Master airline standby with 9 expert tips that actually work. Learn how to improve your odds, avoid common mistakes, and board earlier flights.

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What Travel Concierge Services Do for Business Travelers

Travel concierges handle flight delays, rebookings, and disruptions 24/7 so you focus on work, not hold music.

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How to Save Your Travel Preferences

Stop re-entering the same travel preferences across booking sites. Learn how to save your airline, hotel, and meal preferences once and apply them automatically.

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One-Click Booking: How It Works and Saves You Hours

Discover how AI-powered one-click booking reduces travel planning from 45 minutes to 7 minutes. Stop wasting time on repetitive tasks and focus on closing deals.

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Best Hotel Loyalty Programs for Business Travelers: Perks, Points & Elite Status

Compare top hotel loyalty programs for frequent business travelers. Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, and Accor ranked by elite perks and redemption value.

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Rebook a Flight: A Business Traveler's Guide

Master flight rebooking when deals are on the line. Learn smart strategies for protecting loyalty status, avoiding fees, and keeping meetings on track.

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Expense Report Rejection: Reasons & Fixes

92% of business travelers face expense report rejections. Learn the most common reasons your reports get bounced back and proven fixes to get approved faster.

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How to Book Flights & Hotels Together for Business

Business travel bundles vs separate bookings: loyalty programs, policy compliance, and flexibility. When to bundle flights and hotels for maximum savings.

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Best Corporate Travel Apps for Business Trips

Compare top corporate travel apps for business trips. Reviews of Navan, Otto the Agent, SAP Concur & TravelPerk with pricing, features & limitations.

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Top Corporate Travel Management Apps for 2026

Compare 5 top corporate travel management solutions for business travelers. Discover which apps eliminate repetitive booking tasks and handle disruptions.

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Personalized Business Travel: Trends, Technology & Strategies

Stop re-entering travel preferences every trip. Learn how AI travel assistants save 4-8 hours annually and protect loyalty benefits for busy road warriors.

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4 Ways to Speed Up Travel Booking for Busy Pros

Stop wasting 108 hours yearly on travel admin. Learn AI tools, disruption management, and automation tips that cut booking time by 60% for busy professionals.

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Smart Ways to Score Cheap Business Class Flights

Elite status, strategic booking windows, and credit card points can unlock business class at economy prices. Learn the proven tactics that work.

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Mastering Loyalty Program Tracking: A Practical Guide

Stop losing airline miles and hotel points to booking errors. Learn which tracking system works best for road warriors and prevent missing credits forever.

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Book Last-Minute Flights Fast: 7 Proven Strategies for Business Travelers

Skip the premium. 7 proven strategies help business travelers book last-minute flights fast without paying 61% extra. Get to your meeting on time.

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Flight Canceled? How to Quickly Find Alternative Flights

Your flight gets canceled 12 hours before a client meeting. Here's the 30-minute protocol that actually works to find alternatives fast and make your meeting.

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Best Booking Engines at Hotel Chains for Business Travelers in 2026

Compare 5 top booking platforms for business travelers at smaller companies: Navan, Otto the Agent, TravelPerk, SAP Concur, Ramp Travel. Find the right fit.

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Top Travel Management Software for Small Businesses

Compare top travel management software for small businesses. Learn which platforms handle disruptions, remember preferences, and cost-effectively manage 6+ trips annually.

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Trip Planner Cost: What You'll Really Pay in 2026

Credit union business accounts offer fee savings but limited tech. Compare costs, features, and trade-offs to find the right banking fit for your business.

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Layovers Made Simple: What to Expect & How to Navigate

Master layovers with our practical guide: security procedures, baggage handling, minimum connection times, and tools to handle delays before they derail your meeting.

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Essential Types of Business Travel Explained

Master different business trip types: client meetings, conferences, site visits. Learn when to book refundable vs non-refundable fares for each scenario.

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Small Business Travel Management: What Works Without a TMC

Managing travel for your team without enterprise tools? Compare consumer sites, corporate platforms, and AI assistants to find what actually scales.

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Speed Up Travel Expense Approvals in 7 Easy Steps

Stop expense report rejections and get 2X faster reimbursements. 7 proven steps prevent the 19-20% error rate that delays business travel payments.

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Business Trip Booking: 9 Ways to Save Time & Money

Stop wasting hours on business travel booking. These 9 strategies help you book faster, stay within budget, and avoid costly mistakes that hurt productivity.

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How to Have Stress-Free Trips with a Virtual Travel Assistant

Discover how virtual travel assistants eliminate booking hassles, handle disruptions automatically, and keep your loyalty benefits on track for seamless business travel.

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Missed Flight Connection? 5 Steps to Get Moving

Your connecting flight leaves in 15 minutes and you're still taxiing. Here's how to rebook fast and reach your destination hours faster than waiting in line.

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What Are Accommodations in Travel? Business Guide

Learn what accommodations mean in business travel, types of lodging options, essential amenities, and how to choose the right hotel for your trip profile.

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Red Eye Flight Guide: Sleep Better, Save Time & Money

Master red eye flights for business travel. Learn proven strategies to sleep at 35,000 feet, arrive meeting-ready, and turn overnight flights into competitive advantage.

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Top Navan Alternatives & Competitors for 2026

Compare 5 Navan alternatives for business travel booking. TravelPerk, Otto, SAP Concur, Spotnana & TravelBank reviewed. Find the right platform for your team.

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Building Otto

A series of technical posts written by CD Wang, Otto's CTO. Read more to learn about how Otto is built.
Engram - maybe a New Axis for LLMs

If you think Engram replaces RAG, you’re missing the point. Engram is CPU cache, RAG is disk I/O. One accelerates execution, the other expands knowledge. The future stack will need both.

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Meta Bought a Browser Agent. Here’s Why the Real Future Is API-Native Agents.

Browser agents today feel like mobile web apps in 2009 - impressive demos, fragile foundations. The next generation of AI agents will look more like native apps: API-first, state-aware, and built for real job completion.

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Launching Otto: Engineering the First AI Executive Assistant for Business Travel

Today is a huge day for our team. After nine months in closed beta and more than 100 completed flight and hotel bookings, Otto The Agent is officially available to the public.

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Finding the Perfect Flight: Solving a 5,000-Option Search Problem at Otto

Searching SF → NYC isn’t scrolling through 250 flights - it’s navigating 5,000+ possibilities! Every route, cabin, fare rule, and baggage policy spawns a new branch in the search tree, and that’s before loyalty status, seat availability, or the real question: do you at least get snacks?

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Escaping LLM Collapse: Why AI Keeps Recommending the Same 3 Flights (and How We Broke It)

Model collapse happens when an LLM optimizes for probability instead of relevance - diversity dies and only the statistically common answers survive. To break that behavior, we override the model’s default priors with structured context, domain rules, and explicit constraints. Without that, Otto would still be suggesting “United at 9 AM and the Marriott by the airport” for every trip.

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