Upside Business Travel, the Online Travel Service for Do-It-Yourself Business Travelers, Named One of the Best Companies to Work For

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Turns out, customers aren't the only ones benefitting from Upside Business Travel's commitment to build the world's best service for do-it-yourself business travelers.  Less than a year after launching its service, Upside Business Travel has been recognized by its own employees and job seekers for being one of the country's most desirable places to work.  Upside Business Travel was honored with a Glassdoor Employees' Choice Award, recognizing the Best Places to Work in 2018. The Employees' Choice Awards program relies solely on the input of employees, who provide feedback on their jobs and work environments via Glassdoor.  Also, Hired, the job search marketplace for technical talent, surveyed 2,349 IT professionals and found that Upside Business Travel is one of the 10 Washington, DC-based companies that they most want to work for.

"We're honored to be recognized twice in the same year as a top employer, especially so early in our company's history," said Scott Case, Co-Founder and President of Upside Business Travel.  "It's great to hear independently that so many professionals want to work for Upside, and love it here once they join our team." 

Glassdoor 2018 Employees' Choice Award

"Getting recognized by Glassdoor with this award validates a lot of the things we try to do to make Upside a great place to work," said Upside Business Travel's Chief People Officer Cristyn Girolami. "The importance of this award, considering how it was determined and where it's coming from, is tremendous for our company. Our team has emphasized building a great culture from day one, and we're just getting started."

Upside Business Travel was ranked #29 on Glassdoor's 2018 Employees' Choice Award List of the top 50 small- and medium-sized companies in the U.S.  The Best Places to Work were determined using company reviews shared by U.S.-based employees between November 1, 2016 and October 22, 2017. To be considered for the small & medium category, a company must have less than 1,000 employees and have received at least 25 ratings across eight workplace attributes from U.S.-based employees during the period of eligibility. The final list was compiled based on Glassdoor's proprietary algorithm, and takes into account quantity, quality and consistency of reviews.

Upside Business Travel employees on Glassdoor gave their company a rating of 5.0 on a scale up to 5.0.  Some of their comments included;

• "Great company to work for, smart people and limitless potential/growth opportunities."
• "Worth being said that this is not a place where you will get by slacking off.  Everyone is hard worker, which is a pro in my book."
• "This is a group of people on a shared mission to make a big change to business travel. Strong emphasis on getting the product right and the customer experience to be amazing."
• "It's a really exciting time to be at Upside because things are moving quickly. I can definitely say I enjoy coming into work every day."
• "Our company culture is a testament to the awesome people on our team and the community we have built together."

Hired's Top 10 DC Companies Techies Most Want to Work For

Hired's recent survey was answered by over 2,000 IT job seekers who gave their impressions of potential employers.  Hired recognized companies that, according to survey respondents, promote "team" working environments, encourage on-the-job learning, and value their corporate culture.

"Hired is the premier job search tool for IT job seekers," said Girolami.  "This recognition is especially significant because it comes from people who haven't joined our team yet.  They've heard or read about Upside, and they want to be part of what we're building."

Headquartered in the heart of downtown DC, Upside Business Travel was one of 10 local companies that scored most highly in the Hired survey among IT professionals for its company culture, opportunities to learn, "team" environment, commutability, compensation, and overall "brand positivity."   Of all companies surveyed, Upside Business Travel ranked 6^th.  Since launching earlier this year, Upside Business Travel has been one of Washington's major recruiters of tech talent.  The company employs over 100 professionals, with its continued growth providing for new hire opportunities in areas ranging from engineering to design.

Creating The Better Business Trip

Upside Business Travel's mission is to make business trips better, from beginning to end. The target user is the "do-it-yourself" business traveler. There are millions of business travelers who work for companies without travel departments or special booking and service tools. Instead, DIY business travelers do their own research, book their own travel, and make their own changes when things go wrong.

Key to Upside Business Travel's success is its innovative use of information technology, including big data, cloud computing and mobile platforms.  "Booking is simple and easy, with no wasted time searching for the best travel options. Just tell us where you're headed and when. We'll show customers the lowest prices as well as the flight times and hotel locations that make the most sense. Customers pick the airline, hotel, rental car, or rideshare they want and we'll do the rest. Better yet, business travelers can connect with our travel experts, we call them 'Navigators', before, during, and after their trip. Navigators are available on-demand, 24x7, via chat, phone, or email," said Case.

"With Upside Business Travel, now every business traveler has the level of comprehensive service and access previously only available to employees of the very largest companies, with no fees, commitments, or corporate approvals required."

About Upside Business Travel

Upside Business Travel (www.upside.com) is the first online travel service built just for business travelers, particularly the "do-it-yourself" (DIY) business travelers that can't access special pricing or quality customer service.

At Upside, our whole reason for being is to make customers' business trips better, from beginning to end.  We use big data to make buying business travel easier. We show the great prices, the best flight times, and most convenient hotels, and then our customers pick what works best for them, including rental cars and Uber. Most importantly, we don't disappear once the trip is booked. Our customer service team of "Navigators" stays involved every step of the way.  We can be reached on-demand 24x7 through our app, our website and via phone or e-mail.    We think it's time business travelers get the treatment they pay for and deserve.    At Upside, we do everything possible to make our customers' business trips better.

Upside's leadership is a proven team of travel industry inventors and entrepreneurs led by Priceline founder Jay Walker. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in Stamford, Connecticut.

For more information, visit: www.upside.com or follow us @UpsideTravel on Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook.

For further information,  Contact: Steve Hofman
[email protected] 202-741-0242

SOURCE Upside