American Express CEO says the shift to remote work made a new segment of business travelers – CNBC

American Express expects remote workers to create new demand for business travel, CEO Steve Squeri told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday.

“You’re going to have, I believe, a lot more internal travel where colleagues and employees will come into the headquarters to be with their team for a few days. And they may do that multiple times a year. So I think that part of business travel will be a new piece.” Squeri said in an interview on “Mad Money.”

Travel has recovered faster than expected this year, which major airlines expect will help offset higher costs in things like jet fuel. Travelers spent $6.6 billion on airline tickets last month on carriers’ websites, according to Adobe.

Squeri said that American Express has seen growth in leisure travel over the last few months.

“We’re at 80% overall [travel and expenses] in the fourth quarter with consumer over 100% from 2019 levels. When we look at our travel bookings, our travel bookings were up in December … and that has sequentially grown in January and in February,” he said, adding that the numbers only encompass consumer travel.

Squeri said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has “not really” affected travel volumes for American Express.

The payments company announced it was suspending business in Russia on March 6, becoming one of the hundreds of other companies who also pledged to suspend or curtail business in the country. 

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