Intern Testimonials

HEAR WHAT OUR 2007 INTERNS HAD TO SAY:

Sarah Kennedy

University of Texas at Dallas, Cohort MBA Program MBA, Marketing & Strategy Concentration

Never could I have predicted just how huge of an impact Sabre-Holdings would have on me in twelve short weeks. But two challenging intern projects and one incredibly rewarding case competition later, here I am, completely sold on this company and all it stands for. I have had the opportunity to not just meet, but truly build relationships with top level executives who are all the prime example of why this company is such an amazing place to work, and why innovation and creativity are not only fostered but also bred as a part of our culture.

Throughout this summer, I have been given the tools to accomplish many things, from developing a new promotions analysis strategy for MTIG to researching, designing and presenting an innovative opportunity to Travelocity in the Bring It Intern Case Competition. And this was not just typical “intern” work you might find at other companies – both of these initiatives have either already been implemented or are in the development process, which shows how much Sabre truly respects its interns’ efforts.

Overall, my expectations were completely blown away by this internship. And after meeting some incredible mentors as well as peers, in addition to learning more in one short summer than I typically do in an entire year – I could not have asked for a better experience.

“Tony” Warawut Pongpoo

Southern Methodist University MBA, Marketing and Strategy

Sabre Holdings provides a structured intern program, which provides weekly forums with various business groups across the company, various speaker series with executives throughout the summer and an intern case competition that deals with real life issues being faced by the company.

My summer internship at Travelocity, specifically in the Air Merchandising group, has been such a wonderful and challenging experience. The atmosphere is exciting, people are great to work with and things are always on the move and changing. I’m never doing just one thing for long. For the summer, my main project has been work on a competitive study of Travelocity relative to our major competitors in the online travel industry. My case project dealt with a platform that can be used to generate a more streamlined customer experience on travelocity.com and eventually to all of Travelocity’s businesses. Both projects have given me exposure to C-level executives such as Michelle Peluso and stakeholders across the company. It has been a fulfilling experience as I know these projects will be used in helping define and shape several future initiatives and used across the company.

Malcolm Kass

Southern Methodist University, Cox School of Business MBA, Marketing and Finance

Currently, I am in the midst of a significant career change from chemical engineer to hopeful marketing strategist, thus I was looking for a company to provide the experiences to would assist me in this endeavor. I wanted a company that would provide numerous real-world marketing and strategy situtations, Sabre Holdings provided those experiences for me, and it was a perfect fit for my career transition. This summer, I have been an integral part of Airline solutions marketing strategy for the Market Development group. I was responsible for competitive analysis for one of Sabre major competitors, organized material for a strategic analysis of the Russian, Chinese, Eastern European, Indian and Middle Eastern aviation markets, and a strategic dive into the worldwide LCC market determining how Sabre can increase its competitiveness within this market. Not to mention assessing the feasibility and implementing an open architecture identity standard for the consumer facing websites of Sabre Holdings. The value of these projects has been incredible for my personal marketability for I have had exposure to VPs and company execs in addition to IT industry leaders outside of the company itself who were interested in my work.

Overall, I’ve been extremely impressed with the value that is placed on the internship program within Sabre, including the support I’ve received from my Manager and Buddy. I could not have made a finer decision.

Lorenzo Harris

University of Texas at Arlington, Master’s of Arts in Communication, Marketing MBA, Marketing

Sabre Holdings possesses a culture that promotes personal and professional growth, which aided in making my internship experience worthwhile. Surprisingly, everyone from upper management to supporting staff was extremely helpful and constructive in assuring that my internship was success.

The projects I was assigned were challenging and valuable contributions to the team. Working with the Leisure Product Marketing team, I gained beneficial knowledge of our point of sale products, the competitive landscape of the industry, and the intricate dynamics of reporting KPI s of our leisure and corporate POS products.

My manager and intern buddy provided me with insightful guidance, which allowed me to make the best of my internship. The experience was enriching and educational. I truly enjoyed my time at Sabre and established a greater passion for the travel industry

Ganesh Subbiah

The University of Texas at Dallas, Masters in Computer Science, Intelligent Systems Track

This Summer Internship at Sabre Holdings at Air Services Content Development Team is one of the best moments in my graduate study coming to USA, I would cherish, apply my learning’s in my professional career ahead here. It is a complete package any student would aspire to have before he/she starts his/her professional career in USA. Sabre Holdings embodies the true global characteristics in a local atmosphere with great excellence. The Summer Internship is well structured, extensible, and intensive with lot of learning opportunities.

The project was exciting, providing me opportunity to learn and apply cutting edge software technologies. My team embraces Agile Methodologies using Extreme Programming (XP) practices, pair programming, demos and stand up meetings. My Manager and team were very open, friendly, helped me tapping to my full potential. My role in this team as software developer was to Recommend, Develop and Implement the first level of Testing / Error Handling Framework through Automated Testing using new technologies like Cruise Control, Ant, DBUnit and Spring Framework.

The Internship at Sabre Holdings also emphasized on being a complete professional who has both technical and business acumen. Sabre Holdings had a unique project for every intern to make their internship a complete enjoyable learnable experience through a creativity forum called “Bring It” which organized case competition for interns. I was overjoyed to work along with my fellow interns who were from business and technical majors on a challenging case. This case project was the highlight of my internship with great mentoring support, interviewing and sharing ideas with top executives of the travel industry. I was amazed to experience the close knit culture that Sabre Holdings embraces, where intern like me was able to meet top executives and openly share ideas. I learnt lot of business knowledge and how Sabre is constantly striving to be the number one in travel industry through various initiatives. I also had great time at Lunch ‘n’ Learn, Executive forums where I had the opportunity to know more about Sabre Holding’s vision in travel industry.

This unique experience at Sabre Holdings this summer has been totally rewarding, enriching which is a big stepping stone towards my professional career, without any doubt I recommend this to any student who wants to learn and exhibit his/her academic skills.

Lina Serpil

Cornell University, School of Hotel Administration, Bachelor of Science, Corporate Finance/Financial Consulting

Upon accepting my internship with Sabre, I knew that I could expect big experiences, projects, accomplishments and fulfillment. From the very first day, I was given the chance to learn and work with some of the most gifted minds in the travel industry today, an opportunity that I hold with great appreciation. The way to become the best is to learn from the very best and that can be found here in Sabre.

Throughout my time with Sabre, I had the privilege of working with the Marketing and Strategy team in SynXis. They challenged me to not only utilize my hotel and marketing knowledge, but to also think creatively and apply it to the responsibilities given to me as an intern. Among my tasks were some competitive analysis studies, a sales target project, and a task to create a template for account managers to use when holding quarterly meetings with their customers. In addition to group projects, I was given a great deal of trust and confidence to work independently, a quality that cannot be found at other internships, a quality that I value greatly.

Above all, I had the pleasure of working on the Intern Case Competition for Travelocity. This case competition gave me great exposure to Travelocity, as well as helped me to learn more about the roles and responsibilities of various parts of Sabre Holdings. I only wish that companies can be more like Sabre and help interns experience the real work of the real world.

Heather Wong

The University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business, MBA, Marketing

As a lifelong traveler with a passion for technology and international business, I knew I couldn’t go wrong by spending my summer working at Sabre. During my time in the Qik/Loyalty Product Marketing group, I have enjoyed working on a variety of Airline Solutions projects, from updating strategic marketing materials to rebranding a product line to conducting extensive market research for a brand new product. Regardless of what I was engaged in, I was immediately welcomed as part of the team and given access to any resources I needed. Furthermore, everyone I worked with was always willing to take the time to address any questions and passionate in a way that only those who truly love their job can be.

Not only did the day-to-day work keep me busy and fully immersed in the business, but the internship program itself was also a uniquely valuable part of my summer, providing exposure to a number of Sabre executives and the opportunity to participate in local community service projects. Finally, the annual intern case competition was a fun and exciting way to learn about another part of Sabre while being innovative within a multifunctional team environment.

I have learned much throughout the course of my summer at Sabre, and fully expect to draw upon the skills gained from this internship in any future career.

Ahmed M Mosih

University of North Texas, MBA – Information Technology

The internship at Sabre Holdings has been a milestone in my professional career. It was a well structured and highly competitive program that met all my expectations. My work with Customer Data and Reporting group as an Analyst was very challenging yet rewarding.

I learned new programs like Business Objects XI, Primavera and Stellent that are used in companies all over the world to effectively manage their business. The work that I did helped me grow immensely in my field while learning about the intricacies of the airline industry. Completing a project that was of interest to key executives really gave me a sense that my experience was valued and appreciated.

The Travelocity Case competition was another aspect of the Internship that I thoroughly enjoyed. I worked as a member of a diverse team to put together a marketing strategy for an emerging market segment. In addition to the project work, Sabre offered opportunities to interact with executives, the chance to participate in community relation events and opportunities to work with all parts of the organization. Most importantly, the program gives participants the chance to work on projects that make a real impact on the business. I have no doubts that I made the best decision in coming to Sabre for my internship.

Preston Lewis

University of North Texas B.S., Computer Science, Minor: Math

As a computer engineer, it is imperative to obtain real world business experience to solidify theory and to fully comprehend topics discussed in lectures. This firm grasp of material helps pave the way for a successful career post-academia. Sabre has exceeded all of my expectations and needs.

A necessary component for a successful internship is structure. Without a structured agenda and a well thought out plan, an internship will be an inevitable disappointment for all parties. Luckily, Sabre “wrote the book” for creating a successful internship. With structure, well formulated plans, benchmarks with which to gauge performance, and an overall sincere feeling that you are a part of the decisions affecting the “bottom line” justifies my belief that I made the right decision in choosing Sabre for my internship this summer.

I had the pleasure of working with the Data Warehouse and was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with a new and exciting open-source software project. The project was very educational in that it dealt specifically with technologies and data sets not available in academia. Since the team was extremely supportive and always accessible for help, the project never seemed overwhelming. The Data Warehouse plays a vital role in sustaining long-term success and I feel privileged to have experienced this opportunity.

The invaluable knowledge I gained from this experience overall has and will continue to shape my professional development. Thank you!

Dorothee Irisson

Texas Christian University, Neeley School of Business MBA, Marketing

My summer internship at Sabre Airline Solutions was a wonderful experience. It exceeded all my expectations! During those three months, I was given the opportunity to work on various projects; all of them giving me high exposure to many executives in different departments.

One project consisted of creating a communication plan for Service360°: I had never created a communication plan before, but my manager pointed me in the right direction and enabled me to meet with the right people in order to get the job done. It was really rewarding to know that she was confident in what I was doing.

Another project that I was involved in was the creation of a wiki for the promotion of the Service360° program as well as the creation of the Service360° Reward and Recognition Program. While working on these projects, I was able to gain insight into Sabre’s company culture and work with amazing people who were always ready to give up some of their time to help me gain a better insight into their jobs. I really had the feeling that every project I worked on was valuable to the company.

In addition to my projects, I participated in the Sabre Labs Case Competition. It was extremely interested to work with interns studying in different fields. Even if the case competition added to the workload, it was really worth participating in it!

I was also amazed at how organized Sabre Internships are: They organized executive forums, lunch’n learn sessions, and I even went to a Brown Bag lunch with Sam Gilliland! In addition to that, I was able to meet one-on-one with people in areas of the company that I was interested in.

Coming to Sabre for my internship was definitely the best choice I could have made!

Laura Geist

University of North Texas, Masters of Arts, Technical Communication

My summer internship at Sabre Holdings was a valuable learning experience. I had the opportunity to work in a friendly environment with the most up to date software for my field. The internship program allowed me to work on real projects and really feel like part of the team. I had several different types of projects and got to experience editing and writing for various types of documentation. I also volunteered for a committee in my department to work on a commitment program and logo which was fun and really helped me to get involved.

Throughout the summer I participated in the intern case competition which allowed me to reach out and see some of the other parts of Sabre Holdings. I had the chance to look at different areas of the business and how they all tie together. It was a lot of fun stretching my limits and working with my group on a project that really impacted the industry.

Overall, this summer internship has helped me learn more about my field and start me out on the path for a great career. I would recommend this program to anyone who wants to learn about the travel industry or just wants to experience a great work environment.

Donald Sedota

The University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business MBA, Marketing and Management

My experience at Sabre Holdings this past summer has exceeded my expectations. I was impressed from the start with Sabre’s willingness to incorporate my interests into my ultimate summer assignments.

My first project involved competitive intelligence research in an effort to update our understanding of the revenue management landscape and evaluate Sabre’s revenue management market share (AirMax) against competing offerings.

After gaining a better understanding of the industry, I was put in charge of developing an internal marketing plan for a new revenue management service offering called Competitive Revenue Manager. This project allowed me to utilize significant strategic marketing skills and make a substantial contribution to Sabre’s business development efforts.

However, in my opinion, the best part of the internship was the Intern Case Competition where teams of interns competed against each other by analyzing distinct Sabre business cases involving emerging ideas and technologies. This competition gave us the opportunity to explore and interact with Sabre employees outside of our immediate business areas and provided a great variety to the overall internship.

I was also thoroughly impressed with the casual work environment, the quality of the people, and the corporate cohesion from top to bottom.

This was truly an outstanding experience.

*Please consult with your career placement office in January, February and March for listings of available positions and application instructions.