Rex Lin’s Post

Leveraging travel status as a CX-come-revenue tool Travel status can significantly influence a traveller's decision-making process. As Phil Gunter noted in an Ai Events' webinar, status plays a crucial role in three key areas: 1.    Journey enhancement: Status provides tangible benefits like priority boarding, lounge access, and baggage benefits, streamlining the travel experience. 2.    Emotional connection: There's a sense of pride and belonging associated with having status, fostering a deeper emotional connection with the airline or hotel brand. 3.    Confidence and peace of mind: Status instils confidence in travellers, knowing they'll be well-cared for, especially during disruptions. Status can be a powerful tool for airlines and hotels. Mark Ross-Smith highlighted the value of status, suggesting that it's difficult to quantify its worth. "When X, with a certain travel status, flies, he or she would go the airport (or at any point of interaction with the brand), the first thing that they tend to say is : I am a gold member," he said.  While #frequentflyer programs (FFPs) are valuable, status often holds even greater significance. Airlines can look at their core revenue and also #loyalty revenue to ascertain the contribution of status initiatives. To maximize the value of status initiatives, airlines should: - Monitor elite member behaviour: Track the spending habits and preferences of high-status members. - Leverage status match campaigns: Attract high-value travellers by offering instant recognition through status match campaigns. - Explore cross-category partnerships: Partner with other businesses to offer exclusive deals and benefits to status members, driving additional spending. - Understand customer segments: Tailor marketing and engagement strategies to different segments of status members. By Ritesh Gupta, Ai Events Erin Murray Loyalty Status Co #paxex #FFP #travel #airlines #loyaltymarketing #miles #points

Today marks another important "first" for Spotnana, as we announce the launch of our latest direct NDC connection - this time with Copa Airlines. While this new direct connection is important, and will bring instant value for our #travelasaservice customers in all segment - the most exciting piece of news is probably that the Spotnana software engineers developed this connection in literally ONE day in close partnership with the COPA distribution team Just imagine what that means for both the airline community and the customers - the days of spending 3-6 months waiting for code to be written and tested are coming to an end - and will be replaced by a cloud-centric mindset where new features and capabilities can be delivered in a few hours or days For the airlines it also means they can introduce new fares, services and features much faster than before, while the buyers can take advantage of these almost instantly rather than having to wait for an unknown period of time to get access to a new service announced by an airline a long time ago (sounds familiar ?) Focusing back on the COPA NDC connection again - the solution we have created includes support for all the usual important features such as search and book, all fare types and promotions, ancillaries, COPA PriceLock, reservations on-hold for 24 hours and self-service exchange and cancellations If COPA is one of your preferred airlines then reach out to the Spotnana sales team or one of our many partners to schedule a demo of this newest NDC connection - and see with your own eyes how NDC does work perfectly today This is #openinnovation in action - powered by #travelmicroservices and running on top of Spotnana's open #cloudnative #travelasaservice platform - and there is much news on the way, stay tuned https://lnkd.in/eKw45haF

How does Amadeus Nevio, the next-generation of airline retailing technology, enable exceptional traveler experiences? In a new piece on the topic, Meg O'Keefe looks at how #AmadeusNevio offers airlines the new capabilities they need to meet the ever-growing expectations of travelers, end-to-end. Amadeus Nevio allows our partners to give choice and options to travelers, and to add more relevance to their offers, considering customer context.  They can become the service provider of choice, across the entire trip.  Find out more, here: https://lnkd.in/ddj5cRwv #ModernRetailing #Aviation #Technology #ItsHowTravelWorksBetter

Amadeus ended 2023 with revenue increases across distribution, Air IT solutions and its hospitality division. Amadeus revenue in Q4 increased 18% to almost €1.4 billion with EBITDA up 18% to €469 million and a 47% increase in profit to €210 million. Dive into this more on #PhocusWire: https://bit.ly/4bQVnRX #travelnews #travelindustrynews #travelindustry #amadeus

📢 Driven by NDC, non-TMC airline bookings are soaring. This story by PhocusWire highlights Traxo's findings on NDC's impact on booking trends. 🔗 Read the full article here: https://bit.ly/3LkNkAL #TravelTech #CorporateTravel #NDC #Traxo #Innovation #TravelIndustry

Yesterday at the TravelTech Show in London we've taken the pulse of airline distribution. The audience included travel buyers and travel management companies who were curious to hear about airlines' progress with offers and orders. If I can pick three points from our discussions: 👉 The debate has moved from "why" and "when" to "what" and "how". Julian Meersse shared the 2030 timeline of Lufthansa Group for Offers and Orders. I explained our role at Threedot in supporting airlines, travel agents and technology companies in this transition to digital retailing. 👉 Offer personalization: I was asked to pick a use case in the corporate space. I gave the example of an airline and a corporate negotiating a special deal with specific benefits per type of staff. How long does it take to implement the agreement in a GDS with filed fares? Can NDC and dynamic pricing help reduce the timeframe from one year to one month or one week or one day? 👉 Order servicing: I reacted to the pain point of servicing NDC bookings. Technology solutions exist today, as showcased at the event, where travel agents can automate post-booking activities for NDC bookings with the same features as in a GDS. So what is slowing down the implementation of such solutions? #traveltech #airlineNDC #theshowmustgoon

Fragmentation in airline booking isn’t just frustrating; it’s costly. While NDC was created to simplify airline content access, 70% of business travellers report difficulties finding fares through preferred booking channels (BTN Europe). The result? Missed savings and wasted time. Navan’s new NDC integration with Iberia is part of a broader content strategy to address this challenge. Since launching in September, 51% of Iberia bookings are now NDC-enabled, offering a 7.5% overall savings opportunity and allowing 99.6% of bookings to be self-managed, directly by travellers. Beatriz Guillen, Global Sales Director at Iberia, said, “Our partnership with Navan means that even more customers will benefit from Iberia’s exclusive NDC content.” #Navan #NDC #BusinessTravel #Innovation https://t.ly/cF7ht

Don't miss these thought-provoking insights below following the ITM | Institute of Travel Management Autumn Conference keynote discussion on Airline Category Strategy, moderated by Caroline Strachan, FESTIVE ROAD CEO, who interviewed Doreen Burse, SVP Worldwide Sales at United Airlines. A snapshot of valuable takeaways for anyone involved in travel procurement and category management. If you're focused on airline strategy - whether it's cost, sustainability, or understanding the evolving channel landscape — this is worth a read! Reach out to our FESTIVE ROAD team if you have unanswered questions on your business travel strategy. #travelmanagement #procurement #airlinestrategy #ITM2024 #FestiveRoad #UnitedAirlines

The transition from Global Distribution Systems (GDS) to New Distribution Capability (NDC) is challenging for travel agents due to inconsistent content across airlines and complex integration requirements. ASATA CEO Otto de Vries (M.Inst.D) has spoken out about the industry’s poor job in acknowledging travel agents' needs with the implementation of the NDC, noting its limited reach and inconsistent content offerings. The industry is only partially realising the vision of modern airline retailing, with the NDC representing just one aspect. Despite the slow progress and confusion around the NDC, major GDS providers are investing in integrating these offerings into comprehensive systems. The sentiment at the recent Web in Travel Africa conference was a mix of scepticism and cautious optimism, with some airlines like Kenya Airways and Emirates, taking more aggressive steps towards NDC adoption. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dN2gMmEe #TravelIndustry #ASATA #TravelAgents #Tourism #NDC #TravelNews