Reward points losing their power
If you think your airline reward points are losing their value, you would be right. The latest IdeaWorksCompany Reward Seat Availability Survey looked at the cost of points redemption across six US airlines – Alaska, American, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, and United – repeating the same methods used in 2019.
Key findings include:
• Prices of rewards (in miles or points) have increased significantly since 2019 and, moreover, by seven points above the rate of inflation for the same period.
• Reward payback for 2024, which measures the reward value provided per dollar spent on base fares, dropped overall more than half from 2019.
• Basic economy fares are disrupting the value provided by frequent flyer programmes through policies which reduce or eliminate mileage/points accrual.
The IdeaWorksCompany Reward Seat Availability Survey is based upon 600 booking and fare queries at the websites of six frequent flyer programmes to assess low-priced everyday reward seat availability.
Velma has all the answers
Quicktext 4th generation AI virtual assistant Velma has been hard at work at the Paris-founded company, generating $579 million in booking requests for its clients in the hospitality industry in 2023.
Quicktext offers artificial intelligence, structured data, and big data solutions to improve guest communication and marketing in the hospitality industry.
Velma allows guests to get quick and accurate answers to their questions 24/7 in more than 34 languages.
Quicktext says initiating this high volume of reservations is now positioning Velma “as a powerful direct booking omnichannel available to guests at every stage of their booking cycle”.
“Best of all, the structured data collected and analysed by Quicktext, provides new insights for more efficient communication and marketing as well as great insights to improve service and operation.”
Cirium delves deeper into trends
Aviation analyst Cirium has launched Diio Advance Bookings technology to help airports more accurately anticipate passenger demand and enhance their marketing efforts by providing insight into traveller intent.
Cirium said the new technology will help airports, tourism boards, government agencies, and the wider hospitality sector analyse traveller booking behaviour and demand “like never before”.
With global coverage and data updated weekly, Cirium said Diio Advance Bookings provides insights into past, present, and future traveller intent that helps stakeholders identify opportunities to attract and retain air service, improve marketing campaign performance and ROI, and allocate resources more effectively.
“With multi-GDS booking insights, users can see a comprehensive view of global booking trends,” Cirium noted in a media release. “Users can also access data on flights, routes, or markets for a more granular view of what’s happening in the industry.”
The platform also allows users to export data for further analysis or reporting purposes.
Trip.com checks in with AirAsia
The Trip.com Group has deepened its relationship with Capital A Berhad – the parent company of low-cost airline AirAsia – by signing a wide-ranging partnership that will see the two companies collaborate across multiple business lines.
These will include flights, accommodations, attractions and tickets, car-hailing and payments.
The pair first inked a successful strategic partnership in 2020, while the new agreement is intended to further elevate the level of service quality and improve the quality of products offered to both Trip.com and AirAsia customers,
Additionally, TripLink will provide AirAsia Aviation Group with payment solutions.
Aqua Voyager sunk without a trace
Finally, if you’re planning a trip on a new Aqua Voyager underwater shuttle service between the Hawaiian Islands of Oahu and Maui, forget it.
In a story that resurfaced on April 1, a company called SubSea Transit Inc, whose CEO is – wait for it – Dr Marina Deepwater, released details of a four-hour submarine shuttle for 100 passengers.
Passengers would get a fabulous underwater inter-island journey in comfort and safety, the company promised.
Turns out it was all a bit of April Fools fun by 808Viral, an entertainment website which promotes its unofficial State of Hawaii page.
Research has been unable to find a company named SubSea Transit Inc. let alone one launching a submarine shuttle service in Hawaii.
“What’s fascinating is that so many people fell for it,” noted one post on the 808Viral website.
