In the news: Singapore Airlines and Fliggy ink ‘loyalty’ partnership, Alipay launches paperless tax refund service in South Korea, Xiamen Airlines uses SITA tech solution to stay competitive
Loyalty: Singapore Airlines teams up with Alibaba’s Fliggy for mileage points sharing
Perks for Flippy users include access to VIP lounge services like at SIA SlverKris Lounge in Terminal 3 at Singapore’s Changi Airport. (Image credit: Singapore Airlines)
Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Alibaba’s online travel platform Fliggy, formerly Alitrip, have formed a strategic partnership that allows members of their loyalty programmes to use points earned at either company.
Under the deal, members of SIA’s KrisFlyer can convert their KrisFlyer miles to Fliggy points and vice versa from October.
Customers in Fliggy’s top two membership tiers, F2 and F3, will automatically be given KrisFlyer Silver and Gold status if they complete one flight within six months after joining the programme. Members who achieve Gold status will enjoy perks including priority boarding, VIP lounge services, extra baggage allowance, preferred seat selection as well as benefits across the entire Star Alliance network.
In turn, KrisFlyer members of any tier can use their miles to book trips and hotels on Fliggy.
In January, Fliggy and American Airlines also forged a similar agreement, with the airline extending benefits to Fliggy members that include preferred boarding to receiving perks similar to those of American AAdvantage Silver and Gold, such as extra legroom.
“Membership service is the integral part of the travel and hospitality industry. This collaboration brings our partnership, which initially started in 2013 with the adoption of Alipay by Singapore Airlines, to a whole new level,” said Jerry Hu, Alibaba Group vice president.
Added Mak Swee Wah, Singapore Airlines executive vice president commercial: “Our partnership with Alibaba Group will be an important element in our drive to be a digital aviation leader.”
SIA launched a flagship store on Fliggy in 2016, where Chinese travellers can buy the airline’s tickets directly.
According to statistic from the Singapore Tourism Board, China was the city-state’s top market in both tourism spending and visitors last year, contributing S$3.7 billion and 3.2 million arrivals.
Mak is confident “the numbers will continue to grow in years to come, and this presents a very attractive business proposition.”
SIA and Ant Financial, a related company of the Alibaba Group, also announced Chinese travellers can use Alipay, Ant’s digital-wallet service, to purchase inflight products, airport services and KrisShop items.
The carrier said it would also explore new ways to boost their digital capabilities, including web hosting, apps and memberships systems, by leveraging ET Brain, Alibaba Cloud’s proprietary AI programme.
Travel Technology: Alipay’s paperless tax refund service debuts in South Korea
South Korea is first country to offer paperless mobile tax refunds. (Image credit: app-c1a1p1c1o1m1/iStock-Getty Images)
China-based mobile payment platform Alipay has partnered with Korean tax refund agency Global Tax Free (GTF) to launch paperless mobile tax refunds in South Korea.
Alipay says this solution is the first of its kind in the world, and South Korea is the first country to offer it.
The new service simplifies the process for Chinese tourists to apply for and claim tax rebates for their purchases by using their mobile phone app, allowing them to skip in-city and airport tax refund counters.
They just need to scan their passports at self-service kiosks prior to leaving South Korea and scan tax refund receipts on the Alipay mobile app within 90 days of purchasing to receive refunds in Chinese yuan.
“Since 2013, Alipay has continuously explored ways to expedite tax refunds for Chinese tourists to enhance the outbound travel experience. Alipay users can already receive tax refunds at more than 80 airports and a growing number of in-city shops globally after processing at a tax counter,” said Danny Chung, general manager of Alipay Korea.
“With this unique new function, Alipay users can skip the queue and process tax refunds on their mobiles, without filling out and submitting any paper work. This will both save time and make it easier to claim refunds.”
Alipay reveals about 10,000 merchants in South Korea support the GTF tax refund service, making the country “the world’s most convenient destination for tourists to claim tax refunds”.
In early 2017, Alipay launched a real-time tax refund scheme in Europe. In January this year Singapore became the first country in Southeast Asia to offer the service. However, users have go to a refund counter at the airport to scan their Alipay QR code from the app.
Aviation: Xiamen Airlines flies ahead of the competition with SITA technology
Xiamen Airlines is one of China’s fastest growing carriers. (Image credit: SITA)
Xiamen Airlines is one of the fastest growing carriers in China, achieving profits for 31 years in a row and handled 32.7 million passengers in 2017.
Despite this track record and having “the highest international financial rating among the Chinese airlines”, the carrier is not resting on its laurels and has turned to SITA Airfare Insight to optimise its fares-related decision-making to stay competitive.
This is because more than 180 million fares are published worldwide at any one time, and typically full-service airlines will update fares throughout their distribution network of GDSs, travel agencies and websites, several times a day.
Using the SITA product Xiamen Airlines can set its fares based on what its competitors are doing in markets worldwide. It then immediately ensures appropriate prices are in place to support the airline’s overall commercial strategy.
“Filing fares at the right price and at the right time can have a significant impact on profit margins,” said Chen Rong, committee secretary, passenger marketing and sales of Xiamen Airlines.
The technology is able to do that as it enables the airline’s commercial team to have the right fares distributed to the right customers, he noted. “It also gives us the capability to analyse all our fares and manage them across multiple locations and time zones, which is vital as we expand our route network.”
According to SITA vice president and general manager for East Asia, May Zhou, the correct pricing can contribute to as much as three to 10% of overall revenues
• Featured image (Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A350-900XWB) credit: Singapore Airlines
