Nobody likes travelling in economy. It gets even worse if you are taller than most people as airlines try to fit as many seats as they can in economy cabins and take away all the legroom. Airlines offer the option to upgrade through emails or on their websites. However, the process is a little clumsy and most systems close the option long before the departure. Usually airlines process the frequent flyer points upgrade requests and cash bids till 48 hours before the flight.
Even after this, lot of premium seats go unused on a flight, indicating lost revenue opportunity for the airline. Seatfrog tries to change that by offering passengers the option to bid for upgrade till the last minute. This way, the airline is able to free up economy seats in economy that were overbooked or for last minute selling while making some revenue out of the premium seat that would have otherwise been unused or given away as free upgrades.
Seatfrog has joined as a part of Amadeus Next community. This would allow them to reach a large number of airlines that work with Amadeus while also gaining access to Amadeus’ technology. Their data will also help Seatfrog fine tune the product to tailor it better to consumer and airlines’ requirement.
“Seatfrog has been an important partner in the Amadeus Next community since its inception, so I’m particularly excited to see that partnership producing real, innovative, customer-focused solutions. Seatfrog is incredibly smart, mobile, and will deliver an outstanding passenger experience.” said Simon Akeroyd, VP, Corporate Strategy and Business Development at Amadeus Asia Pacific.
He added, “Innovation is about doing things differently and finding real solutions to real problems, and that is exactly what Seatfrog has done. The team has aligned today’s always-connected mobile passengers, with the challenge faced by airlines around the globe — selling seats that would otherwise fly empty, at the exact time that passengers think about upgrades.”
Seatfrog has a strong focus on mobile to tap into the USD 130 billion airline ancillary industry. The travellers can bid and pay for upgrades in real time and also receive their revised boarding passes on mobile.
CEO and co-founder of Seatfrog, Iain Griffin commented, “The team at Amadeus really understood the challenge facing airline partners and worked with Seatfrog to solve many of the friction points that stand in the way of the deployment of an effective ancillary revenue strategy. Ultimately, our platform is bringing a new level of intelligence to market in delivering the right product, in the right channel at the right time.”
“Mobile has spearheaded a dramatic shift in global passenger behaviour, with over 83 per cent using it as their primary travel tool, and airlines need to think like retailers if they are to take advantage of this evolution. Seatfrog will help Airlines to drive higher engagement and unlock significant revenue while delivering a superior mobile experience right up to the gate.”
The Seatfrog APIs can be integrated easily into the existing systems so that airlines can start using the system right away. An Amadeus research indicates that airlines should focus their efforts on mobile as the passenger’s intent for ancillaries is maximum within 48 hours of the flight.
Griffin said, “Research shows giving people the chance to upgrade on traditional channels isn’t enough. This is where Seatfrog comes in. We use behavioural design and real-time data to deliver a user experience that adapts to passenger behaviour and enables passengers to make better decisions at the perfect time. We chose to work with Amadeus Next because of the team’s commitment to innovation and agility, its acute understanding of the airline ancillary problem and the game-changing nature of Seatfrog’s technology, which can deliver huge benefit to the airline customer base. Ultimately, airlines will be able to upsell and maximise revenues with the perfect mix of right product, right channel at the right time, while providing their passengers with an outstanding customer experience on mobile.”
You can find more details about Seatfrog on their website www.seatfrog.com.
Promising travel startups like Seatfrog make for great addition to the Amadeus Next community. If you have a startup that deserves to be a part of the community, sign up for the upcoming Startup Knockdown now.
