Using Your Airline's App to Promote Loyalty

Predictions show the number of global smartphone users to be around 2.87B by 2020. 51% of smartphone owners use their devices for travel-related activities such as looking for discounts, tourist info before and during a visit, searching and purchasing of flights, booking accommodations, to name a few. It seems clear that travel industry companies need to understand mobile strategies better if they intend to nurture customer loyalty over the coming decade.

We don’t need statistics to prove that people are already loyal to their phones (sitting in any waiting room will tell you that). People rely upon their phones to connect, stay informed, get real-time updates, and receive push notifications. When it comes to airlines building brand loyalty with their mobile travel technology, half the work is already done. Airlines simply need to meet their customers half way by providing the services they expect. So if you’re not keeping your passengers engaged, assuaged, and connected, they are likely going to find another app to get the job done.

What are you doing to nurture loyalty through your mobile travel technology? How are your passengers currently using mobile for their travel needs? 

Mobile travel technology is already everywhere

Travel apps are the fastest growing category for mobile usage, used by 137 million people in the US alone. Nearly 5% of all apps in app stores are in the travel category! Why is mobile travel technology so popular? Apparently,  77% of new users are there for free products, coupons, or discounts. In other words, they want incentives and they’re more loyal to companies that can provide them. However, with so many apps that serve different purposes and benefits, users are drowning in a sea of choice that makes for a complex and uncomfortable travel experience. They would prefer to have all their trip planning done from a single platform, which is something that most airlines neglect to offer.

Sources: https://www.sita.aero/resources/type/surveys-reports/passenger-it-trends-survey-2017 and http://go.appannie.com/report-travel-evangelism

What builds app loyalty?

Travelers may have initially downloaded an airline’s app to track their flight status, use their digital boarding pass, or to access in-flight entertainment. Once the flight is over, what is the incentive to not delete the app immediately?

The #1 issue that leads consumers to uninstall a travel app is its size. So the key to loyalty is to stay relevant and maintain value for the customer. Airlines are in a great position to offer a one-stop mobile travel technology experience. They can provide information and flight status, which is essential. But they can also offer incentives on products and services that are relevant to travelers along their whole journey. Sending special deals on seat upgrades or VIP lounge access in the hours leading up to a flight are attractive incentives to keep travelers coming back to your brand.

Sending helpful text messages about places to dine, or things to do while in-destination can be a great reason for travelers to keep your app on their phone after the flight. Even if these promotions don’t convert, your customers will be aware that their airline can be depended upon for helpful travel assistance.

Airlines can be a single source solution

If your app is the single location for planning, purchasing, and viewing the total trip itinerary, travelers will be grateful for the simplification of their mobile experience. No more having to find info distributed across numerous apps. No more having to provide multiple logins and input payment details again and again. In fact, you can even allow them to pay for ancillaries using your airline’s loyalty points. And everytime they check their travel itinerary, you have a touchpoint and marketing opportunity.

The Guestlogix Platform is extremely light and integrates seamlessly into your existing technology to keep your app as lean as possible. Through the platform, your passengers can be connected to a breadth of global ancillary content, and the AI-driven recommendation engine sends offers that are timely and relevant, along the traveler’s entire journey. Talk to us to find out more about our easy implementation solutions and discover the enormous revenue opportunities that our mobile solution can support.