Flight Booking Software Innovation

Airlines have led the travel industry by developing ways to offer special perks to their most loyal customers. Flight booking software that allows for Users to pre-select a seat on the airplane has been around for decades, however, many airlines have recently found innovative ways to charge additional fees to reserve the best seats onboard.  Seasoned airline passengers know the extra legroom that an emergency exit row seat automatically brings and have been grabbing these roomy seats for years. Aisle and Window seats tend to be the most popular with passengers overall and first to go.  Most airlines were quick to capitalize on these trends and began to charge a premium to passengers reserving these seats in advance.  Except of course for the most loyal frequent flyer program members who have been given access to “preferred seating” for a long time.

Distinguishing the experience for coach passengers must have been a success since it wasn’t long before airlines began introducing new “premium coach sections” to offer passengers perks like extra legroom and preferred positioning within the coach cabin.  Suddenly it has become apparent that not all coach seats are equal and the pricing options available when selecting a seat for some airlines today clearly reflect this.  How much extra a customer is charged to pre-reserve a particular seat or whether they are even charged at all can be determined by their loyalty program status.

But the special perks and treatment customer loyalty programs offer today are not limited to preferred seating.  Your preferred customer number may determine a customer’s experience throughout their entire journey.  Starting at the airport, a customer’s frequent traveler number can determine which line they wait on at the airport to check-in, whether they pay to check a bag or not, even their priority when it comes time to board the aircraft.  Once onboard, important things like which the seat they are actually seated in or whether they receive complimentary drinks and a meal can all be determined by their loyalty program status with a specific airline.  As airlines continue to invent new ways to provide a higher level of service and comfort for their most loyal customers, your flight booking software needs to be able to keep up and provide this information during the booking process.

Capturing and sharing a customer’s loyalty program information has always been important to only ensure individual customer loyalty programs are credited, but today this information may determine much more.  Everything from which line they have to wait on at the airport to check-in, the order they are allowed to board the plane as well as where they sit on the plane and even onboard service perks like complimentary drinks and meals that they may be entitled to.  Flight booking software needs to provide the right combination of product features to manage your travel agency business and provide operationally efficiencies that increase sales and reduced costs.  It should be easy to use for both agents and customers and provide live access to content.