The use of ChatBots has expanded rapidly among airlines in recent years, as these companies have realized that messaging platforms are becoming the preferred communication vehicle for travelers in terms of customer service, planning of travel and reservations.
There is no doubt that ChatBots are an important tool for airlines within the scope of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to adapt to customer needs, which should ultimately generate more revenue. In the next post we will talk about ChatBots for airlines: Use Cases and Opportunities.
The introduction of artificial intelligence-driven bots allows airlines to connect more directly with customers, leading to optimized processes and faster response times.
Airlines are eager to improve their customer relationships, starting with the reservation process.
Through the use of ChatBots, customers can search flight information, find the best flight options for their needs and book tickets. Bots can also be used to improve the experience of buying a plane ticket making it less stressful by gathering all the necessary information in a simple conversation.
They can also be used to improve the performance of airline workers and so that users can even edit their flight data or dates if they are presented with any setback with the scheduled dates. There are many ways to use a ChatBot within an airline so let's look at some cases of more precise uses.
Here are some use cases and functions for ChatBots in the world of air commerce.
To make reservations
As consumers purchase or attempt to make their ticket reservations, there can be many steps in the search and reservation process that can be cumbersome, requiring interaction with a customer service center or with live chat on a web portal.
Allowing a convenient and hassle-free reservation process helps generate more reservations faster, increases the revenue of reservations and reduces the possibility of a customer abandoning the purchase.
A ChatBot can guide a customer through a conversation flow that reduces the friction often encountered when booking a trip. You can answer customer questions related to your travel plans, inform them about the status of their flight points, sell other accessories or related services, process the payment and remind them to complete the reservation, all in one chat conversation.
Booking management
A reservation bot can respond to a consumer through messages, web, SMS or email and update them on the status of their existing reservation, make changes to the reservation, process related payments or refunds, send proactive notifications and provide detailed information on their itinerary.
For example, a smart travel robot can notify a customer of a flight delay due to weather or other conditions and re-book their trip, all in the same conversation.
A ChatBot can handle different tasks in a chat with less friction than a customer who receives a text message that says their flight is delayed and then has to contact customer service to rebook their trip.
Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the bot will always be available to answer questions, handle different reservation tasks and provide more complete and detailed information.
Update Management
The upgrade of one type of seating, whether economy or business or first class on an airline flight or from a standard room to a hotel suite, is very valuable for most travelers.
Although updates are generally reserved only for frequent travelers with miles or points, the cost of updating a guest is quite low compared to the retail value.
For these customers, managing their reward points and loyalty status and redeeming points for upgrades is an essential part of the travel experience. It is also one in which travel operators can significantly affect brand loyalty.
However, making the process of managing and redeeming membership points more transparent and proactively improving loyal travelers in times of low occupancy can be easier using ChatBots, providing the additional benefit of eliminating calls and waiting times in the customer service center
Baggage tracking and claims
For airline and airport operators, the baggage handling task is critical. While there is a great deal of technology to help track and manage luggage between destinations and take it safely to the passenger when they reach their final destination, the luggage can still be delayed, damaged or lost.
Most travelers have experienced this inconvenience, which can resulte in a confrontation with the customer service center to track and deliver the luggage.
Or worse, when the luggage disappears completely, the customer must make a claim for reimbursement, a process that can be plagued with waiting times, paperwork and frustration.
Now, imagine a bot that can update a passenger at the location of the estimated date and time of arrival of their luggage at their desired location, and even process a claim for damaged or lost luggage. A claims bot can make the process much more fluid.
Staff Scheduling
ChatBots are not only for typical customer-oriented use cases, but they can be equally powerful in employee-oriented processes.
In an industry that relies heavily on staffing, programming, shift management, and operational performance. Having the right staff, at the right time and in the right place, allows for better service delivery at a lower cost.
Similarly, for maintenance and operations personnel who are responsible for availability, uptime and infrastructure status, it is important to schedule and equip them with work orders and the right tools for operational excellence.
So how can a ChatBot help? Simple, a ChatBot can help schedule itineraries so that employees can complete each of their tasks at the right time.
