TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
United Airlines, PayPal | October 08, 2021
United and PayPal today announced a new way to make touch-free inflight purchases, even in areas without Wi-Fi. Starting next month, United customers on select flights can simply show a flight attendant the PayPal QR Code in the PayPal app and use it to buy snacks, drinks and other inflight purchases while onboard.
United is the first airline to offer PayPal QR Codes, and this partnership is part of United's easy-to-use, industry-leading suite of contactless payment tools. United was the first airline to give customers in economy cabins the option to pre-order snacks and beverages from the airline's app and website, and also offers customers the ability to easily store payment information in a digital wallet.
PayPal QR Codes can be used on select flights departing from Chicago O' Hare International Airport in November and before the end of the year, will extend to all flights across the entire network where contactless payment is available.
"Our contactless payment offering is built on simplicity and choice and it's another way we're improving the overall experience of flying United, PayPal is a terrific partner and this technology gives our customers another easy way to make purchases, even when they're not online. We expect to introduce even more new and innovative options for our customers in the future through our collaboration with PayPal."
said Toby Enqvist, chief customer officer for United.
How It Works
If you haven't already, download the PayPal app and set your preferred payment method for QR code payments, prior to leaving the gate
To make an inflight purchase, Click the 'Pay with QR codes' button
Then click the 'In-flight Purchase' button
Show the QR code to the flight attendant to scan
Look for an emailed confirmation receipt upon landing
"We're excited to be partnering with United to introduce our new offline QR code functionality, adding more ways for customers to check out with PayPal in more places, especially in offline or low connectivity areas," said Frank Keller, Senior Vice President of Enterprise Segment Solutions and Digital Commerce at PayPal. "Bringing PayPal QR Codes inflight reinforces our commitment to offering customers choice and provides a new level of touch-free convenience for consumers when making in-flight purchases, within the PayPal app they know and trust."
United's New Buy-On-Board Menu
Customers can pay using PayPal QR Codes to enjoy one of many new food and beverage offerings United launched this year. In June, United unveiled its refreshed buy-on-board menu, which includes:
Three New Snack Boxes: A Tapas snack box with European-inspired offerings; a Takeoff snack box with high-protein options; a Recline snack box with movie theater themed treats.
New A la Carte Snack Options: Including sweet potato "tortilla" chips with roasted pepper salsa, trail mix and chocolate-covered dried fruit.
New Adult Beverage Options: Mango White Claw®; red, white and sparkling wine, and new beer options such as Breckenridge Brewery Juice Drop Hazy IPA and Michelob ULTRA®.
New Fresh Options: Last month, United also added five new fresh retail offerings to its buy-on-board menu including:
New Domestic Premium Cabin Menu Items
United also introduced brand-new meal offerings to customers seated in domestic premium cabins on flights over 1,500 miles and hub-to-hub flights over 800 miles.
The enhanced meal service includes a choice of entrees – including fresher options like egg scramble with plant-based chorizo and grilled chicken breast with orzo and lemon basil pesto – sides and dessert.
United has also teamed with Eli's Cheesecake to create a uniquely United chocolate pie flavor called "Pie in the Sky."
The meals will be served on one tray, with items individually wrapped, to limit person-to-person contact and further the safety of our employees and customers.
For information on food and beverage options available, United's contactless payment technology and FAQs, visit United.com/snacktime.
United Next
United is more focused than ever on its commitment to customers and employees. In addition to today's announcement, United has recently:
Launched an ambitious plan to transform the United customer experience by adding and upgrading hundreds of aircraft as well as investing in features like larger overhead bins, seatback entertainment in every seat and the industry's fastest available Wi-Fi.
Announced a goal to create 25,000 unionized jobs by 2026 that includes careers as pilots, flight attendants, agents, technicians, and dispatchers.
Announced that United will train at least 5,000 pilots by 2030 through the United Aviate Academy, with the plan of at least half being women and people of color.
Required all U.S. employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.
Became the first airline to offer customers the ability to check their destination's travel requirements, schedule COVID-19 tests and more on its mobile app and website.
Invested in emerging technologies that are designed to decarbonize air travel, like an agreement to work with urban air mobility company Archer, an investment in aircraft startup Heart Aerospace and a purchase agreement with Boom Supersonic.
Committed to going 100% green by 2050 by reducing 100% of our greenhouse gas emissions without relying on traditional carbon offsets, including a recent agreement to purchase one and a half times the amount of all of the rest of the world's airlines' publicly announced Sustainable Aviation Fuel commitments combined.
Eliminated change fees for all economy and premium cabin tickets for travel within the U.S.
About United
United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." In 2019, United and United Express® carriers operated more than 1.7 million flights carrying more than 162 million customers. United has the most comprehensive route network among North American carriers, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. For more about how to join the United team, please visit united.com/careers and more information about the company is at united.com. United Airlines Holdings, Inc. is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".
About PayPal
PayPal has remained at the forefront of the digital payment revolution for more than 20 years. By leveraging technology to make financial services and commerce more convenient, affordable, and secure, the PayPal platform is empowering more than 400 million consumers and merchants in more than 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy.
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HOSPITALITY TRENDS
Trip.com | November 22, 2021
Trip.com Group, a leading global travel service provider, recently signed a strategic global agreement with Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, the world's largest hotel franchising company. This is a significant move that marks the two industry-leading companies' commitment and continued collaboration to drive the success of the travel industry.Trip.com Group users can discover over 9,000 global hotels by Wyndham, across 22 brands from luxury to economy. This includes over 1,600 hotels in the Asia Pacific region, where Wyndham Hotels & Resorts commands a leading presence, with hotels located in popular travel destinations like Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and more.
This strategic agreement builds upon Trip.com Group and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts' strong and long-standing relationship through corporate travel partnerships as well as a host of successful distribution campaigns.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts' portfolio of hotels and resorts in Mainland China has enjoyed immense popularity with Trip.com Group users. The travel Group's leading Chinese travel platform Ctrip's most recent 919 Super Brand Day campaign, Wyndham Grand Plaza Royale Villas Jinlin Plaza Lijiang was named the platform's most popular hotel, achieving the highest sales volume in the single-store category with RMB 12 million in total sales for just one stand-alone hotel, further illustrating the success and popularity of Ctrip's livestreaming channels.
Through the expanded global agreement, Trip.com Group and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts will further strengthen their strategic alliance that will continue to drive hotel performance and bookings. Both companies will increase its collaboration on travel marketing initiatives and an array of tactical campaigns, such as 618 Sales, Ctrip Member Day, 99 Hotel Festival and 1028 Trip.com Group Anniversary. Data insights from its sophisticated transaction platforms will also further optimise the booking experience for Chinese travellers.
In addition, hotels can leverage the Trip.com Group network and interactive live-streaming capabilities that regularly generate hundreds of millions of impressions. An exciting series of marketing activities will also be made available on Trip.com Group's new travel marketing Star Hub that will enable hotels to utilize its channel traffic management toolkit to drive traffic to their products and content offerings.
"We are excited to expand our strategic relationship with Trip.com Group, a leading distribution partner. This strategic alliance is a key development that will enable our hotels to expand their global distribution capabilities, and provide them with innovative and interactive solutions to drive bookings, as we continue to serve millions of travellers on the road to recovery."
-Joon Aun Ooi, President, Asia Pacific of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
We are ready to welcome back our guests to stay at hotels by Wyndham all over the world, while providing them with peace-of-mind through "Count on Us", our global health and safety program with elevated hygiene and cleanliness protocols. We look forward to building a strong and successful relationship with Trip.com Group as we work together to inspire confidence among our guests as they start to travel again, added Joon Aun.
"We are very excited about this strategic partnership with Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, the world's largest hotel franchising company. This agreement will enrich our accommodation inventory for travellers and ensure that we remain their go-to travel companion as regional and global travel recovers. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has an extensive portfolio of hotels in key destinations that overlap with Trip.com Group's key markets in Asia Pacific and beyond. We look forward to a bright future with Wyndham Hotels & Resorts."
The agreement is a major milestone for both companies that cements its industry-leading coverage, reinforces their global digital distribution and marketing prowess. This will strengthen Trip.com Group and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts' alliance in Greater China to support the increasing demands from Chinese guests booking inbound, outbound and domestically, as the travel industry makes monumental steps towards recovery and reopening.
-Ray Chen, Chief Executive Officer of Accommodation Business at Trip.com Group
About Trip.com Group
Trip.com Group (Nasdaq: TCOM; HKEX: 9961) is a leading global travel service provider comprising of Trip.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, and Qunar. Across its platforms, Trip.com Group helps travellers around the world make informed and cost-effective bookings for travel products and services, and enables partners to connect their offerings with users through the aggregation of comprehensive travel-related content and resources, and an advanced transaction platform consisting of apps, websites and 24/7 customer service centers. Founded in 1999 and listed on NASDAQ in 2003 and HKEX in 2021, Trip.com Group has become one of the best-known travel groups in the world, with the mission "to pursue the perfect trip for a better world". For more information, visit: group.trip.com
About Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: WH) is the world's largest hotel franchising company by the number of properties, with approximately 9,000 hotels across nearly 95 countries on six continents. Through its network of approximately 803,000 rooms appealing to the everyday traveller, Wyndham commands a leading presence in the economy and midscale segments of the lodging industry. The Company operates a portfolio of 22 hotel brands, including Super 8®, Days Inn®, Ramada®, Microtel®, La Quinta®, Baymont®, Wingate®, AmericInn®, Hawthorn Suites®, Trademark Collection® and Wyndham®. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is also a leading provider of hotel management services. The Company's award-winning Wyndham Rewards loyalty program offers over 90 million enrolled members the opportunity to redeem points at thousands of hotels, vacation club resorts and vacation rentals globally. For more information, visit www.wyndhamhotels.com
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Rocketrip | September 09, 2020
Mondee Holdings, the leading travel technology group with a portfolio of globally recognized brands in the leisure, corporate and retail travel sectors announced today the purchase of Rocketrip, the award winning behavior change technology solution for global business travel programs.
Founded in 2013 and backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, Genacast Ventures, Google Ventures and Y Combinator, Rocketrip's algorithm-based technology transforms business travel by empowering employees to align their booking choices with company interests. Building a company culture where travelers feel valued and empowered has never been more critical as travel begins to resume, and Rocketrip's solution seamlessly integrates into complex global programs to drive behavior that keeps costs under control and travelers happy.
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