Jamie Biesiada
Twenty-four hours before I fly, my United Airlines app pings my Apple Watch, reminding me that check-in is open. I pull up the app on my phone, complete the check-in process and save my boarding pass in my digital wallet.
A day later, I drive to Newark Airport, where I've preregistered for a parking space. The system reads the license plate on my car and automatically lifts the gate, letting me into the garage.
In the terminal, I head to the Clear check-in point, where I scan my digital boarding pass at a station that scans my biometrics and gets me to a TSA officer faster. After security, I use my digital boarding pass to get on the plane. The process is pretty much the same coming home.
Overall, I'd say it's a pretty good digital experience, and one that I rely on. I get annoyed if part of it doesn't go as planned.
I'm not alone. According to a recent Travelport survey, the majority of 23,000 respondents consider whether a brand offers a good digital experience.
For younger generations -- e.g., Generation Z and millennials -- it's even more important, as 81% of the former and 78% of the latter consider the quality of the digital experience. But it's still important for most of Generation X (67%) and baby boomers (60%).
It's an area travel advisors shouldn't ignore.
According to Travel Weekly's 2019 Travel Industry Survey, a whopping 73% of respondents said they use free social media to market to and attract new clients, second only to email (74%).
"Travel advisors are clearly embracing social media and the digital world," said Simon Ferguson, Travelport president and managing director of the Americas. "It's therefore, for me, not too big a step for them to start to broaden that out and actually start to use social and other digital tools as methods of enhancing the actual trip experience for travelers."
To me, one of the most obvious ways a travel advisor could give clients a better digital experience is through an interactive, digital itinerary, like those offered by Umapped, Travefy and Axus (which shares Travel Weekly's parent company, Northstar Travel Group).
I've used one from a travel advisor on personal leisure travel before, and I loved it. It kept everything in one convenient place -- my phone -- and provided a communication tool between the two of us in case anything went wrong (it didn't).
Ferguson also pointed to upsell opportunities before a trip.
"For example, using photos or images of airline seats or cabin classes," he said. "When travelers are getting a few days out from the trip, they start to think about what the journey is actually going to be like. That's a great opportunity for travel advisors to be able to use digital there to try to upsell."
Those images can be found in a GDS like Travelport. Ferguson said all the major airlines provide that content.
There are also opportunities to provide a better experience when a traveler is on a trip. Ferguson suggested advisors use digital messaging platforms to keep in touch with travelers and solve any problems that might crop up. That also provides opportunities to share content to potentially upsell them on a higher cabin class, for instance, or lengthen the trip.
He said, "It's an example of how digital messaging and a personal advisor can interface together."