Gabor Toth, CEO; John Boguslawski, Co-Founder and Business Development ExecutiveHowever, the administrative and financial burden associated with the traditional interline environment is making it increasingly unfavorable. While most full-service carriers (FSC) have already invested in the traditional approaches, low-cost carriers (LCC)— covering 32 percent of the world’s airline market—are open to exploring new, less expensive approaches.
What if airlines could interline with each other in a new way and create value for the airline, travel retailers, and the traveler? This is precisely what Virtual Interlining (VI) achieves.
TripStack, a travel tech company, has developed a pioneering technology that seamlessly connects flights without interline or codeshare agreements. This creates a win-win situation for all stakeholders in the air travel ecosystem, including passengers, airlines, and online travel agencies (OTA).
Let’s look at an example of a passenger flying from Toronto, Canada to Des Moines, Iowa which is a route without any direct flight options and limited interline / codeshares. With VI, a traveler can fly from Toronto to Chicago on a full-service carrier (FSC) and easily transfer to a low-cost carrier (LCC) for the final leg of their journey to Des Moines, Iowa—all coordinated effortlessly by TripStack’s VI platform.
In a world where efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and customer satisfaction are paramount, TripStack’s VI platform is a game-changer. It offers unique and affordable flight itineraries for travelers while forging new avenues of growth and collaboration for both airlines and OTAs.
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Our model boasts a 95 percent accuracy rate and creates highly competitive itineraries on over 40 percent of all global flights routes. Travelers save time and money as TripStack uses its computational prowess to unearth these hidden and difficult-to-find fares
“The key advantage for an airline is the ability to offer more destinations to its customers, as it allows the airline to be part of itineraries, but they currently do not service. TripStack’s robust analytics also provide insight into possible new routes and markets an airline should explore expanding to. For travel agencies and OTAs, it offers a wider range of unique travel options to present to their customers, enhancing their services and creating a competitive advantage,” says Gabor Toth, CEO at TripStack.
Under the Hood of VI Technology
TripStack’s VI technology leverages machine learning (ML) algorithms to analyze available flights and billions of possible route combinations that might not be present in traditional global distribution systems (GDS). The algorithms also factor in many other variables such as travel duration, departure/arrival airports, connection times, and baggage restrictions to create the best flight options. All these variables merge to create an optimized, alternative flight itinerary that balances cost and convenience for all parties.
“Our model boasts a 95 percent accuracy rate and creates highly competitive itineraries on over 40 percent of all global flights routes. Travelers save time and money as TripStack uses its computational prowess to unearth these hidden and difficult-to-find fares,” says John Boguslawski, Co-Founder and Business Development Executive, TripStack.
For OTAs, the created VI fares can be integrated seamlessly into their booking flow via a single API integration. TripStack searches for the optimal flight connection and price point, delivering these results directly to the retailer’s platform in under one second.
For airlines, TripStack offers a direct API integration into the airline’s website. It also offers a full-service model where it delivers a customizable and branded, white-label B2C website, which displays the VI flight content created by its algorithms. Often, passengers visiting an airline website do not find the flight destination they were looking for. Using TripStack’s solution, the passenger is redirected to these white-label websites and are offered alternative VI itineraries.
These websites are made available in multiple languages and offer a myriad of payment methods, accommodating transactions in various currencies. To illustrate, consider a carrier specializing in a domestic market like Brazil that does not fly to many international destinations. The TripStack white-label solution allows the airline to offer VI flights to destinations in North America, Europe, and many others with the most attractive prices to their customers.
To ensure transparency, TripStack presents straightforward pricing. Even if the itinerary involves two or three airlines, it displays the total price per passenger. In the example noted above, the TripStack technology translates multiple currencies (Brazilian and U.S. currencies) into a single amount and one currency (as selected by the passenger). The transaction is processed as a single charge on the customer’s credit card. This sharply contrasts with other solutions where passengers would be charged in different currencies multiple times for each connecting carrier.
One Technology, Many Benefits
Airlines and OTAs stand to benefit significantly by offering and selling unique VI flight content to their customers. More specifically, airlines will broaden their route offering, translating into a higher conversion of their website traffic into bookings. Such itineraries also offer passengers the option to select typical ancillaries, like baggage and seat selection, but also offer new ancillaries like baggage protection and travel insurance, opening more avenues for revenue generation. The highlight is the zero cost-of-ownership model for the airline. TripStack oversees website customization and maintenance and assumes full responsibility for the technology, payment, and customer service while providing a generous revenue share to the airline on each booking. This business model lets airlines unlock the entire world for their passengers and alleviates many of the risks associated with the independent, self-connecting process.
OTAs using TripStack’s platform also have the ability to apply markups or service fees for managing more complex itineraries, while still providing travelers with lower airfares than what would be achievable without VI. This unique offering enables travel retail partners to maximize revenue while maintaining control over the customer experience and booking process.
Guaranteeing a Great Customer Experience
When traveling with VI itineraries, the passenger will have separate tickets for each flight and will need to check-into each flight and transfer any baggage between the two carriers. To help reduce the stress, TripStack will build the VI itineraries with enough connection time. They also offer other services like instant check-in, ability to select seats for each leg and ensure that baggage size or limits are compatible to make the traveler experience worry free.
One of the most significant advantages for travelers booking a VI fare is the Virtual Interlining Guarantee. Under the full-service white-label solution, this safeguard applies to every VI Self-Transfer connection offered by TripStack. Should a flight cancellation, schedule change, misconnection, or delay render the itinerary invalid, TripStack takes immediate action. The company guarantees that the customer is provided with a feasible alternative to reach their destination as quickly as possible, within 24 hours.
Going the extra mile, the company also offers protection in situations beyond a passenger’s control, such as delays arising from customs or immigration procedures. They are given priority in call center queues, enhancing the overall customer experience. TripStack arranges free accommodation for customers who need to spend the night at the self-connect airport and provides vouchers for meals and beverages.
A 24/7 customer service team ensures passengers are constantly guided in case of any rescheduling or flight cancellations. This multilingual team is proficient in nearly 20 languages over voice communication and over 40 languages via chat, a feature that continues to expand as TripStack broadens its international reach.
A Journey of Excellence
TripStack recently joined forces with Etraveli Group, a leading European OTA, marking a significant milestone in the company’s mission to enhance the capabilities of its VI technology. This collaboration allows it to offer services to brands within the Etraveli Group, including Mytrip, GoToGate, and Flight Network, expanding its capacity to cater to a diverse, global clientele.
Capitalizing on the Etraveli Group’s software development strengths, which encompasses payment localization with support for over 40 currencies, and 19 payment methods, as well as round-the-clock customer support, TripStack is poised to disrupt the interline connection in the industry.
Equally commendable is the substantial growth the company experienced in the post-pandemic period, as it continued to invest in carrier integrations (API and NDC) and expanded its ancillary offering.
“We have our headquarters in Toronto, Canada, and significant operations in Pune, India. We also recently established a presence in Krakow, Poland, to bolster our content aggregation capabilities worldwide. To date, we ingest over 28 billion price points a day and service more than 84,000 routes and 52,000 airline combinations across 180 countries via 2000 airports,” says Toth.
A significant portion of this success is attributed to its dynamic and diverse team, expected to be over 200 in early 2024. The company takes immense pride in its team’s crucial role in grasping customer needs and challenges, encompassing both airlines and OTAs. The technological team, constantly leading the charge in innovation, works hand-in-hand with the product team, whose responsibility is designing, developing, and continually refining its strategic roadmap. They collectively contribute toward shaping a brighter, more sustainable future for TripStack.
We ingest over 28 billion price points a day and service more than 84,000 routes and 52,000 airline combinations across 180 countries via 2000 airports
TripStack has successfully partnered with Navitaire, a premier technology services provider. This collaboration enables Navitaire’s hosted carriers to sell virtual interline itineraries powered by the TripStack technology. This alliance will not only broaden the reach of VI in the travel industry but create many opportunities for airlines and travelers.
In line with its dedication to innovation and growth, TripStack’s roadmap is promising. It plans substantial investments in AI to further optimize its VI algorithms. Having unlocked new avenues to make VI more accessible, the company is shifting its focus to solve other travel challenges. Its expansion into multi-modal virtual interlining, encompassing rail, bus, and ferry services, aims to offer extended connections to help passengers reach their destination.
The company is also actively addressing the complexities of check-through baggage. It has commissioned a white paper study to automate the current manual process and make it seamless for passengers checking into connecting flights.
TripStack is blazing a trail to advancing the travel industry. As it continues on the never-ending quest to bring innovation to the industry, it aims to create a lasting impact by delivering the best fare VI itineraries and to be an indispensable force in the field. The VI model is not just adapting to the changes in the airline industry, it is at the forefront of establishing a revolution in the future of travel.
