AirAsia has launched a new service known as TripGroupy, a platform created for travelers who can quickly pack their bags and travel within a week and with friends.
Maybe those that thought flash deals are dying ought to give it a second thought?
TripGroupy lists deals to every destination that the Asia-Pacific low costs carrier flies to, although there are only a limited number of seats available.
Once seats in the deal are reserved by users, TripGroupy sends a confirmation email to users to enter their details and make a payment.
Interestingly, the service is deeply integrated within social media, so it becomes easy for users to share deals with their friends, family and others within their network to hopefully take advantage of the group aspect.
The deals typically expire within six to seven days, but TripGroupy says the site has attracted enormous traffic in just a week since its launch and the deals are selling out further in advance.
Forgetting the Groupon-type model, can this particular service be compared to last-minute travel deals getting traction in the hotel sector?
Arun Roy Lee Verma, group head of technology and innovation, says:
"TripGroupy is aimed at travelers who wants to travel to any destination at anytime, unlike last minute travelers who wants to be at a particular destination at a specified time.
"So, our target audience are people who are flexible in their travel date, and spontaneous to travel. We're really going after very targeted segments."
TripGroupy is still in beta for now, but the team is analysing its overall impact and expects the service will be fully launch in a month's time.
Still, when asked about how different TripGroupy is compared to other flash deal websites such as the omnipresent Groupon, Verma says:
"TripGroupy is a key innovation, one of the problems with flash deal site is that they are an intermediary, so you lose some of the message from customers.
"You still have to pay the intermediaries as part of getting the deals listed, so there is a cost involved. By implementing the platform on our own, it becomes easy for us to reach out to all of our audience by providing them a seamless experience.
"We realized this and we started building TripGroupy four to five months ago."
So will TripGroupy only display deals when the demand is low through existing distribution channels (such as its existing and primary method, AirAsia.com?
Verma says:
"TripGroupy is a long term commitment from AirAsia. Tony [Fernandes, AirAsia group CEO] is always on the path of implementing new innovative ideas, TripGroupy is very much a part of his vision".