Two U.S. airlines are testing mobile apps that would deliver seat upgrades, lounge passes, check-ins and/or priority boarding through a new partnership between Farelogix and Mobiata, officials say.
The two as yet unidentified airlines -- both Farelogix customers -- would be able to tailor location-based merchanising offers, sometime based on travelers' frequent flyer status, because Mobiata has integrated Farelogix FMS2 (Flight Merchandising Solution 2) into Mobiata's existing FlightTrack and TripDeck travel apps.
The Farelogix client list includes: American, United, Lufthansa, Singapore, Emirates, Virgin America, Northwest, Continental, AirTran and Air Canada. An African airline also is believed to be in the mix.
Jim Davidson, Farelogix president and CEO, says the two airlines are working on "customer recovery" features for the mobile apps, where they might be able to send passengers free Wi-Fi service if there is a delay or extend them club passes if the airline lounge isn't very full.
One of the two airlines, Davidson says, plans to launch merchandising services in limited release within three months.
So, how do these apps know the customers' loyalty status and preferences?
Davidson says "Mobiata passes traveler information to the FMS2 engine, which validates with the airline and then creates the offer, which is then sent back to Mobiata for the presentation experience and transaction interface."
FMS2 consists of a pricing engine and a rules engine, with hundreds of criteria, connects to airline CRM, frequent flyer program and properietary databases for inventory, validation and scoring, Davidson says.
Asked if the airlines are actively working on implementing features like free Wi-Fi during delays or airport lounge passes, Davidson says: "This isn't PowerPoint. This is real."
The service is available to Farelogix customers using its XML direct-connect adaptor or FMS2. FlightTrack and TripDeck are available on the iPhone and Android platforms and Blackberry availability is in the works, the companies say.
So why did Farelogix turn to Mobiata to further its airline-merchandising business?
Davidson says "we are good at somethings like airline-distribution engines, but have no mobile experience."
Jack Loop, vice president of business development at Mobiata, says the company, founded a little more than a year ago, specializes in travel apps, which are consistently top downloads at the iTunes Store.
Loops says Mobiata seeks to be the back-end to airlines' travel apps and will also make them features in Mobiata's self-published apps.