Last minute hotel deals continue to explode in popularity, with luxury travel flash sales site Jetsetter throwing their high-end hoteliers into the mix.
The new feature is called Jetsetter Now, and offers same-day booking deals via an upgrade to the Jetsetter iPhone app.
While the name isn't breaking any branding barriers - see Groupon's instant deal platform, Groupon Now! - the feature aptly describes this new functionality within the Jetsetter app, and is most certainly going to be popular with the 8 million+ savvy, connected and generally affluent Jetsetter demographic.
Jetsetter promises to offer inventory at prices up to 60% off retail, and will display each day's available inventory at noon local time in each US time zone.
In order to maintain the best quality inventory - and also to assuage any concerns luxury hoteliers have about publicly discounting rates - the hotel's name will not be disclosed until after payment is processed.
To facilitate choice within the opaque booking process, members will be able to choose hotels in four categories: Classic, Hip, Contemporary, and Luxe.
This opaque booking process is the opposite of other popular last-minute hotel booking apps like HotelTonight, but is familiar from services such as Priceline's Name Your Own Price.
The properties will maintain the "Jetsetter-Verified" seal of approval derived from the Jetsetter editorial team's curated selection of hotels.
All listed hotels have been visited in person by a Jetsetter correspondent and have received a minimum of 85% approval rating in members' post-stay reviews, meaning that at least 85% of people who stay at a particular hotel would recommend the hotel to a friend and/or stay at that hotel again.
The members of the upscale travel site will certainly appreciate having even more spontaneous access to flash sales pricing. And like competing last minute hotel booking apps, the service offers not only a great deal on a hotel but also infuses an element of mystery and fun for consumers who like a bit of spontaneous spice in their travel plans - all the while still protecting the hotel's overall pricing position in the market.
In an interview at Jetsetter's New York offices, General Manager Rob Deeming explained that Jetsetter tested the opaque model via their existing audience before deciding to fully move forward with the product:
"The average bookings we see with a mystery hotel exceeds the average bookings that we see for a hotel in that city in general. Firstly, people are relatively tuned into the concept that, if its opaque, they will get a better deal. And so they can aspire to have something better. And also, people really do like this mystery concept.
Seventy-six percent of Jetsetter mobile bookings are within two weeks, 32% of which are within 7 days. We’ve also seen a significant trend towards same-day bookings during our aggressively priced mobile-only sales which we started testing in early 2012. A recent mobile-only sale for a five-star hotel in NYC saw 15% of purchases for same day stays."
A win-win, as long as the hotel understands the implications of last-minute bookings.
There was also some dissatisfaction with what was currently going on in the last minute booking space, most especially with the quality of product and how it relates to the general travel lives of Jetsetter members.
“We’re thrilled to be launching same-day offerings with the new Jetsetter Now feature on our iPhone app. It’s both the logical next step for Jetsetter’s mobile strategy, as well as a complement to our signature flash business, as we’re always looking for ways to improve the travel cycle for members on the go.”
Members will benefit from competition among the hotels, as there will be only one hotel available at a time per category. Only the best deal will be available in each category, so the hotels are encouraged to discount as much as possible to get featured earlier in the booking window.
After one hotel deal sells out, the next best deal will be served up to the member, thus encouraging both generous discounting on the hotel's part and early purchasing on the user's end.
The in-app booking process is fairly seamless, with only three steps from selection to purchase. The nifty photo-capture feature, which is fast becoming a standard in-app feature, greatly reduces the friction and pain involved in entering payment information.
In addition, the latest release of the Jetsetter app features complete integration with Apple's Passbook. This is one of the very first travel apps to take full advantage of this burgeoning mainstay of the travel space, and it highlights just how Passbook is poised to become the center of the iPhone-toting traveler's universe.
As Passbook users approach the hotel, the booking will automatically pop-up on the smartphone's screen, allowing easy access to the confirmation information. For the traveler managing many bookings - last minute or otherwise - it's easy to see how quickly Passbook will become essential as more travel apps begin pushing booking information to Passbook.
The updated Jetsetter application is available via the Apple App Store.