Sabre is launching Sabre Upgrade IQ, a artificial intelligence-based solution to help airlines optimize their premium cabin inventory.
Sabre partnered with Hopper to
incorporate its bidding platform into the solution, which gives travelers the
ability to bid for a seat upgrade at any stage during the pre-travel timeframe
– during the booking flow, at check-in and in the airline’s app or via email.
The solution also uses artificial intelligence capabilities from Google.
“Sabre’s latest AI solution is a
testament to the power of strategic partnerships in driving innovation and
speed-to-market,” said Garry Wiseman, chief product officer of Sabre Travel
Solutions.
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“By collaborating with Google and
Hopper on some of the core technical capabilities, we have delivered a modern
retailing solution to help airlines better manage seat upgrades and create
differentiated customer experiences.”
Upgrade IQ dynamically prices upgrade
offers, recommending the minimum and maximum proposed bid values along with the
starting price for the bid. It can also re-issue and revalidate tickets,
process payments and send receipts and confirmations to the traveler.
The company said that during beta
testing, Upgrade IQ delivered up to 20% uplift in incremental upgrade revenue
by filling empty seats in premium cabins.
Separately, Hopper announced Thursday it is changing the name of its B2B business from Hopper Cloud to Hopper Technology Solutions (HTS) and offering suite of e-commerce services intended for travel brands' - such as airlines and hotel - who have their own supply that they sell directly to consumers.
The HTS e-commerce solutions include customer service automation, fraud detection, cloud-based international infrastructure, personalized merchandising, a global payments stack integrated with a hosted wallet and rewards ledger and more.