KLM’s third party ancillaries now also available in Messenger

Apr 10, 2018

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has long been at the forefront of digital innovation in the aviation industry. In March 2016, it was the first airline to offer flight documentation and information via Messenger when it unveiled an opt-in service for passengers on KLM.com.

In February of this year, it further expanded its social offering by enabling customers to book a hotel, rent a car or reserve tours and activities within Messenger. Passengers who have opted in[1] to receive flight information from KLM via Messenger, will now be offered a carousel with third party ancillaries, including car rental and accommodation.

Their enhanced car rental offering has been powered by CarTrawler, which utilises sophisticated technology to offer the most relevant ground transport solutions to customers in real-time and with greater relevancy to their travel situation.

Aileen O’Mahony, CarTrawler’s Chief Commercial Officer believes that KLM’s Messenger integration is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what can be enhanced in order to respond to customer’s evolving needs in the digital world.

Customer expectations are rising everyday and CarTrawler’s products are poised to meet these expectations as we embed our technology solutions into the fabric of our clients’ offerings.

Aileen O’Mahony, Chief Commercial Officer at CarTrawler

Indeed, KLM Chief Executive Officer, Pieter Elbers, recently contended[2] that to truly communicate with customers, the company would need to concentrate “on platforms where customers (already) are”. Elbers was referring of course to superpower apps such as Facebook Messenger, an application with 1.4 billion[3] active daily users. Through the likes of Facebook Messenger, KLM has the ability to capture the attention of customers on a platform they already operate in, rather than diluting its presence with an additional, bespoke KLM-branded app.

How it works?

During the booking process, passengers are given the option to receive their hotel, car or tour booking confirmation via KLM on Messenger. This AI-driven approach consolidates all relevant travel information in a single place, delivering a personalised solution which is available to the passenger at the airport, en route or at home.

KLM wants to be where its customers are and offers them the opportunity to book a range of supplementary products and services throughout their journey. This offer reflects KLM’s commitment to keeping pace with its customers’ expectations for flexible, digital travel planning.

CarTrawler is at the forefront of facilitating travel brands in this shift towards conversational commerce. The award-winning travel technology company specialises in providing long-term value to its travel partners by providing them with a single, intelligent and easy to integrate technology platform.

It was a pleasure to work with a technical, capable and flexible partner like CarTrawler. This project had a lot of internal stakeholders and so we needed short communication lines and lots of flexibility. CarTrawler facilitated these requirements and the result was a very smooth integration process. We are glad that our partners are willing to cooperate in our innovative projects, so that we can ultimately assist our customers throughout their entire journey.

Ruben Klerks, Social Media Manager at KLM

[1] If a passenger clicks on the ‘No’ button, no offers from ancillary partners will be shown.

[2] Speaking at the Aviation Festival in London in September 2017

[3] www.statista.com

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