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Jenny Southan selects five innovative tools to help business travellers enhance their journeys and companies save money
The system uses algorithms to track airfares after booking, flagging up deals that could be advantageous to switch to”
1 FAIRFLY
Fairfly helps companies and TMCS maximise savings on air travel. The company says flight prices typically change more than 90 times between booking and take-off, and that in the US alone, £19billion a year is lost in the overpaying of tickets. Taking advantage of this volatility, the system uses algorithms to track airfares after booking, flagging up deals that could be advantageous to switch to depending on your travel policy and airline cancellation fees.
2 SEATFROG
Seatfrog allows travellers to bid for upgrades in ebay-style auctions. Enter a booking reference and, if you win, payment is automatically taken and a new digital boarding pass is sent to your phone. The start-up is partnering with airlines and train companies to offer white label solutions that they can package up for customers in their own way, as well as offering the Seatfrog smartphone consumer app.
3 SKYGURU
Skyguru is an app designed to give realtime updates about the weather and turbulence on your flight, while you are in the air, which could help reduce your fear of flying (or you might just find it interesting). It even works in airplane mode. If you are anxious before getting on board, you can get advice and predictions of what to expect form take-off to landing, and if the flight is bumpy, you will know how long it will go on for. The app also employs iphone sensors to tell you about unfamiliar aircraft sounds and manoeuvres, and will display information about the countries you are flying over.
4 WINGLY
Wingly describes itself as a “community of trustworthy aviation enthusiasts”, with 9,000 pilots, 100,000 users and a network of 3,000 destinations across the UK and Europe. The idea is that pilots on light aircraft (with two to six seats) can advertise empty seats on the routes they are flying and then sell them to passengers wanting to travel between those locations. You can read reviews of the pilot, see how many hours’ flying experience they have and what kind of plane they will be flying. In terms of safety, Wingly is certified by both EASA and the CAA in the UK.
5 DEALRAY
Dealray is a membership platform for individual frequent flyers. It costs $9.99 a month and, in return, you will be alerted via text message to airfare sales with up to 70 per cent off. According to data from the company, an average of $428 is saved on every ticket, with past deals including $19 one-way tickets from Miami to New York, and from Boston to Reykjavik for $264 return. Behind the scenes, the team monitors airline websites for price glitches and sales, then shares them with members looking to book. First-time users can get a month free.