Orbitz mobile: a virtual travel concierge?

Yesterday, Russell from Mobhappy reviewed Orbitz mobile travel site.

It's a free to use, well thought out site providing information about flights, traffic, weather, and airport parking, with user-generated data capturing queue times for security, taxis, etc.

As an aside, user-generated data is something we're giving a lot of thought to ourselves. The mobile web is the obvious way to capture simple, real-time information about queue times at different airports. But, the question we keep asking is: are there currently enough mobile web users in our demographic to allow us to capture and aggregate any meaningful data?

What is a virtual travel concierge?
A virtual travel concierge provides travellers with timely and relevant, information, advice, and assistance on their day of travel. The idea is to make a travellers end to end journey less stressful.

How does Orbitz site rate
Certainly, Orbitz hits the right buttons for useful information and advice.

But, to become a full concierge service, Orbitz needs to address personalisation. Today, you have to enter your flight details in their site and separately select your airport (U.S. only at the moment). A true concierge service would understand the travellers itinerary and filter the information displayed to ensure it is relevant.

To be fair to Orbitz, the user experience may be different if you booked with them ... they provide a log-in area for customers, which I couldn't access because I haven't booked a trip with them.

A nice example of customer service
An important element of any virtual concierge is providing assistance ... predicting a person's needs and responding to these needs in a timely manner.

Russell mentions Orbitz emailed him to tell him about the tube strike in London on his recent trip to the UK. A nice touch.

Imagine if they'd married this with their mobile service ... so, Russell receives a text message warning him of the London Underground issues and the text contains a WAP Push pointing him to a page on the mobile-site offering to help him beat the queues if he pre-books tickets on the Heathrow Express (a more civilised way of getting into Central London!).

The result would be a less stressful travel experience for the traveller and by offering relevant, timely assistance the travel company, in this case Orbitz, earns extra commission by selling train tickets.


All in all, Orbitz has developed a useful travel aid for anyone travelling within the US. And, this is an example of how mobile technology is going to enhance the travel experience over the coming years.