Technology, Organisations & Operators,

InterLnkd – the travel tech start-up that enables the industry to earn a new and free revenue stream from fashion, beauty, and essential products – has today announced that Thomas Cook has chosen its solution to power its intelligent shopping mall.
Powered by InterLnkd’s unique matching engine software, Thomas Cook will offer its customers access to a personalised selection of products and offers specially curated for their upcoming holidays.
The innovative matching engine, built through AI algorithms, identifies the most relevant products for a customer’s booking and showcases them via Thomas Cook’s bespoke online shopping mall. This enables Thomas Cook to simultaneously enhance its online offering and earn a new and free revenue stream from the items customers need and want for their holidays.
In addition, customers of the new intelligent shopping mall will enjoy access to exclusive offers from some of the biggest online and high street brands.
Louie Davis, Head of Ancillaries & Financial Services at Thomas Cook, said: “As we approach the busy holiday season, we know our customers are looking for great deals on their beach-ready wardrobe and holiday essentials. This new partnership with InterLnkd will enable us to help customers find recommendations and offers from great brands, all in one place.”ADVERTISEMENTBarry Klipp, CEO of InterLnkd, added: “We’re delighted Thomas Cook has chosen InterLnkd to power its dynamic and intelligent shopping mall, which will deliver a personalised shopping solution for its customers.
“Whether it’s a beach, city or ski holiday, our research shows the average person spends £270 on fashion, beauty, and essential products for their upcoming holiday. Through our white label, dynamic AI technology, customers will now be able to find the fashion, beauty, and essential products they need and want for their holidays in just a few clicks.
“We’re excited to connect Thomas Cook customers to over 1000 major brands and offer them our intelligent curated edits solution with exclusive offers – while also delivering Thomas Cook a new, free and innovative ancillary revenue stream.”
For more information, visit https://interlnkd.com.

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HQ, the industry-leading end-to-end global enterprise solution for corporate mobility, and Gett, a market leader in the UK black cab market, today announced a new partnership. Through this partnership, select HQ corporate customers in the UK now have the ability to book on-demand and future rides directly through the Gett app or HQ SummitGround platform.Starting today, Gett’s transport options, including black cabs, will appear alongside existing ground travel options on the HQ SummitGround platform. Integrating Gett and HQ embeds Gett’s services into the corporate policy compliance process of existing HQ users, making Gett a pre-approved option for travellers that is seamlessly plugged into HQ users’ billing and procurement processes. At a time of budget cuts and rising costs, HQ’s billing technology is built from the ground up to provide customers with spend visibility and cost optimisation.  Moreover, with HQ SummitGround, customers have the freedom to tailor travel policies and booking parameters based on factors like employee position and journey type, allowing for greater spend control. The partnership with Gett extends these capabilities to ride-hail in London.
Amiad Solomon, the CEO and Co-Founder of HQ, said: “Our partnership with Gett in London is an important milestone as we bring high-quality ride-hail into the mobility mix. From today, clients can select on-demand Gett rides from within the HQ SummitGround platform or mobile app, as they would with any other ground transportation service.  As a result, Gett rides are integrated within HQ’s booking, billing, and payment platform, alongside our clients’ preferred suppliers.  In turn, clients gain a complete picture of ground travel activity, covering everything from spend to scope-3 emissions, from one single dashboard.  We’re thrilled to partner with Gett, and look forward to the journey ahead.”
Matteo De Renzi, the CEO of Gett, added: “We’re excited to be partnering with HQ, who share our commitment to providing customers with maximum options and flexibility while also promoting compliance with their travel policies. In partnership with HQ we believe we will be able to provide an unrivalled service in London for businesses when it comes to reliability, quality, and convenience, as well as greater transparency on their costs and emissions. Together with the drivers on our platform, we are looking forward to providing our services to some of the most prestigious enterprises in London and beyond.”
The two companies also share a similar vision in regard to sustainability. With this partnership, on-demand rides with Gett will appear within HQ’s sustainability reports to show key emission hotspots, employee usage, and travel behaviour.  This will help ensure that ride-hail and black cabs are more accurately and comprehensively tracked alongside other travel.
As part of Gett’s offering, HQ customers can select greener ride options, like electric black cabs, at the time of the booking.  As well as providing access to 3,000+ electric vehicles, Gett also offsets all CO2 emissions from every ride booked on their app/platform in the UK with certified carbon offsetting projects through their partnership with EcoAct. ADVERTISEMENTThe availability of electric vehicles strategically times with the expansion of London’s Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) across all London boroughs from 29 August 2023.  ULEZ aims to tackle air pollution and traffic congestion, a move that is expected to bring cleaner air to 5 million more London residents.  Pure electric vehicles are exempt from ULEZ charges. As part of the two companies’ shared sustainability efforts,  HQ and Gett aim to support customers in reducing scope-3 emissions while offering greener, more sustainable forms of ground transportation.
To learn more about HQ, please visit hqtravel.comTo learn more about Gett, please visit www.gett.com

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Trip.com has launched TripGen, a chatbot designed to provide travellers with live assistance through cutting-edge AI technology. Trip.com implemented this technology to enable users to receive tailored travel routes, itineraries and travel booking advice in real time on the Trip.com platform.The newly launched consumer tool strives to make travel more accessible than ever with its all-in-one app strategy. Trip.com has long offered personalised comprehensive search solutions designed to meet travellers’ needs for the best flights, hotels, and travel guides. TripGen has taken this search capability one step further with an advanced context-based Natural Language Processing-integrated (NLP) chatbot. Users can ask complex or vague questions and get the exact answers they need to “Generate Your Dream Trip Just Like That”.
Making pre-trip decisions and in-trip arrangements can be stressful. If you’re not a travel expert, the first obstacle for most is: Where should I go? What should I do? Of course, you can ask friends or search online, but inevitably this leads to more questions like, what’s unique about this place? How do I arrange my days? What’s it going to cost me? and so on. TripGen’s chatbot allows users to enter any fragmented travel-related questions, and receive instant suggestions for pre-trip decisions and in-trip arrangements, from flights and hotels to transportation and tours, making the whole process enjoyable and stress-free.
Amy Wei, Senior Product Director at Trip.com Group and Product Owner of TripGen, shared her experience as a frequent traveller, “Time is precious, but planning is always so time-consuming and stressful. There is so much information available to users, and often it’s overwhelming. As a travelholic who visited over 40 countries, I completely empathise with other travellers’ pain points and difficulties in preparing for a trip.”
Understanding the difficulties consumers face when planning and preparing for a trip, Amy and her team integrated AI technology to help solve this complex and stressful process, providing efficient and valuable real-time assistance. She added, “TripGen can provide travellers with closed-loop services before, after, and during their trip just as the saying goes, ‘You desire a trip, we generate the rest. Just like that!’”   
Schubert Lou, COO of Trip.com said, “The goal of Trip.com is to become your trusted trip companion. The release of TripGen provides real-time, question-and-answer services in the Trip.com app, resulting in greater, faster, and more diverse support for travellers.”ADVERTISEMENT“TripGen currently supports English, Japanese, Korean and traditional Chinese. More languages will be added depending on user needs. On the technical side, TripGen has integrated the OpenAI API, which developed ChatGPT based on GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) architecture. In the future, we will consider other NLP model alternatives and continue on our journey to provide the ultimate product experience for travelers.”
Why not take the guesswork out of your next trip and use Trip.com’s TripGen to create the perfect plan for your next adventure?

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Beginning this year, passengers traveling through Frankfurt Airport (Fraport) can breeze through the various steps in the journey – from check-in to boarding – simply by scanning their faces at biometric touchpoints across the airport. This solution will be rolled out and available to all interested airlines at the airportThe implementation will see additional biometric touchpoints installed by spring 2023. From enrollment at a kiosk or counter, to pre-security automated gates and self-boarding gates, passengers can use biometric technology to seamlessly pass through each stage of the journey by simply scanning their face.
The project breaks new ground in the development of digital travel by providing a true common-use biometric platform at all Fraport terminals, open to all airlines operating at the airport. It combines day of travel enrollment, Star Alliance Biometrics, and additional biometric hubs under the umbrella of the SITA Smart Path platform.
For Lufthansa passengers specifically, thanks to the integration of SITA Smart Path with Star Alliance Biometrics, the technology makes use of the biometric identities of Lufthansa passengers enrolled on Star Alliance’s platform, enabling seamless identification of passengers without additional process steps across multiple participating airports and airlines.
This implementation plays a key part in paving the way for the rollout of biometrics across Star Alliance’s global network, as it endeavors to have more of its 26 member carriers using biometric technology progressively. Key learnings from the Fraport project will be considered for further implementations across the network.
The NEC I:Delight digital identity management platform, which is fully integrated with SITA Smart Path, ranked No.1 several times as the world’s most accurate face recognition technology in vendor tests conducted by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It allows passengers who have opted to use the service to be identified quickly and accurately, even on the move. Passengers who do not wish to use the solution can check in using a traditional check-in counter.ADVERTISEMENTDr. Pierre Dominique Prümm, Member of the Executive Board and Executive Director Aviation & Infrastructure, Fraport AG, said: “Emerging from the pandemic, passengers are embracing technology to boost efficiency and place them in control of their travel. We are extremely excited to be able to transform the experience for all our passengers across all terminals and carriers with one simple, intuitive solution. We also value that SITA and NEC’s innovative technology allows our infrastructure to be truly future-proof, with the capacity to grow with us as industry demands and travel patterns shift.”
Sergio Colella, SITA President for Europe, said: “We are delighted to be working with key industry players to bring the benefits of biometric technology to passengers everywhere. With this implementation, Fraport is leading the industry in responding to shifting passenger demands for greater autonomy and convenience, while helping to maximize operational efficiencies.”
Jason Van Sice, Vice President for NEC Advanced Recognition Systems said: “We have a wealth of experience combining our technical know-how with SITA’s understanding of the air transport industry. We are proud to be upgrading Lufthansa and Fraport customers’ experience with next-generation biometric technology, and we applaud Star Alliance’s initiative to bring these benefits to its broader network.”

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NFINI Travel Information, the exclusive Sabre GDS distribution partner in Japan, and Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR), a leading software and technology provider that powers the global travel industry, today announced a new, multi-year GDS agreement with AirTrip International Corp. The deal will see AirTrip International capitalizing on Sabre’s global distribution system (GDS) as part of its strategy to spur growth of its outbound business with advanced technology.
Using Sabre’s rich GDS content, including NDC offers, as well as Sabre’s Bargain Finder Max API, AirTrip International will be able to expand its content regime while creating compelling offers for its customers.
Bargain Finder Max utilizes Sabre’s proprietary shopping algorithm and broad array of rich content to deliver optimal itinerary offers in seconds. This will enable AirTrip International to create customized booking experiences for travelers by tailoring search results for the most relevant fares, based on itinerary preferences.
“This is an important partnership for AirTrip International, and we are excited by the prospects of this collaboration,” said Yusuke Shibata, President & Representative Director / CFO of AirTrip International. “Our mission at AirTrip is to use advanced products and technologies with our unique position in the Japanese market to deliver a best-in-class travel experience for our customers. This mission is even more relevant as travel recovery gains momentum in Japan. Sabre is well-positioned to share its next-generation content and technology which will be an essential component in providing a superior customer experience.”
AirTrip International established itself as a preferred choice of travelers in Japan’s highly competitive markets by focusing on meeting customer needs through a superior product experience. The OTA has proved itself to be resilient in its ability to adapt its business model quickly to the challenges which have emerged throughout the pandemic and is now focused on technological advancement for future growth.ADVERTISEMENT“We very much welcome the AirTrip International decision to choose the Sabre GDS as a distribution channel in Japan,” said Kimio Uemura, CEO, INFINI Travel Information. “It validates our vision for the Sabre/INFINI partnership and the need for advanced industry solutions that meet service needs, while effectively supporting travel agents’ desire to expand the breadth of their business models globally.”
“As travel agencies look to secure a competitive edge amid continuing recovery, they need a technology partner with the stability and resources to continue investing in advanced and new technology solutions,” said Brett Thorstad, Vice President, Sabre Travel Solutions, Agency Sales, Asia Pacific. “There’s a huge opportunity for AirTrip International to act fast and position itself for growth. AirTrip’s decision to become part of Sabre’s GDS will enable the OTA to tap into expected increased demand, during the recovery period and beyond.”

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Brits travelling to Europe this summer risk racking up extra mobile charges – even if their network provider offers free EU roaming.
This is due to many networks imposing a Fair Usage Policy (FUP), which puts a cap on the amount of mobile data consumers can use while on holiday before incurring a fee, regardless of their plan at home.
On Tuesday, giffgaff is set to reduce its FUP restriction from 20GB to 5GB. Customers who go over the limit while abroad will be charged 10p per MB to continue roaming. This means that using an extra 1GB without buying a new plan will cost at least £100.
On 26 September, Asda Mobile, which runs off the Vodafone network, will cut the amount of data its roaming customers can use from 25GB to 5GB, with a 10p/MB out-of-plan charge. This is part of a number of changes that will also affect the provider’s pay-as-you-go customers.
The data cap in a FUP can vary wildly across providers. Vodafone has set its bar at 25GB, while Three’s is under half that at 12GB. EE and Sky Mobile have not imposed a cap, although under the government’s rules, customers that roam abroad will not be able to spend more than £45 a month on data.ADVERTISEMENTO2 and Virgin Media, who claim their customers can roam like at home, both have FUPs in place. While O2’s fair usage limit is 25GB for all customers, Virgin Media’s limit is linked to the cost of a customer’s overall monthly plan. This means for every £1 of your usual monthly bill, you can access 543MB of data. For example, a Virgin customer roaming abroad on a £50-per-month tariff with unlimited data at home can use a maximum of 26.71GB while roaming. 
Catherine Hiley, mobiles expert at Uswitch.com, comments: “For those heading abroad this summer, the mobile roaming rules are tricky enough to understand, yet Fair Usage Policies add another layer of complexity.
“The lack of consistency from providers on data limits is hard to understand – and in the case of Virgin Media – hard to calculate. With such a range of restrictions, it could mean that families travelling on holiday may find some members run out of data far more quickly than others.
“While 5GB may seem like a fair amount of mobile data, giffgaff and Asda Mobile customers will soon face hefty fees if they break their limit without putting a new plan in place.
“Consumers on unlimited plans could find downsizing tough on their travels. If they’re used to regular data-heavy activities like downloading or streaming films,  they may well hit the data wall much sooner than anticipated.
“Anyone planning to use their phone abroad should check their provider’s Fair Use Policy and, if they think they’re likely to reach the cap, consider buying a data add-on.
“While on holiday, use Wi-Fi where possible on a safe and secure connection to preserve your allowance. Alternatively, consider a plan from a SIM-only provider without a Fair Use Policy, like ID Mobile. They offer a 50GB deal for £10 a month or an unlimited plan for £16 a month.”

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