Guy Kawasaki Talks About TravelFli on Vator.tv
Travelfli was one of the featured companies on Vator.tv, a social network for technology start-up companies which gives entrepreneurs a platform to connect with Investors, Acquirers and Media. The Vator Box show was moderated by Bambi Francisco, Vator.tv co-founder and CEO. Travelfli was evaluated by Guy Kawasaki, author of newly-published Reality Check, venture capitalist and founder of AllTop, and Ezra Roizen, digital media investment banker. We got such a kick out of the show and wanted to share it with our readers. They also asked some great questions, which fell right in line with many of the questions we are asked from people who are just becoming familiar with the concept. I have included my responses below. Let us know what you think of their feedback and HOW ABOUT THAT EXIT AND LIQUIDITY SCENARIO??? David Cohen, they even figured out your share of Travelfl upon a sale! :)
First and foremost, Travelfli would like to thank Bambi, Guy and Ezra for their feedback and the fascinating discussion surrounding our business. We are thrilled at the opportunity to be a featured company on Vator Box and really appreciate your frank insight! I’d like to take a quick moment to respond to several of the main questions that came up during the show.
In no particular order….
1. Relationships with the airlines
The common perception is very similar to the one you voiced, Ezra: that airlines do not want people to redeem their frequent flyer miles. Interestingly enough, this couldn’t be further from the truth. AIRLINES DEPEND ON PEOPLE USING THEIR FREQUENT FLYER MILES!
Most people don’t know this, but frequent flyer miles are big business for the airlines. Loyalty programs are often the most profitable division of almost every airline’s operations. The reason for this is due largely to the popularity of “co-branded” credit cards and other similar programs that reward consumers with frequent flyer miles for a variety of everyday consumer activities. Airlines earn billions selling miles to partners but invest very little energy in making redemption options easy for users. On the flip side, if loyalty programs aren’t perceived by users as valuable, airlines are at risk of losing major revenues from credit cards.
What does this mean and how does Travelfli fit into the equation? Airlines spend millions every year in customer retention campaigns. The reason for this is that airlines like United want consumers to stay involved in their loyalty programs and to find value in frequent flyer miles so that companies like Chase Bank will keep spending billions of dollars buying their miles. Travelfli acts as a free user retention program for the airlines while providing new income streams from traditional fare purchases, ancillary purchases, and co-branding opportunities. Most importantly, Travelfli helps customers maximize the value they get out of their programs. This deepens the customer’s attachment to their programs and increases their value to the travel supplier.
Travelfli has taken a travel supplier-centric approach to our business. We have met with top level officers and directors from both the loyalty and distribution sides of the house in 12 major airlines and hotel chains, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. We have been successful at forging partnerships with many of them, which will drive revenue in the form of commissions as well as provide a reliable way to access content (i.e., fares and room availability) from the travel supplier’s sites.
2. Addressable Market
We couldn’t agree more with Guy that Travelfli is not a service for the exclusive United flyer, for example. There is no reason for this person to be any place other than United’s site. Moreover, this segment of the market is the bread and butter for the airlines and we would be a competitive threat if we were going after these power frequent flyers. Travelfli is a product for the larger segment -– referred to as “splitters” in airline-speak. These frequent flyers are not loyal to a specific airline but instead accumulate miles in a variety of loyalty programs. Travelfli can help them manage their portfolio of miles, suggest ways to optimize their mileage portfolio so they belong to the most fitting programs, and help them use their miles most effectively so they extract the maximum value out of their loyalty programs. Travelfli has conducted extensive research into this demographic and we feel like this market is large enough for us to make a significant impact on.
3. What pain points do we address?
The airline industry currently has an accumulated liability of over twenty trillion frequent flyer miles! We think every frequent flyer will agree that it’s easy to earn miles but very difficult to redeem them for travel.
Part of the reason is because the airlines release a limited amount of award seats sporadically right up until the date of departure. Travelfli’s tools can monitor fares for our users and alert them when award seats become available. This will drastically increase one’s chances of scoring an award seat and ultimately save time and money. Our management tools (we, too use the Mint for Miles analogy, Guy!) help frequent flyers retain miles in accounts they don’t proactively manage (such as an airline they no longer fly or a hotel loyalty program in which they’ve accumulated miles but never used). Our goal is to help frequent flyers manage this undervalued asset just like any other currency because at the end of the day, miles and points can be translated into real dollars if managed effectively and used appropriately.
Thanks once again for selecting Travelfli for Vator TV!
Please feel free to email us directly with your thoughts or any follow up questions. We get tremendous value out of your opinions and feedback. Happy flying! Krista{at}travelfli.com.
P.S. Bambi, you can borrow the airline outfit anytime you’d like!
