Travellers today have access to all the information they need on the go. A tap, swipe or fingerprint is all that stands between your consumer and the experiences you offer as a travel provider.

NB This is a viewpoint by Thomas Helldorff, VP Airline & Travel at Worldpay.

There are three main areas to consider when offering a seamless travel experience to consumers:

• Are you providing the right user experience (UX)?
• Are you tokenising and processing payments effectively?
• Are you offering the travel add-ons your customers want?

The UX

Consumers browse for travel deals across multiple devices, from desktops and laptops to smartphones and now even virtual reality. While providers put effort into marketing and optimising navigation on their website, many overlook the importance of the payment process – which goes beyond the payment page.

The payment process begins on your homepage. Clearly stating which payment methods you support at the outset reassures consumers as they browse, so they know you accept their preferred payment method.

When a consumer is ready to pay for their trip, payment pages should be user-friendly, and data fields should be optimised to make it simple to enter details across multiple platforms.

Reassure your customers with payment security certificates as well as communicating, by email or text, whether their payment has been successful or unsuccessful. And if things go wrong make sure you empower staff to solve payment-related issues and queries.

Processing Payments

Travel providers use Worldpay to process payments because transactions are screened using world-class fraud management tools, specifically tailored for the airline and travel industries.

Worldpay works with travel providers on a one-to-one basis to find the right balance between fraud and UX, so consumers can complete bookings in a frictionless manner and travel providers can maximise acceptance rates.

Worldpay has connections and acquiring licences globally, so wherever you choose to operate, you can be sure that Worldpay has the knowhow and experience to help your business succeed.

Ancillary services

Online travel agents, airlines, hotels and travel marketplaces have the potential to be a ‘one stop travel shop’ for their consumers, and this is possible by becoming the merchant of record for travel add-ons.

Being the merchant of record for travel add-ons is taking responsibility for the payment and financial flow for additional services you offer as a travel provider.

For instance, consider an airline offering a car rental service to a passenger. Typically, the customer is referred to a third-party supplier and is prompted to enter personal and payment details again. If the airline became the ‘merchant of record’ for this car rental service, then the customer’s journey would be seamless, with the possibility of the booking being completed and verified with just a fingerprint.

The Seamless Travel Experience report explores, in detail, how airlines, online travel agents, hotels and travel marketplaces can create a seamless travel experience. Download your free copy of the report here.

If you’d like to discover The Seamless Travel Experience live, then register for a free Tnooz-Worldpay webinar. The event takes place on Thursday 29 June starting at 0800 PST, 1100 EST, 1600 BST, 1700 CET.

Click here for details and to register.

NB This a viewpoint by Thomas Helldorff, VP Airline & Travel, Worldpay. It appears here as part of Tnooz’s sponsored content initiative.