30 January 2023 – Low-cost carrier, FlySafair is the first airline in the world to launch a service where customers can make payments for booking extras via WhatsApp. This innovation, called Chat 2 Pay, continues the airline’s commitment to seamless travel experiences.
This particular feature means that customers can now add checked luggage to an existing booking and make payment for that service, all within the context of a simple WhatsApp chat. Launch functionality is currently limited to adding checked luggage, but the airline is in the process of adding other options like snack vouchers to the platform.
“We’re always trying to improve our customer experience and we’re thrilled to be able to offer this innovative new way of managing bookings. WhatsApp is such a fundamental part of our daily lives and it makes perfect sense to bring these capabilities into that environment”, explained Kirby Gordon FlySafair Chief Marketing Officer.
This is the next in a series of recent improvements FlrySafair has made to their WhatsApp service. Just last year the airline worked with technology partner Clickatell to introduce features which allow passengers to manage their bookings via WhatsApp. Now passengers can do everything from looking up a flight status to checking-in, confirming checked luggage inclusions, receiving boarding passes, and live-chatting with airline customer service agents right from WhatsApp.
“Our goal is to offer all the functionality currently available on our website via WhatsApp to make end-to-end booking and reservation management as easy as possible,” said Gordon. “Introducing this payment capability is the next step in achieving this goal, reducing the stress of traveling by offering a convenient, safe, and secure way to pay make payments right in the chat environment.”
“Our work with FlySafair is further evidence that Chat Commerce is a vital part of a seamless customer journey. Our partnership has already seen South Africa’s favourite chat channel, WhatsApp, become an integral part of FlySafair’s omni-channel offering and we are excited to see what new chat services our teams can deliver to an airline who clearly prides itself on its innovation and commitment to engaging with its customers on the channels they prefer,” said Werner Lindemann, Clickatell’s Senior Vice President Enterprise Sales: Growth Markets.
Passengers can access this WhatsApp service by sending Hi to the FlySafair business account on +27 87 357 0030. Following the simple prompts passengers will select the first option labelled My Booking to identify the relevant reservation. If the user is unsure whether they already have a bag they can select the second option Luggage/Bags and Restrictions to check or if they are sure they can skip straight to option three to Buy a Bag. Payment is ultimately made via WhatsApp by following the prompts on the secure payment link using any Visa or Mastercard debit or credit card.