As travel continues to experience an uptick in parts of the world where vaccinations are rising and COVID-19 cases are decreasing, travelers are looking ahead and planning their next trip. In fact, according to research commissioned by Amadeus, 41% of travelers say they would book international travel within six weeks of restrictions being lifted. travel fintech

Moreover, research from Hopper shows that 80% of travelers said they would book a flight if they knew they could change or cancel their plans without penalty.

In a move to further diversify its insurance portfolio, Amadeus is partnering with travel app Hopper, to deploy the company’s fintech products as part of Hopper’s B2B initiative, Hopper Cloud. Through this partnership, any travel provider – airlines, online travel agencies, meta-search companies, travel agencies, etc. – can integrate and seamlessly distribute Hopper’s fintech solutions which increase average order value, improve margins, and drive customer satisfaction.

The fintech products that Amadeus will be deploying include Cancel for Any Reason, which gives travelers the power to instantly cancel their flight for any reason up to 24 hours prior to departure and receive at least 80% of the ticket cost back; and Price Freeze, which allows travelers to hold a price for up to 14 days so they can book it at a more convenient time. By leveraging its vast historical archive of pricing and demand data, Hopper’s AI is able to dynamically price each of these offerings, and the company underwrites all of the risk. Once integrated, any travel seller with access to the Amadeus Travel Platform can offer these flexible travel options to help travelers plan their future trips with more confidence.

As part of the partnership, Hopper also now has access to Amadeus’ global car rental content via the Amadeus Travel Platform, with 40 car rental companies in more than 3,500 cities and 191 countries worldwide available to Hopper’s customers. This builds on the companies’ previous agreement for global flight distribution through Amadeus Web Services, which went live in late 2020.  travel fintech

“Our partnership with Amadeus has been instrumental for Hopper to reach a global base of travelers, and now the world’s largest network of travel sellers,” said Dakota Smith, Chief Strategy Officer, Hopper. “While the past year has been challenging for the travel industry, these fintech solutions have been critical in driving Hopper’s growth so we’re thrilled to have Amadeus’ support in offering new solutions to the travel industry that serve a spectrum of customer needs focused on choice and flexibility.”

“Hopper has been a valued customer and partner for Amadeus, particularly in North America, which is a key growth market for us,” said Peter Altmann, Head of Mobility and Insurance, Amadeus. “As travel technology leaders like Hopper and Amadeus collaborate to rebuild travel, delivering services that boost traveler confidence is critical. We admire Hopper’s innovative approach to benefit from the global breadth and depth of the Amadeus Travel Platform in multiple ways – both as a consumer and seller of travel content – all with an eye on driving a return to travel.”

As travel nears pre-pandemic levels in some areas of the world, flexibility is playing a more significant role in the planning, booking and trip-taking process – and Hopper has proven that customers are willing to pay for peace-of-mind. When provided as an option, almost 60% of travelers will purchase at least one fintech product when making a booking, and once they buy one, they have an 87% likelihood of buying again on their next visit. These fintech solutions increase travelers’ total transaction size by $40 on average and offer a much higher margin profile for sellers than traditional travel sales – on average 55%. By introducing a totally new revenue stream with travel fintech, travel providers can grow their revenue by over 350%. travel fintech