What are Group Bookings—And Why They're Notoriously Hard to Manage for Airlines

A group booking is one where 9 or more passengers travel together on the same flight, date, and itinerary.?

Typically, groups are made up of businesspeople on MICE [Meetings, Incentives, Conventions/Conferences and Exhibitions] trips or retail customers, including Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR), tourists, pilgrims, school/ college groups, sports teams, destination wedding attendees, and the participants of other social functions as well.??

Despite their vast potential, many airlines rely on outdated methods to handle group bookings, which affects revenue and leads to customer dissatisfaction. Major pain points for group booking customers are:?

• ?Manual & inefficient process of requesting group quote?

Customers typically must call the sales desk or email the airline and wait for days—sometimes weeks— on end to receive a quote, usually, one that is outdated by then. This delay costs airlines 4 out of every 5 customers, who report that they instantly pick the airline with the fastest quote.?

• Lack of personalization

Manual group booking is an inconvenience to groups that need any level of personalization. Every little detail must be emailed/ conveyed via call, and the response time for manually negotiating fares and personalizing the group travel experience, with different meal options, etc., is a huge dealbreaker for most customers.?

Crucially, the airline can't set up personalized group booking policies based on the segment of the group booking customer, meaning that the passengers will be left with policies they aren't comfortable with.

?For instance, a group booking for a business trip may need to change the number of seats at the last minute. Without a proper, automated solution to set up customized group policies for each type of group booking, the airline runs the risk of making many passengers unhappy.?

• Lack of price transparency?

?When the quote is generated, the customer may find that the price per ticket would have changed since they made an inquiry, which will leave them unsatisfied with the whole booking process.

• Inability to track and manage group requests effectively?

?Most importantly, the airline loses out on a ton of revenue over time because they currently have no efficient way of tracking group booking requests and following up with them to negotiate, make payments, update PNR, etc.?

Overall, the group booking landscape is a prime candidate for innovation because it leaves the following and more to be desired.??

• Direct booking confirmation
• Special group fares
• Unified platform to request and accept fares
• Dashboard to track and manage all group bookings
• Ability to book special meals along with other ancillaries??
• Self-service portal for updating PNR
• Instant payment through credit card, BSP, wire transfer, cash
• ?Ability to generate EMD against payment?

?If airlines recognize its value and act accordingly, they can undoubtedly see huge upside potential.

The Upside to Reimagining Group Bookings with GroupRM —28% Boost in Airline Revenue

?Across the world, both full-service carriers and budget carriers have utilized GroupRM to transform their group booking process. What ensued was a delightful booking experience for retail customers and travel agents and an unprecedented increase in the airlines' bottom line.?

GroupRM helps airlines tackle the limitations of every aspect of a group booking, leading to transparent pricing, customizable group requests and policies based on customer segment, and a hassle-free experience from requesting to the time of ticket generation.

?Further, the solution allows airlines to redefine group bookings; airlines can consider anything over two passengers as a group booking and offer competitive real-time fares and personalized ancillaries.?

?See it in action with a demo.?