Question 1

Do I actually need a mobile app if my booking website already works on a phone?

Accepted Answer

No, you do not need a mobile app to sell travel on a phone, and plenty of agencies run for years without one. A booking website built to work on a small screen lets a customer search, pick a flight or a hotel and pay, all from their phone, without downloading anything first. If your site is already comfortable to use that way, an app is a choice rather than a requirement. An app earns its place when you want something a website cannot do easily. Sitting on the home screen so people come back without searching for you, sending a notification while somebody is already travelling, and holding travel documents that can be opened without a signal are the usual reasons. If most of your customers book one holiday a year, that pull is weak. If you look after corporate travellers or regulars who fly often, it is much stronger. There is also work that does not stop at launch. An app has to be published on the Apple and Google stores, kept up to date as those stores change their rules, and your customers have to be persuaded to install it in the first place. Whether that is included in your plan or charged separately depends on what you have signed up for, so ask rather than assume. Look at your own numbers before you decide. Check how many of your bookings already come from phones, and how many customers buy from you more than once a year. If both are high, an app is worth costing out. If not, put the money into making your mobile website faster and simpler, and revisit the question later.

Question 2

Will my customers get an alert on their phone if their flight is delayed while they are already travelling?

Accepted Answer

Yes, an app can push that kind of alert to a traveller's phone, but how useful the alert is depends on where the flight information comes from. The app only shows what it is told. If your booking system receives schedule change messages from the airline or from the supplier you booked through, the app can turn those into a notification within minutes. If a supplier only passes changes on once a day, or sends them by email to your office, then the traveller will hear about it just as late through the app as they would any other way. A delay on the day of travel is a different thing from a schedule change made weeks ahead. Same day gate and delay information usually comes from a live flight status feed, which is a separate service you subscribe to rather than something included with your booking connection. It is worth asking what that feed costs and which airlines and airports it covers well, because coverage is normally stronger on large carriers and major airports than on small regional ones. You also need the traveller to allow notifications on their phone. Many people say no when the app first asks, and after that the message sits quietly inside the app instead of appearing on their lock screen. The usual answer is to send the same alert by email or text at the same moment, so an important change is never missed because of one phone setting. Before you promise your customers live alerts, check with your suppliers which change messages they actually pass on to you and how quickly they do it, then decide whether a live status feed is worth paying for on top.

Question 3

Can my customers open their travel documents in the app when they have no internet?

Accepted Answer

Yes, a travel mobile app can let customers open saved itineraries, tickets and vouchers when they have no internet connection. The documents must normally be downloaded to the phone while the customer is still online. What can be saved depends on the app, the booking supplier and the type of document provided through the API. Offline access is useful at airports, railway stations and destinations where mobile coverage is weak or expensive. Customers may be able to view important booking details without signing in again, but live information such as flight status, gate changes, new messages and booking updates will still need an internet connection. The app should also protect documents stored on the phone because they may contain personal travel information. Available protection can depend on the device and the app plan. If a booking changes after a document has been saved, the customer may need to reconnect so the app can download the latest version and avoid showing old details. Ask your travel technology provider which documents can be stored offline, how updates are handled and what the traveller will see when a newer version is available.

Question 4

If I want to change something in my app, does it have to go back to Apple and Google before my customers see it?

Accepted Answer

Sometimes yes and sometimes no, and the difference is where the thing you are changing actually lives. Content that the app pulls from your portal, such as your offers, banners, package descriptions, markups, search settings and most text, changes the moment you save it, because the app is simply asking your system for the latest version each time it opens. Your customers see that straight away with nothing to download. Anything built into the app itself is a different matter. A new screen, a change to how the booking flow works, a new payment method, a new icon or a fix to something that behaves badly on a particular phone all sit inside the app file, and a new version of that file has to be submitted to Apple and Google. Both stores review what you send before they let it out, and the wait varies from a day or so to longer if they come back with questions. Even after the store approves it, your customers do not all move over at once. Phones set to update apps automatically will pick it up over the following days, and anyone who has automatic updates switched off stays on the old version until they choose to update, so for a while you have people using two different versions of your app. Before you plan anything with a date attached, such as a campaign or a new payment option, check whether it is a content change or an app change, and if it is an app change give yourself room for the store review and for customers to update.

Question 5

Will my app sit on the Apple and Google stores under my own agency name or under somebody else's?

Accepted Answer

It can go up under your own agency name, and in most cases that is what you should insist on. When the app is published from an account that belongs to your business, the store listing shows your name as the seller, the reviews belong to you, and you keep control of the listing if you ever change the company that builds the app for you. If it is published from somebody else's account, your brand appears on the icon but the listing itself is not yours, and moving it later means starting again with a new app and no reviews. Doing it your way means opening a developer account with Apple and with Google in your company name and giving your developer access to it. Both stores ask for proof that the business is real, so you will need your company registration details, and the checks take a little time. Whoever builds your app can walk you through it, but the account has to be created by you because it is tied to your legal entity. Be ready for the review stage as well. Both stores read the listing and open the app before they let it go live, and a travel app that is only a wrapper around a website, or that has no working test login for the reviewer, is often sent back. That is normal and it is fixed by adding proper app behaviour and giving the reviewer a demo account. Before you sign anything, ask in writing whose developer account the app will be published from, and make sure the answer is yours.

Question 6

Will a customer who booked on my website be able to see that same booking in my mobile app?

Accepted Answer

Yes, as long as the app and the website are working off the same booking system and the traveller signs in with the same email or phone number they used when they booked. The booking is not stored in the app itself, it sits in your system, so the app simply asks for it and shows it. That means a booking made on a laptop in the morning can be opened in the app the same afternoon, with the same reference, the same passenger names and the same voucher. The part that trips people up is guest bookings. If you let customers book without creating an account, there is nothing tying that booking to a person the app can recognise. Most systems solve this by letting the traveller sign in later with the same email and pull the booking in, or by sending a link in the confirmation email that opens the booking directly. It is worth deciding which of those you want before the app is built, because it changes how the sign in screen behaves. How much detail the app can show also depends on the supplier. Your own reference, the dates, the passengers and the voucher will always be there because they are yours. Live updates from the airline or the hotel, such as a schedule change or a room upgrade, only appear if that supplier sends them back through the connection, and not every supplier does. Before you launch, make a test booking on the website as a normal customer would, then open the app and check that it appears with everything a traveller would actually need on the day of travel.

Question 7

Do you provide white label mobile app also?

Accepted Answer

Yes, we offer white label mobile app solutions as part of our services. With our white label mobile app solutions, you can have your own branded Android and iOS travel apps tailored to your specific requirements. These apps can be customized with your branding, logo, colors, and content to provide a seamless experience for your customers. Our white label mobile apps are designed to help travel agencies sell travel services online efficiently. They come with features such as booking management, payment processing, reporting, and expense management, all under your branding. If you are interested in our white label mobile app solutions, please fill out the contact form on our website, and one of our sales representatives will reach out to you with further details and support. Feel free to visit our contact page at https://www.adivaha.com/contact-us.html to get started.

Question 8

Can i sell flights and hotels on one mobile app?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can sell flights and hotels on one mobile app using the adivaha® Travel Agency App Builder. This platform allows you to create a customized mobile app that integrates both flight and hotel booking functionalities. With the app, you can offer a seamless booking experience to your customers, allowing them to search for and book flights and hotels in one place. The app can be designed to showcase flight and hotel options from various suppliers that adivaha® is partnered with, giving your customers access to a wide range of choices. You can set your own markup or commissions on the fares received through the platform and receive payments directly into your bank account via your local payment gateway. By using the adivaha® Travel Agency App Builder, you can provide a comprehensive travel booking solution to your customers, making it convenient for them to plan and book their trips. The platform handles the backend processes, such as inventory management and payment processing, allowing you to focus on growing your travel business. To get started with creating your own mobile app for selling flights and hotels, you can explore the features and benefits of the adivaha® Travel Agency App Builder on their website and contact their sales team for more information and assistance.