Imagine there was one app that not only allowed you to collect redeemable miles – irrespective of the airline – but also had all the answers to your questions about air travel like custom information about flights, airports, cities, hotels – and possible flight compensation claims. Look no further for you have found an app that is well on its way to becoming such an “all-rounder.”
On 6 February, Munich-based startup Mileways announced that they will team up with flight compensation startup AirHelp, which facilitates filing a compensation claim in the case of cancelation, delay, or overbooking of flights in the EU area.
“The cooperation was initiated by AirHelp’s board […] and early Skype investor Morten Lund […]. We liked the idea of a cooperation and thought it would be mutually beneficial, since our target audiences are almost identical,” Valeria Nemtseva, responsible for press relations at Mileways, told inventures.eu.
A win-win situation
While Mileways users will now be able to take advantage of the built-in flight compensation tool, AirHelp itself benefits from having its product exposed to a big number of potential new customers.
“We are extremely excited about being able to offer another seamless way for passengers to get their rightful compensation”, Nicolas Michaelsen, CMO of AirHelp, wrote on the company website. “In addition to this handy functionality, users of Mileways will now automatically be informed if they are entitled to compensation, and be able to claim at the click of a button.”
All you have to do is enter your name and booking code – most other details are already registered with Mileways – and wait for AirHelp’s “automatic flight compensation technology” to do its magic. The tool offers its users alerts when compensation might be possible, and helps with filing the action claim. For this service, AirHelp gets to keep a quarter of what you receive in compensation.
A team on a mission
For Mileways, this partnership is yet another step towards becoming a truly all-in-one air travel app.
Starting with a seed investment, the team launched a beta desktop version of the app in October 2012. Receiving an angel investment of 200.000 dollars in early 2013, the global miles app has grown to include features such as weather forecasts, a hotel finder and booking tool, while also allowing its users to share flight information with their social network (read more here). In that sense, Mileways is also a social tool: With photo-sharing and comment options, the app offers its customers new ways to stay connected and updated on each other’s travels.
The startup’s business model is based on commissions, which they receive for redeemed vouchers, as well as affiliates. For hotel bookings, their affiliate is hotels.com – and from now on, when it comes to passenger rights, their partner will be AirHelp. Mileways is currently still in a pre-revenue phase.
What’s next?
After partnering up with AirHelp, the team of five is already busy securing more partnerships, with a new cooperation already lined up for next month. In addition, an email login for users of the app is in the planning, as is an Android version of the app.
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