The Lidl brand is developing a new feature for its digital travel agency: dry flights. Travelers can now purchase a plane ticket without having to book travel packages that include the plane and the hotel.
In 2017, the Lidl store developed a digital travel agency offering dozens of flights and hotels at affordable prices. The German brand only offered holiday packages, but since the end of August, it is now possible to book dry flights on the company’s platform.
These flights are “Open to the world with 600 airlines available and the United States will open soon once the date of the restrictions is lifted”, explained Mélanie Lemarchand, head of Lidl Voyages France to BFMTV Business.
The German company works in partnership with Résaneo, a professional reservation center “who negotiates with companies, we are a business provider but for the client, it is transparent, he remains in the Lidl Voyages platform.”
A reimbursement service set up for Lidl Voyages’ dry flights
According to Mélanie Lemarchand, this new device is the result of changes in consumer behavior linked to the Covid-19 crisis. “The way of traveling has changed and the French are mainly looking for short stays à la carte. This is a complementary offer”, she detailed.
The prices indicated for the dry flights of Lidl Voyages are however identical to those of the traditional airlines. “On the other hand, our simulator works like a comparator: the prices appear from the cheapest to the most expensive, in ascending order”, said Mélanie Lemarchand in Parisian. This new functionality also provides support with its customer service for reimbursement requests. In the coming months, or even years, the German brand wishes to expand its offer: “Packages, dry flights, dry flights + accommodation like some of our competitors”, detailed Mélanie Lemarchand.