Company Name: Vayant
Official Website: https://www.vayant.com/
What do they do? Vayant has a new airfare search tool that will run behind the scenes of both online and offline distributors. The company says they deliver higher ROI for its customers by delivering more targeted results that travelers are more likely to book, and that they will be “launching with a well-known meta-search engine.”
Are they a business-to-business (B2B) company, or business-to-consumer (B2C)? B2B
Founder(s): The CEO of Vayant is Atanas Z. Christov, a former senior consultant at Kinsey working with the world’s leading airlines. The company has offices in New York, Madrid, and Sofia, Bulgaria.
Date Founded: [couldn’t find this information]
Presentation Notes: Vayant OneSearch is a search tool that “maximizes choice” for the traveler without multiple searches. One single search would yield results that include multiple providers, unrelated airlines, different classes of travel, etc. – so one traveler could fly coach on one leg and business class on another, or fly two different unrelated carriers on one trip. These options are presented to the traveler based on an online profile that’s created (but apparently not necessarily stored) and the information the traveler puts into a specific search – travelers are assigned “personalities” from this information. Customer preferences are used as criteria to start the airfare search, rather than a filter through which to sort it after a search is done.
Why should/shouldn’t travelers care? This is a B2B product, and travelers may never know they’re using it. Travelers who care more about flexibility and the ability to customize their travel plans may find it particularly useful; those who are married to specific airline loyalty programs may not.
Author: Sean Keener