Hipmunk Bot on Facebook

Hipmunk helps you find the best flights, hotels, etc. across multiple travel sites. Beyond web & mobile, you can also chat with Hipmunk on Facebook Messenger, Skype, and Slack.

We launched a feature within our FB Messenger chatbot, called Fly Club. Basically, we message subscribers as soon as we find a really good flight deal. 🤑

Opportunity

Hipmunk's Messenger bot focused on booking travel. We needed a more compelling reason for users to come back.

Here's where Fly Club comes in. We message subscribers hand-picked, fast moving flight deals, twice weekly.
 

The Results

Fly Club's results shocked our team! Through in-bot invite, 80% of our users signed up for the club.

Over 5 months, launching Fly Club doubled the bot's 1-month retention. That's right, we increased retention by 100%. 🤯
 

The Process

First, we identified the top user pain points around finding a trip:

Our team wanted to share highly discounted, personalized flight deals and compelling trip recommendations.

Next, we validated our assumptions. We posted a teaser on Facebook to see if people would be interested in Fly Club.

Fly Club Waitlist

The signs were clear to move forward with Fly Club! We got 200% more organic impressions than our average post and a 6% increase on engagement.
 

Userflows & Design

Ways to join Fly Club: 

  1. Install Hipmunk's bot via Messenger
    (Regular Signup)

  2. Direct link to join Fly Club

  3. Friend shares deal via Messenger

Post sign-up, we messaged users, as soon as we found interesting deals.

Deal Flow

When they received a deal, they could view and book flight, right through messenger, or share it with friends. 

Rich Notification and Deal

When a friend shares a Fly Club deal.

And of course, we had to consider several use cases, like what happens when a deal is expired or a flight is full. 

Overall, Fly Club was successful! Unlike other travel deal subscriptions, we provided a quick way for people to discover & book interesting deals, all from our Messenger bot! Our next steps is to continue refining the deals we send out.