There’s no doubt that voice assistants are the future… once we make sure they can’t become self-aware. Virgin Australia announced yesterday how it’s embracing the revolution — come next week, you’ll be able to check into your flights using Amazon’s Alexa.
Virgin is the “first airline outside North America” to offer the service, according to a company press release, and will require linking one’s Velocity account to Alexa in order to use it.
Along with checking in, passengers will be able to request additional information about their flight, with Virgin providing the following examples:
- “Alexa, ask Virgin Australia what time my flight departs”
- “Alexa, ask Virgin Australia what my membership number is”
- “Alexa, ask Virgin Australia what my flight number is”
- “Alexa, ask Virgin Australia for my booking reference”
The release goes on to say that Virgin was pleasantly surprised by Alexa, after its debut on the Skills Store, with passengers using it to find “their flight status, followed by asking about their Velocity Points balance”. Offering a check-in service seems the logical next step.
[Virgin Australia, via Business Insider]