There are already plenty of applications for managing your air travel, but a new one has just arrived on the market. It’s called Tripset and it comes … from Airbus!

What’s Tripset all about?

Tripset is an end-to-end travel booking and management application.

• Find and book your flights
• Find out about the country’s entry requirements
• Know the “COVID” measures of each airline
• Find out how to get to the airport and get real-time transportation times
• Find your way around the airport
• Real-time flight information

You’re going to tell me that this already exists either in airline applications or in dedicated applications doing much the same thing, like Tripit…and it’s true.

Tripset’s added value is that it responds to a highly topical issue relating to COVID and the conditions of entry into a country, with information updated twice a day and presented in a way that is intelligible to the passenger.

What does Tripset have that existing applications don’t?

At first glance, I’d say “nothing”. On the face of it, Tripset doesn’t add anything to what’s already available elsewhere, but…it does it better.

Indeed, not all airline applications are equal when it comes to the level of information they provide to passengers, and they are quite uneven in terms of user experience.

Regardless of the airline you travel with, Tripset provides comprehensive and, once again, comprehensible information for the passenger, which is far from always being the case.

Of course, “specialized” applications like Tripit offer the same thing, but I don’t think they’re aimed at the same audience. Tripset is perfect for the general public, whereas Tripit is great for AvGeekers, but will put off Mrs Michu, who has never even heard of it!

For information on COVID measures and, in particular, entry requirements, the application can be obtained from various sources (governments, embassies, airlines). One might have thought that Airbus would rely on Timatic, but perhaps the IATA service just doesn’t provide “digestible” enough content for the average traveller.

Finally, the application lets you search for and book flights, but does not offer “in app” purchasing: you are referred to an online agency for the purchase (in this case Kiwi). I would have liked to be able to filter flights by alliance or airline, or even by travel time or connecting flight.

But what I really like about Tripset is its unique user experience, far superior to that of other apps on the market and airline apps.

Another surprising point, but one that will appeal to privacy fanatics: Tripset doesn’t require you to create an account in order to use it! At least for now.

Who is Tripset for?

Trispet is made for the masses: excellent interface, pleasant experience, exhaustive (and I repeat: understandable) information, and will bring within everyone’s reach what was reserved for “Avgeeks” and “Frequent Flyers” in applications that are certainly more specialized and richer, but more complex to grasp…and often requiring a paid subscription to get the most out of them.

It lacks the 10 or 20% of functionalities specific to “expert” applications, which is why only a certain population uses them and 95% of passengers see no point in them. I won’t be giving up Expert Flyer any time soon, but I don’t think I’m in the target …

Anyaway, Tripset has everything to appeal to the general public.

Why Airbus?

Many may wonder why Airbus is moving into consumer applications in this way, and this is a subject that deserves to be addressed more broadly, but we can provide some elements of an answer.

First of all, it’s not Airbus’ first consumer application, as it follows on from the award-winning iFlyA380, from which it uses the base.

Airbus then faces the dilemma of many B2B businesses: it talks to its customers (the airlines) but has no connection with its users (the passengers). An app like Tripset is a good way of staying “top of mind”, creating engagement and even mobilizing users and speaking to them in one way or another.

Can we assume that the application collects data that will help Airbus get to know them better, understand their travel habits and trends? I’m sure the idea exists, or rather that they’d be stupid not to think of it.

The “privacy” section makes this possible, I think. But since no account is required to use the application, and no personal data is collected to track a flight (the flight number is all that’s needed, no reservation number or passenger identification), we’re talking about mass, anonymous insights.