How Technology Is Taking the Stress Out of Travel

Have you ever arrived at the airport to find you have forgotten or lost your ID? The scenario can easily set off a panic attack and create a domino effect of missed flights and delayed arrivals. If you're like me, the thought of traveling may induce anxiety-riddled dreams like this the night before traveling. However, at recent industry events like the Future Travel Experience (FTE), the travel industry demonstrates its dedication to alleviating this stress—turning the experience into mindful travel. By leveraging biometrics, digital identity, artificial intelligence (AI), and other emerging technologies, the travel industry is finding ways to increase customer service, decrease anxiety, and provide a more seamless travel experience through each phase of your journey. 

Air Mobility Will Transform the Way You Travel to the Airport  

Traveling to the airport can be just as daunting as the trip itself as you try to calculate the time you'll spend in rush hour traffic, searching for parking, or waiting on a ride-share. One industry expert—Naashom Marx, Director of Strategic Innovation for Advanced Mobility at CVG International Airport—paints a future involving advanced air mobility, moving goods and people in the air, and how these vehicles could eventually act as uncrewed air taxis. This different kind of ride-share would allow travelers to book a ride from their home and land at the airport, bypassing the hassle of traffic, parking, and traditional ride-share services. Such transformation will result in these types of vehicles having designated landing areas at airports, reshaping the terminal with invisible landside and air-side barriers that AI manages. 

Breeze Through the Security Checkpoints with Biometrics & Digital Identity 

Lost or forgotten identification during a trip and the stress associated with it will soon be a thing of the past as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) looks to Digital Identity to play a key role at security checkpoints in the near future. Digital Identity is the information computer systems utilize to represent an individual, like a mobile driver's license (mDL). According to Austin Gould—Assistant Administrator of Requirements & Capability Analysis at TSA—they are preparing to allow mDL as an acceptable form of ID at the checkpoint, eliminating the need to present a physical ID (though you are still required to have a physical ID with you at all times).   

TSA is looking to take further steps in creating a seamless travel experience at security checkpoints through its TSA PreCheck© program: the Touchless Identity Solution. "There's an Executive Order for customer satisfaction, and biometrics enhances that customer satisfaction," noted Melissa Conley—TSA’s Executive Director of Requirements & Capabilities Analysis. TSA is currently piloting this solution through Delta Air Lines—leveraging facial biometrics to identify passengers through facial comparison, match the image to a database of passport photos, and ensure the traveler is on the flight manifest. Further deploying these technologies will help decrease time spent at the checkpoint and eliminate some unsettling travel nightmares.   

Data & AI Applications Will Support a Seamless Travel Experience 

One of the most frustrating aspects of international travel is having to claim your bags once you reach state-side only to recheck them for your connecting domestic flight. To help alleviate this bottleneck, TSA recently highlighted a five-year pilot program that allows passenger bags entering the U.S. from countries with comparable baggage screening standards to go straight through to their connecting domestic flights, significantly decreasing the friction—and traveler stress—between flights.   

We've also seen viral videos on social media of unruly passengers making a scene on the plane and putting everyone around them on edge. The travel industry is anticipating using technology such as AI to enhance the onboard experience by monitoring passengers' health and wellness, like blood pressure and heart rate. This kind of monitoring can help flight attendants provide aid or assistance in perceived times of stress, creating a more calm and relaxed in-flight experience. AI could also be used to predict the favorite foods and beverages you're most likely to crave during your long flight and ensure they have them in stock. They are even working to create AI matchmaking services to seat passengers next to the most optimal person, but beware; it might not be the person you're traveling with. 

Leveraging Biometrics to Enhance the Embarkation & Debarkation Process 

If you've ever been on a cruise ship, you know how complicated it is to embark and debark from a 6,500-passenger vessel. At the beginning of the trip, you want to set sail; at the end, you're tired and want to get home as quickly as possible. 

Unfortunately, the existing process can take several hours. According to Nael Samha—Executive Director of the Targeting & Analysis Systems Program Directorate at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—this process is evolving. He recently noted that the agency's biometrics system, the Traveler Verification Service (TVS), allows CBP to process travelers entering and exiting U.S. ports of entry using facial biometrics, greatly expediting the embarkation and debarkation processes. 

While Congress originally mandated this system to protect the U.S. from foreign threats, Samha emphasized how TVS increases throughput and efficiencies as the agency expands the technology at U.S. ports of entry. According to Samha, it currently takes 7-8 hours to board a 6,500-passenger vessel fully, but leveraging TVS and other emerging technologies only takes about three hours before the vessel is ready to leave port. Using biometrics has increased traveler satisfaction as most passengers are cleared without even noticing, allowing them to join the fun faster and make it home hassle-free. 

Conclusion 

As the travel industry continues to usher in a new era of travel mindfulness brought about by the latest technological advancements, customers are expecting an elevated, seamless travel experience. Dignari is playing a vital role in this evolution as we assist organizations in integrating biometrics into their processes to help them provide many of the innovative customer experiences referenced above.

To learn more about how Dignari can help your organization improve the consumer experience, contact us today!