Do you ever go to the movie theater and buy a ticket for whatever’s playing?
You don’t have a plan, just show up with a few hours to kill and take the best option they have.
Imagine you could do that at the airport: Show up with a carryon bag on a Friday night after work, and see what destinations catch your eye, buy the ticket and prepare for takeoff.
The problem is that the spontaneous weekend trip is expensive. Airlines charge a premium for tickets sold in the days and hours before a plane is set to take off. Meanwhile, 15% of seats on the average American plane are left empty, totaling an estimated $20.5 billion in unsold seats annually, according to WanderSeat, a Tampa startup that’s working to fill those empty seats to the benefit of both airlines and travelers.
“The airline knows they’re going to get four travelers at $300 (per ticket) and have 14 unsold seats. Those four are going to book regardless. Or they can get eight or nine people at under a $100 fare,” said Logan Clemens, CEO and founder of WanderSeat. In this scenario, airlines will keep the prices high and make $1,200 in ticket sales from four travelers rather than $800 generated from 8 travelers.
The key is in filling empty seats at the $100 range without losing the $1,200 revenue gained by the four travelers who will pay the premium.
WanderSeat’s platform is largely based upon a 2017 rule that allows airlines to grant security clearance for people without a ticket. In an airport like Pittsburgh International, that feature allows local residents to go through the TSA security checkpoint to go shopping or go to dinner.
On a weekend they’d like to get away, the “Wanderer,” (Clemens’ name for their customers) would open their WanderSeat app to see which airsides have a variety of flights upcoming to destinations they might be interested in for that day. They’ll receive security clearance, head through the TSA checkpoint and head to the gate or an airside restaurant.
The airline can then see travelers are available at the gate and send out an invitation to purchase a discounted ticket. The traveler can accept it and pay on their mobile phone, then board the plane on a seat that would have otherwise been left empty.
As for the return flight, Clemens said he will work with the airlines to secure a discounted return ticket, visible at the time of purchase.
A former Southwest Airlines employee and University of Tampa graduate, Clemens said the discount service will be an opportunity for travelers to visit smaller or mid-sized cities they wouldn’t have normally gone to.
“We really want to show people how beautiful our country is and how beautiful these destinations are,” he said.
While the platform is still in development and Clemens is working to attract airlines to its service, he said there are billions of dollars that can be recovered in filling those unsold seats.
WanderSeat will make money by taking a service fee when tickets are sold, and potentially adding a premium service for an annual fee.
A graduate of the University of Tampa’s master’s degree program in entrepreneurship, Clemens said the company has received tremendous benefit from its membership in the Embarc Collective, the nonprofit organization backed by Tampa Bay Lighting Owner Jeff Vinik that provides support to local startups.
“It’s very impactful in terms of speaking strategy and building it out the right way,” Clemens said. “They’ve put me in touch with some great mentors and some people who are in the same realm.”
Clemens and his business partner Steven Frady, have raised enough private capital to sustain them through the launch of the platform later this year, and plan to do an official seed round in late 2020 or 2021.
