Virgin Australia launches voice check-in with Amazon Alexa

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Virgin Australia today announced it has become the first airline outside North America to launch voice check-in through Amazon Alexa, allowing passengers to check in to their flight with the power of their voice. From next week, passengers who have linked their Velocity membership to Alexa can say, “Alexa, ask Virgin Australia to check me in,” enabling a seamless start to their journey with Virgin Australia. Guests will then be sent their boarding passes to a nominated mobile number. Virgin Australia Chief Information Officer, Cameron Stone said: “Since Amazon Echo and Alexa-enabled devices launched in Australia, Virgin Australia has been exploring new ways to make it easier for our customers to travel with us through emerging technology. “Allowing our passengers to check in for their flight with Amazon Alexa is a very exciting addition to our existing skill in the Alexa Skills Store. Using technology to streamline the customer journey is a huge priority for us and we look forward to announcing some new initiatives in this space in the near future,” Mr Stone said. In addition to the new voice check-in capability, the Virgin Australia Alexa skill expands the information available to guests who have linked their Velocity accounts. Passengers travelling can now obtain their flight departure time, Velocity number, flight number and booking reference, for example:

• “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”

Amazon Country Manager, Alexa Skills, Kate Burleigh said: “We’re thrilled by the continued collaboration with Virgin Australia. “The ability to check in to a flight by simply asking Alexa is a great example of an engaging voice-first experience that is genuinely helpful to Virgin Australia’s customers.” Virgin Australia first launched in the Alexa Skills Store in February this year and, since then, the most-used feature has been guests finding out their flight status, followed by asking about their Velocity Points balance. More information on how to use Alexa with Virgin Australia can be found here.

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