StayAngel shuts down

[trippin_the_rift]

Many AFF members were also StayAngel customers, especially during the start-up beta period nearly two years ago.
While members received communication from StayAngel this past week on the closure, I wanted to personally reach out and make myself available to any feedback, questions or comments from AFFers.

Here is the communication which went out to the member base earlier this week: https://www.stayangel.com/notice_from_the_founder.php

And for those of you interested in the business side; https://e27.co/stayangel-shutting-will-cost-hilton-millions-20160407/

 

[Isochronous]

It's sad to see unimaginative dinosaur executives passing on opportunities to increase shareholder value and improve the customer experience.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Many AFF members were also StayAngel customers, especially during the start-up beta period nearly two years ago.
While members received communication from StayAngel this past week on the closure, I wanted to personally reach out and make myself available to any feedback, questions or comments from AFFers.

Here is the communication which went out to the member base earlier this week: https://www.stayangel.com/notice_from_the_founder.php

And for those of you interested in the business side; https://e27.co/stayangel-shutting-will-cost-hilton-millions-20160407/

I personally benefited enormously from my time using StayAngel.

Onwards and upwards trippin, please keep us posted on your new ventures. The travel world needs more people like you

 

[moa999]

Sorry to hear, and good luck in the next thing..
(is your footer something new?)

 

[snabbu]

That's a real shame TTR. Best of luck with your next venture... any hints?

 

[samh004]

An interesting read. I'd not delved too deeply into the business but assumed it was mainly about the upsell to suites at a good rate than getting a cheaper rate in the room already booked. Oh well, perhaps it can rise from the ashes in the future.

 

[JohnK]

Down again but never out. Good luck with your next venture.

 

[Mark3000]

A fascinating article. Thanks for posting and best of luck with your next venture

 

[straitman]

Sorry to hear this tripping_the_rift.

I assume the info has been sent to a few Hilton Managers around the place.

 

[serfty]

It was sad to see it go TTR - I hope for better with you on your next ventures.

 

[lovestotravel]

Never heard of it
Never used it

No great loss

 

[pjm99au]

Never heard of it
Never used it

No great loss

Good lord. Momma always say if you don't have anything nice to say..... It's always worthwhile reading the previous posts before posting

 

[straitman]

Never heard of it
Never used it

No great loss

Just because you didn't hear of it or use it doesn't mean it wasn't worthwhile.

 

[lovestotravel]

Was never going to last or be accepted by hotels, anyone should have been able to see that.

Allowing people to cancel a reservation and rebooking at a lower rate. Yes hotels will certainly love that and assist with building your business...........

 

[serfty]

...
Allowing people to cancel a reservation and rebooking at a lower rate. Yes hotels will certainly love that and assist with building your business...........

The very hotel web site allows customer to do that or rebook the same reservation at a lower rate (with flexible bookings). StayAngel merely flagged that a lower rate may have been available.

 

[Mark3000]

Was never going to last or be accepted by hotels, anyone should have been able to see that.

Allowing people to cancel a reservation and rebooking at a lower rate. Yes hotels will certainly love that and assist with building your business...........

But it was more than that, if you read the article it explains how it could notify you that a suite had become available for not much more, so you could pay extra for the suite and they get to resell the hotel room

 

[Mal]

Was never going to last or be accepted by hotels, anyone should have been able to see that.

Allowing people to cancel a reservation and rebooking at a lower rate. Yes hotels will certainly love that and assist with building your business...........

Read the article, then think again about your comments. Basically speaking, your view matches the Hilton execs (aka dinosaurs) who couldn't see the profit in front of their own eyes.

 

[vetrade]

Kudos to TTR for his imaginative and entrepreneurial thinking and for having a go. Having read the links it seems that had the dominoes fallen just a bit differently we could have been reading about StayAngel's meteoric rise rather than its demise, but they didn't. The inherently high costs of maintaining the model seemed to be too dependent on at least one hotel chain helping financially to sustain it but maybe that was predictably unlikely to happen (implicitly it seems that the high running costs would keep increasing as the business grew rather than benefiting from any economies of scale).

Maybe hotel chains baulked at the idea of helping finance a business which also facilitated bookings for its opposition - in saying that I think it's important to draw a distinction between directly financing a business and the routine practice of paying commissions. Another thought that crossed my mind was the possibility that even though there seemed to be demonstrable revenue benefits for hotels from the StayAngel model in the short term, it may well be that the hotels were suspicious that over the long term, once the model became entrenched, it might have put downward pressure on their revenues overall. I'm sure the hotel chains use advanced modelling software which probably influenced their decisions.

 

[turtlemichael]

Read the article, then think again about your comments. Basically speaking, your view matches the Hilton execs (aka dinosaurs) who couldn't see the profit in front of their own eyes.

On what basis do you call them dinosaurs? Hilton Profit Soars on High Demand - WSJ

 

[Mal]

On what basis do you call them dinosaurs? Hilton Profit Soars on High Demand - WSJ

Because instead of embracing change, they stick to their old school methods, and then complain about competition. (Hello taxis as a comparison)

As quoted in the article, and I've seen the original article which this quote was taken from:

In March 2016, Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta told the magazine Travelskills, “Part of the reason hotel operators want to tighten up cancellation policies is the growth of websites that allow customers to search for better prices than the one booked, then cancel and rebook at the lower rate.”

So, what do the dinosaurs do? Start trialling cancellation fees - because punishing your clients and making them upset is the best way to increase revenue, right?

With the continued growth of Airbnb, and bigger competition coming from a merged Starwood/Marriott , Hilton need to be doing a better job.