Travel booking app Hopper today announced that it is launching a number of new flexibility products designed to help customers save money on hotel, flight and car bookings. Hopper says nearly 60% of app customers buy at least one fintech product when making a booking. The company says these new fintech products will provide customers with flexibility not only before a trip, but also during the trip.
The company is launching a “Departure for Any Reason” product that will allow customers to leave their hotel for any reason at or after check-in and book a new hotel of the same star category with 100% of the rebooking fee covered by Hopper . For example, Hopper notes that if your room isn’t as clean as you expected, you can rebook your stay for free via the Hopper app at another nearby hotel. The price for the new Leave For Any Reason option averages about $30 per hotel reservation, Hopper says.
Image Credits: Hopper
Hopper also extends the “Cancel for Any Reason” option to give customers the option to cancel their stay for any reason immediately until check-in and receive a 100% refund of their room charges. If a customer uses this subscription, Hopper pays any surcharges to the hotel. The Cancel for Any Reason option is currently available for flights and is rolling out to hotel bookings as part of the expansion. Like the price for the new Leave for Any Reason option, the Cancel for Any Reason feature costs about $30 per hotel reservation on average.
The company is also expanding its “Price Freeze” option, currently available for fight and hotel bookings, to cover car bookings. Price Freeze allows customers to freeze prices for up to 21 days, giving them more time to finalize their plans before booking. If the cost of the booking increases, Hopper pays the difference up to $100. If the cost decreases, the customer pays the lower price. The average price per Price Freeze policy is $30.
Finally, Hopper introduces “Standalone Trip Protection,” which allows non-Hopper bookers to add the company’s flight disruption guarantee to their booking made elsewhere. Hopper’s Flight Disruption Guarantee feature helps ensure customers get to their destination on time. The Standalone Trip Protection offer allows users to reschedule a delayed flight and Hopper will cover any costs incurred. Standalone travel protection is approximately $25 per passenger.
Image Credits: Hopper
The company says it is on track to sell more than $4.5 billion in travel and travel fintech services this year. Hopper’s travel fintech features, such as Price Freeze and Flight Disruption Guarantee, now represent 50% of total revenue. Hopper says that a user who has previously purchased one of its fintech options is between 2.5x and 7x more likely to buy that product again when presented on their next visit.
Today’s announcement comes as gotechbusiness.com has confirmed that Hopper has raised $35 million in a secondary share sale that values the company at $5 billion earlier this year. The startup was valued at just over $3.5 billion in August 2021, when it raised $175 million in a Series G funding round. There is no date yet for when it could go public, which is a reason to hold a secondary sale to provide liquidity now. But Hopper has confirmed this is the plan.
