Flightraja Kiosk. Review on Via

NOW You can buy air tickets from India’s first automated air ticket kiosk at Garuda Mall in the Bangalore city. The first of its kind in India, the air ticket kiosk is the idea of flightraja.com, a leading e-ticket website. It is connected to the real time servers of all domestic flight companies. Once the customer selects the flight details, the information is sent to the flight companieswho provide all necessary information such as airfare andavailability. The customer makes a choice, swipes a credit /debit card to make the payment and gets a printed ticket. Placed in the mall three days ago, the kiosk will be formallylaunched within two weeks. There is a large segment of people who are not net savvy, do not get corpo-rate bookings through business and have to depend on travelagents. These people were the inspiration behind the kiosk. It is mainly targeted at people who are not comfortable with the Internet and those at remoteplaces.The kiosk is first launched in Bangalore as “people in Bangalore are more openminded regarding new technologies.” Mr. Atif Rahman, student of BHM in Garden City Collegefinds it “easy for outsiders” like him. He found the kiosk safer. Mrs. Gargi Ray, finance manager and homemaker said, “It is extremely convenient for the people visiting malls. For students and visitors it is a hassle – free arrangement, asthey need not look around for travel agents and Internet cafesto book tickets. Once the kiosks are placed at other placestoo, the convenience factor will be increased.” Mr. Azad said that the response has been encouraging. “Wehave been selling nearly 10 tickets each day since the timewe set up the kiosk at the mall. There have been more than15 enquiries every day with people taking our visiting cardsand calling the office to know more about the kiosk. We have even had calls to enquire on the procedure of setting up kiosks at malls and other offices.”“In the initial days, a man will be available near the kiosk tocollect cash and also to educate people and create awareness.Once the cash collection modules are developed, then the kiosk will accept payment for tickets by cash, credit anddebit.” The kiosk, designed over a period of six months, was first used in the private area of the company itself and then introduced in the market. No plans for advertisements were revealed,and he believes that word of mouth is a strong manner of advertising as ischoosing the correct place to place the kiosk.