It’s generally agreed that an airline customer’s experience is influenced by many factors, including:
• The check in and pre-departure experience
• The quality of food and drinks on board
• The general cabin ambience throughout the trip
• The legroom and seat comfort

However, the team at Planely, a newly launched website, believe there’s one really important aspect of a journey that has been overlooked- until now!

Most people would agree that one of the things that can make a flight really enjoyable and memorable is a chance encounter with a fellow traveller who turns out to be an interesting or useful traveling companion. The relief that when the person who sits next to you isn’t a Sumo wrestler or new age traveller who hasn’t washed since the last solstice- turn to delight as you discover shared interests or a mutually beneficial business opportunity over your welcome drink and hot towel. Up until now, seating arrangements on planes have been a lottery. A seating neighbour that enhances the journey, left to random chance.

Well…what if that special encounter WASN’T left to chance???? What if you could PLAN it before hand, and spend valuable time with a potential business partner, someone with shared experiences, someone that you could share a cab with the other end or maybe even have a few drinks and a bite to eat with later at the destination? Planely call it ‘Social Flying’, and are confident it’s the next big ‘why didn’t I think of that’ concept.

The Planely website (www.planely.com) allows people to register their flights and get an instant ‘Matches’ report back on who else is going to be not only travelling with them on their plane but also in their departure and arrival airports. They are then provided with a simple way to reach out to each other and arrange a meet up- and potentially sit together- days in advance of the trip. What comes out of that encounter, well, the sky IS the limit!