Brand
The Latin American travel agency sent utility messages on WhatsApp to reach air travel customers with critical updates about flight rescheduling and cancellations. This increased open and clickthrough rates compared to email and reduced customer response times, resulting in a better customer experience and improved operational efficiency.
2.2X
higher open rate (utility messages vs. email)*
2X
higher click-through rate (utility messages vs. email)*
50%
faster customer response time (utility messages vs. email)*
5-point
increase in Net Promoter Score (utility messages vs. email)*
*Results are self-reported and not identifiably repeatable. Generally expected individual results will differ.
Their Story
Digital innovation in travel
Despegar is a large travel agency that operates in more than 20 countries throughout Latin America, offering flight, hotel and travel package bookings. The company prides itself on its commitment to digital innovation, especially on mobile.
Their Goal
Reaching customers on time
Despegar was using emails to notify customers of critical, time-sensitive flight updates, including rescheduling and cancellations. Unfortunately, some customers didn’t see the emails in time or missed them altogether, which negatively affected customer satisfaction scores and the company’s operational efficiency. Low email open rates conveyed that customers weren’t engaged with the channel. Delayed customer response times extended the company’s resolution process and diminished the overall experience. And some customer service offers to reschedule or update a reservation had expired by the time customers saw them.
“In critical situations, such as a flight being cancelled, we need to contact our customers as soon as possible in order to have the best alternatives available. We were able to achieve this through utility messages on WhatsApp, given the level of reach and familiarity the platform offers. Previously, our only way to reach our customers was through emails. Since making the change, we’ve doubled our open and click-through rates, cutting customer service response times in half.”
Iñaki Serra Lahunsembarne,
AI Product Manager, Despegar
Their Solution
Sharing urgent travel notifications on WhatsApp
Despegar decided to try a new approach, using utility messages on WhatsApp to send urgent flight notifications instead. They also used utility messages to send follow-ups and reminders. For rescheduled flights, the company sent a reminder message on WhatsApp 24 hours after the initial notification, and a second reminder 72 hours after the initial notification if the customer still hadn’t selected an alternative. For cancelled flights, Despegar sent a message on WhatsApp with a direct link for customers to accept or reject a proposed alternative.
Their Success
Outperforming email
The company compared the performance of utility messages on WhatsApp to its usual approach of sending flight updates via email during a two-week period (September 25-October 11, 2025), and reported:
- 2.2X higher open rate (utility messages vs. email)*
- 2X higher click-through rate (utility messages vs. email)*
- 50% faster customer response time (utility messages vs. email)*
- 5-point increase in Net Promoter Score (utility messages vs. email)*
*Results are self-reported and not identifiably repeatable. Generally expected individual results will differ.
“Thanks to utility messages on WhatsApp, we are able to reach our customers on time with key information in a platform everyone uses, allowing us to provide the best experience even in undesired cases such as flight reschedulings.”
Jonatan March,
Senior Product Manager, Despegar
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