Picture this: you’re about to embark on a much-anticipated vacation. Everything’s booked, bags are packed, and you can almost feel the warm sun on your skin. But as you log into your miles account to splurge on that first-class upgrade—your hard-earned points have disappeared. Now, imagine leaving your phone behind and being forced to receive flight updates, boarding passes, or even customer support the old-fashioned way. Worse yet, you arrive at your vacation rental, only to find out the booking company didn’t properly vet your host, and the listing was fake. Or perhaps your mobile phone stops receiving SMS messages, leaving you stranded without a way to arrange your arrival.
These aren’t just far-fetched scenarios; they’re the kinds of real-world challenges travelers face every day. Fortunately, solutions exist to protect your travel plans and ensure a seamless journey. In this blog post, we’ll explore how Telesign and Route Mobile partner with your favorite travel brands to tackle these issues head-on, safeguarding and enhancing every step of your adventure.
Short-term rental, long-term protection
On-demand booking platforms and ride-sharing services have transformed the way we travel. In 2023, 719 million nights were booked through short-term rental platforms in the EU alone, reflecting a 20.5% increase compared to 2022. This massive growth signals the resilience and popularity of on-demand booking platforms, but it also creates new opportunities for fraudsters.
Earlier this year, two people were indicted in an $8.5 million dollar Airbnb and Vrbo scam involving more than 10,000 listings. Booking.com’s Head of Internet Safety has cautioned consumers, reporting a staggering 500-900% increase in travel related attacks. Reports show that fake rental listings, cloned websites, and account takeovers are on the rise.
In this new, fast-paced world of on-demand booking platforms, trust is everything. Digital identity verification and risk detection play critical roles in ensuring that guests and hosts are who they claim to be. Without proper safeguards, fraudulent bookings and synthetic identities will continue to slip through the cracks, leading to compromised experiences, financial losses, and reputational harm.
By leveraging Telesign’s mobile identity and risk assessment technology, on-demand platforms can seamlessly verify users during onboarding and detect potential risks in real-time. This not only helps ensure that guests and hosts are legitimate but also reduces the likelihood of fraudulent activity from compromised or recycled phone numbers. With Telesign, platforms can provide a smoother, more secure onboarding experience while protecting both their users and their brand.
Secure your points, mile after mile
Loyalty programs in the travel industry have become a goldmine for fraudsters, with points and miles now functioning as a form of currency on the dark web. Criminals can buy, sell, and even pay with stolen loyalty points, making them a highly coveted asset. With tens of billions of dollars’ worth of rewards at stake, cybercriminals are increasingly targeting these accounts. In fact, loyalty program fraud has surged by 89% since 2019, and Europol estimates that airlines alone lose over $1 billion globally to loyalty fraud annually.
Earlier this year, a Reddit user shared a viral post describing how they woke up to discover their United Airlines account had been hacked, with fraudsters booking a first-class flight. The user frantically sought help, noting the fraudster was mid-flight, hoping to alert authorities in time. This alarming incident put a spotlight on United’s account integrity vulnerabilities. Shortly thereafter, United upgraded its security protocols, moving from knowledge-based security questions to SMS OTP authentication, offering customers an additional layer of protection against account takeovers.
Telesign protects loyalty programs from account takeovers by using advanced phone intelligence and fraud detection. SIM swap attacks, a rising threat in the travel industry, allow fraudsters to intercept OTPs and take control of accounts. By validating phone numbers in real-time and detecting suspicious activity, Telesign prevents unauthorized access, safeguarding your customers’ hard-earned loyalty.
Upgrade your stay, from check-in to checkout
For today’s traveler, speed and convenience are no longer just perks, they’re essential. Travelers and the hospitality industry agree—digital interactions are the future. Over half of travelers want digital check-in/out options permanently available by 2025, and more than 60% of hotel executives believe that a fully contactless experience for hotel transactions will be the norm within the next three years. Whether it’s checking in, unlocking your door, or ordering room service, everything is becoming smartphone driven.
This is where Route Mobile and Telesign come in. By partnering with hotels, we help accelerate the shift towards a fully digital guest experience. It all begins at check-in. Instead of waiting in line, handing over identification, and receiving a physical room key, Telesign’s digital identity attributes allow the front desk to verify a guest’s identity using only their phone number. Once verified, the guest can immediately receive their digital key and head straight to their room—no wait, no hassle.
This seamless, on-demand experience extends beyond check-in. Forget picking up the phone and dialing the front desk for assistance. Today’s guests can simply open the hotel app or use their favorite messaging platform to request amenities. Whether it’s fresh towels or a room service order, everything can be managed digitally, creating a faster and more convenient stay.
In fact, 3 out of 4 guests are more likely to stay at a hotel that offers self-service technology and uses automated, conversational messaging for concierge requests, making this digital transformation a win-win for both guests and hoteliers alike.
Stay connected, no matter where you roam
International travel presents unique communication challenges, especially when it comes to ensuring timely and reliable messaging. In many countries, travelers often face unreliable SMS services or have limited access to important phone calls. If travel brands rely solely on SMS, they risk leaving their customers in the dark—missing critical information such as flight delays, hotel bookings, or transportation updates.
Take Brazil, where 99% of smartphone users rely on WhatsApp as their primary communication channel instead of traditional SMS. Relying exclusively on SMS in regions like this means travel brands could fail to deliver essential information to their customers. Imagine a traveler arriving at their hotel late at night, only to find that they never received the digital check-in code because the hotel sent it via SMS.
To avoid such scenarios, we equip global travel, tourism, and hospitality brands to deliver omnichannel communication across multiple platforms. Whether it’s SMS, RCS, WhatsApp, Viber, or others, we ensure travelers receive the right message on their preferred platform, no matter where in the world they are. And if a message fails to deliver or a channel is unavailable, Telesign and Route Mobile automatically reroute it to another channel, minimizing disruption and maximizing reliability.
Masking numbers, protecting privacy
Whether you’re coordinating with a vacation rental host or arranging transportation with a tour guide, privacy is crucial. No traveler wants their personal phone number exposed, and that’s why number masking technology has become a vital security feature.
With Telesign’s number masking solutions, travelers can communicate with hosts, drivers, and service providers securely while keeping their personal phone numbers private. This anonymization ensures that personal data is not at risk, even during temporary or one-time communications. In today’s privacy-conscious world, secure, masked communication helps reduce fraud risks while giving travelers peace of mind.
From booking to boarding: A baggage free experience
Each of these examples highlights how Telesign and Route Mobile help travel companies adapt to the evolving needs of their customers. From preventing loyalty fraud and securing private communications to enabling seamless global messaging, our technologies empower travel brands to deliver safer, smarter, and more convenient travel experiences. With industry-leading solutions like mobile identity verification, omnichannel messaging, and real-time fraud detection, we’re protecting travelers and ensuring that nothing stands in the way of their perfect getaway.
Keep travelers protected and engaged with global omnichannel communications and always-on fraud protection—explore our travel and hospitality hub today.
