Tobias Wessels worked in the travel space for several years – and that’s why what he learned last year about the industry was so stunning.
People whose flights had been cancelled were suing airline companies to get their money back.
“What an absurd situation, that your own customers sue you!” Wessels said.
A 2007 graduate of the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, Wessels thought there had to be a better way.
Wessels’ long-term goal is to empower any cash-constrained company to keep its cash while ensuring customers return in the process. (Contributed photo)
Wessels knew from his background that airlines had always given customers a lot of choice when it came to seat selection and upgrades, but there wasn’t any choice when it came to refunds or payments.
“It struck me as a great opportunity to capitalize on what was previously neglected,” Wessels said. “Just give your customer an attractive alternative choice in a refund situation: Let customers choose between their entitled cash refund or an attractive non-cash offer. This allows cash-constrained companies to keep the cash and ensure that customers return to them for future travel. A double win, and the customer is happy, too.”
With that, Rebound Travel was born.
In the wake of the pandemic, which caused even more flights to be cancelled, Wessels – who had previously worked at consumer intelligence firm ADARA and Deutsche Bank – knew he was really on to something.
“Most likely this opportunity wasn’t on the radar because travel companies thought to solve all problems by increasing the revenue line,” Wessels said. “This crisis elevated this opportunity up.”
While working at ADARA, Wessels met Mark Schwab, a 1974 UVA alumnus and longtime airline executive who now serves as an adviser on Rebound Travel’s board.
UVA Today caught up with Wessels – a native of Germany who now lives with his wife, Karen, in San Jose, California – to learn more about the company, which has won several awards, including Airline Information’s Lion’s Den Pitching Contest for Best Product and Best Pitch, as well as a spot on PhocusWire’s Hot 25 Startups list for 2021.
Q. Can you walk us through how the business works? Say a flight to San Diego that cost me $500 gets cancelled. Instead of getting a full refund from the airlines, I instead can go to Rebound Travel Technologies and get reimbursed with travel vouchers, status miles or free flight segments. As a customer, what is my incentive to do this? Also, what constitutes a cancelled flight, and how does Rebound make money?
A. There were tens of billions of United States dollars in cancelled flights last year. The U.S. Department of Transportation stipulates that canceled flights have to be paid back in cash to the travelers. That creates a big problem for the cash-strapped airlines: they have to pay back their customers in cash. With Rebound, airlines give their customers a choice to pick non-cash alternatives like vouchers, mile or free flights, over their entitled cash refund. The key to make this work is to give customers a sufficient incentive, meaning the traveler receives a meaningful extra value.
