If you miss the talking Microsoft paper clip, this ones for you.

But a little bit better than Clippy – Tigerair’s beloved tiger mascot has come alive! Okay, not really, but it’s fun to think so right?

Toby is a Tigerair’s newest chatbot – and don’t be fooled by his cute lil’ face, because he can do a hell of a lot more than you probably can – like change flights, book flights, find your Tigerair itinerary and answer general enquiries.

Named after Tigerair’s mascot, Toby is the airline’s first official Facebook messenger chatbot, and was created to help all those confused travellers out there who need some help along the way.

Seriously, how many times have you had to google how much baggage you’re allowed on the plane? Or lost your itinerary? Toby is here to help.

Tigerair Australia Commercial Director Andrew Maister is almost as excited as we are about the chatbot, and said Toby was introduced to make Tigerair easier to book and fly with – not to mention more convenient and interactive.

“The introduction of Toby provides another option for our customers to assist with searching and booking flights with Tigerair.

“Toby acts as your own personal travel consultant at any time of the day or night, helping you search for the best value flights for your next trip and guiding you through the booking process,” he said.

If you want to chat to Toby about flights (or you know, just need someone to talk to) you can go to his website on Tigerair’s homepage – or literally just search “Toby – Tigerair Australia” in Facebook Messenger.

It comes after a number of travel businesses have taken to chatbots and robots to support customers, including Qantas, Air New Zealand, and Sabre. Meanwhile, recent research showed travellers are responding well to bot interaction, versus talking to a real customer service person.

To get the ball rolling click the ‘Get Started’ button at the bottom of the messenger screen and Toby will come alive and give you a whole bunch of things he can do for you.

“We are continually looking at new ways to take the hassle out of air travel and making flying Tigerair a seamless experience from start to finish.

“Toby is the latest in a line of product enhancements we have introduced in recent times to improve the customer experience, such as mobile boarding passes and self-serve kiosks at our key ports,” Maister said.

If Toby can’t help you, no worries. He can transfer you to one of his ‘colleagues’ who can sort out all your problems (flight-related, that is).

“During Toby’s initial probation period while he’s in training, he’s focused on doing the basics right and learning as he goes,” Maister said

“Once he’s earned his stripes over coming months, he will progressively be taking on a broader range of customer queries associated with booking and flying Tigerair.”

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