Hot air ballooning runs on a narrow window. Once conditions are right, pilots need to launch fast, before the wind shifts or the morning heats up. Balloon Aloft, Australia’s longest-operating hot air balloon company, moved up to 130 guests a day through that window across six locations: Hunter Valley, Camden Valley, Mudgee, Canberra, Yarra Valley, and Melbourne. Getting guests checked in and airborne before conditions changed took balloon waiver software built for speed, not a paper form.
What Balloon Aloft Was Missing
Balloon Aloft ran on manual paper check-in for years. With a small administration team supporting a big operation, that wasn’t sustainable. Director and pilot Matt Scaife wanted a digital record instead.
“We were using manual paper systems for customer check-in, but we liked the idea of a digital record.”
— Matt, Balloon Aloft
Why Balloon Aloft Chose Wherewolf
Matt’s team researched digital waiver options and landed on Wherewolf, partly on a recommendation from another operator already using it.
“We spoke with Ballooning Canterbury, who were using Wherewolf, and they gave it the thumbs up.”
— Matt, Balloon Aloft
Wherewolf’s balloon waiver software delivered the branded experience Balloon Aloft wanted, along with the back-end features to make administration easier.
Racing the Weather Window
For a hot air balloon operator, timing is everything. A launch window can close in minutes.
“The pilots want to get to launch ASAP.”
— Matt, Balloon Aloft
With up to 80 guests checking in at once, Wherewolf turned that process around in 15 to 20 minutes, fast enough to get pilots to launch while conditions still held.
“We can have 80 people checking in at one time. With Wherewolf, everyone is turned around within 15 to 20 minutes.”
— Matt, Balloon Aloft
An App Guests Didn’t Even Notice They Were Using
For a company with guests ranging from tech-savvy twenty-somethings to first-time flyers, ease of use mattered as much as speed.
“Even our least tech-savvy customers find the app self-explanatory to use, and most do it while having a tea or coffee, or selecting their breakfast choice.”
— Matt, Balloon Aloft
From Retirees Activity to Social-First Booking
Balloon Aloft’s guest base had shifted. What used to skew toward retirees became a mix of guests in their twenties through fifties, many of them booking after seeing the experience on social media first, not after.
“Five or six years ago, social media was supporting the booking. Now it is the initial contact.”
— Matt, Balloon Aloft
Wherewolf’s automated follow-up emails helped Balloon Aloft turn that shift into results: a four-fold increase in TripAdvisor responses, and steady growth on Facebook and YouTube.
Using Guest Data to Expand Into China
Balloon Aloft used the data collected at check-in for more than marketing at home. As the company looked to grow in China, they needed accurate information on where customers were actually coming from.
“We are moving into China, and we see growth in that market as important to us. So we wanted accurate information on exactly where our customers were coming from.”
— Matt, Balloon Aloft
The check-in data let Balloon Aloft build a postcode-based customer database, track which regions its China sales efforts were landing in, and focus future sales trips accordingly.
Wherewolf Wasn’t Just About Efficiency. It Was About Chasing the Weather.
For an operator where the entire day hinges on a launch window, Wherewolf wasn’t just an operational nice-to-have. It was the difference between getting guests in the air and missing the window entirely.
“There’s no going back.”
— Matt, Balloon Aloft