Voice & tone

We speak in a consistent voice so people always know where we’re coming from. This voice is a blend of our core principles.

We are:

We work to understand and share others’ feelings to help them reach their goals in a compassionate way.

We write clearly and concisely so people understand what we mean.

We demonstrate our passion for travel to show what an exciting adventure full of new experiences it is.

We treat everyone with respect and without prejudice.

We’re open about our ups and downs and everything in between.

While we always have a single voice, we use it in different ways at different times. The tone we use can change based on the situation. Generally speaking, this is an effect of certain principles becoming more important at specific times.

For example, when serious issues affect individual travelers, it’s an important time for us to emphasize how empathetic we are. If a death in the family has interrupted a trip, the traveler doesn’t want to hear about how passionate we are and how exciting the trip would have been. We adjust our tone to highlight our compassion.

In such cases, we move to the formal side of our voice, demonstrating our professionalism and how we will look after their interests. This doesn’t mean we aren’t passionate, it just means we know when and how to show that passion.

Similarly, when our resources are stressed such as during major travel disruptions, we know our customers want to know what’s happening and how they can get home.

At such times, our transparency becomes the most important. We still want to show empathy (and we’re not afraid to say “sorry”), but we have to prioritize letting passengers know how we will deliver on our guarantees and get them where they need to be.

These are examples of how we write on a spectrum, rather than a fixed tone all of the time. We have a more formal side of our register and also a friendlier side. Our tone ranges within this spectrum to allow us to express the correct tone for each situation.

Friendly ⚪⚪⚫⚫⚫⚫⚪⚪⚪⚪ Formal

This spectrum helps us find balance in our principles. Each principle has its own guidance and we have to take it all into account to find the right way to express each given idea.