If you book a world trip for €260,000, you expect more than a PDF email with the tour operator's brochure attached.
Ulrich Sommerfeld, owner of kreuzfahrten.net and luxuskreuzfahrten.net, sells high-end cruises to demanding customers and knows:
In the luxury sector, it isn't just the offer that makes the difference, but the direct line to the customer. Superchat helps him offer fast, personal advice.
The challenge before Superchat
Before Superchat, all customer communication ran via email, using templates, text snippets and booking software. It worked, but it came at a price: response times of hours or days, no direct connection to the customer on their mobile, and little room for the personal touch that makes all the difference in the luxury segment.
On top of that, the business is complex: a cruise isn't a ballpoint pen. It's an emotional product, a lifelong dream someone is fulfilling. The customer needs travel to the port, a hotel, transfers and personal advice. If all you do in this environment is send emails, you lose customers to providers who respond faster and more personally.
Superchat as the central communication channel
kreuzfahrten.net uses Superchat as its central communication channel, from the first enquiry to the booking request. Incoming leads from Meta Ads and Google Ads are qualified via Typeform and automatically start a WhatsApp workflow in Superchat.
From there, all quote communication runs via WhatsApp: quotes are sent as links from the booking tool Pax Connect, and customers can open them directly on their mobile, ask questions and receive changes in real time.
Automated follow-ups handle the first contact and take repetitive tasks off the team's plate. Scheduled messages such as travel reminders, birthday messages and farewell greetings before departure run in the background, without anyone having to remember them.
AI takes care of processes in the background, but in direct conversations with customers, people remain irreplaceable. Sommerfeld draws this line deliberately. Especially in the luxury segment, where customers are booking lifelong dreams rather than an ordinary holiday, personal trust is what counts.
Less effort, closer to customers
The switch has had a measurable effect. Phone volume has dropped considerably. Questions that used to require a call can now be cleared up in a few WhatsApp messages.
Response times are sometimes under an hour, occasionally just minutes. Customers receive quotes directly on their mobile and can request changes or book with one click.
Particularly valuable: Superchat covers the entire workflow from enquiry to booking request, a process that used to be spread across several systems with constant switching between them.
WhatsApp has also proved a reliable communication tool in unexpected situations, for example when a ship is stuck abroad. Customers are informed directly, before they end up on hold.
The next step with Superchat
kreuzfahrten.net shows how WhatsApp-based customer communication works in the premium segment: not as a replacement for personal advice, but as a way to strengthen it. Superchat shortens the path, speeds up responses and keeps the customer where they already are: on their mobile.
The next step is the integration with Pax Connect, kreuzfahrten.net's booking tool. Once the connection is in place, booking data can be fed directly into Superchat workflows, and scheduled messages around the travel date can be sent even more precisely.
The goal: to make customers feel that their travel agency knows what they need before they ask for it.
