Lufthansa and Polygon are taking off together, quite literally, it seems. According to the Lufthansa Innovation Hub and a statement on the Polygon website, passengers on the German flagship carrier will soon be able to gamify their flight experience.
The carrier will allow travellers to collect NFTs, which can be used for rewards like lounge access and accumulating miles. Lufthansa will use the Polygon blockchain, a Proof-of-Stake network known for its speed and low fees. According to the Lufthansa Innovation Hub, the entire procedure will be available on the Uptrip smartphone application.
Making Web3 Easily Accessible
Kristian Weymar, Director of New Business Lufthansa Innovation Hub, said: “Web3 is in an early stage of development. Curiosity is high. But, we also encounter questions and hesitation – which is where Uptrip hits a nerve. We make it possible for people to access this new technology.”
Users will connect their crypto wallet to the app to mint and transfer NFTs. According to Lufthansa, passengers need to collect specific NFTs to unlock rewards such as ‘airport lounge access, flight upgrades, or for status and award miles’.
Hundreds of cities, such as Lisbon, Singapore, New York, and many more, will be available, as well as aeroplanes and special features (flights across the North Pole or New Year’s Eve). Uptrip’s ‘Minimum Viable Product’ (MVP) approach has garnered significant interest, with over 20,000 users signing up and more than 200,000 trading cards minted.
Startups and enterprises use MVP as a product development strategy and methodology. The aim is to design and launch a new product or service with the fewest features possible to satisfy early adopters and gain valuable input for the following development stages. MVP launches a product with basic functionality so that it can go to market sooner, saving time and valuable resources.
NFT Marketplace and Polygon Integration
After the initial launch, Uptrip will introduce a marketplace in the next phase. While users can already trade their NFTs on existing marketplaces within the Uptrip platform, they will soon have access to additional features and receive promotions tailored to Uptrip NFTs.
Lufthansa Group is a major European player in the airline mileage domain, with 38 million members in its Miles & More reward program. The group includes Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines, and Austrian Airlines. It joins tens of thousands of decentralized applications and prominent corporations like Adobe, Stripe, and Robinhood in building on the Polygon network, as per the Polygon website.