AIR FARE INNOVATION SCOOPS MAJOR AWARDS

A revolution on dynamic pricing is taking place in Southampton that will save travellers thousands of pounds – with the innovation winning a prize and vital seed money at a national competition.

pAiback is an AI-powered travel assistant designed to ensure travellers never overpay for a flight – even after booking.

The platform monitors flight prices in real-time and automatically secures refunds or e-credits when prices drop, without customers ever lifting a finger.

The idea is the brainchild of 23-year-old Aeronautical Engineer Morgan Taylor, who scooped a prize at the University of Southampton’s enterprise competition, funded by charity EIBF earlier this year.

And now, after competing against his peers from across the UK at the EIBF Champion of Champions Competition at the Royal Academy of Engineering in London, pAiback walked away with £6,500 in prize money.

The team picked up the main Enterprise Award and were also runners-up in the Startup category.

Morgan has been supported in the development of pAiback by co-founders Tom Alner and Jason Lucking.

Morgan said: “It feels great. It’s been really rewarding. Being in my pyjamas 18 months ago and coding the first lines from nothing to presenting up here on the stage with something to stand behind feels worthwhile.

“The event offered me so much—far more than I anticipated. From an inspiring meeting with my mentor, William Burton, to engaging discussions with my talented peers about advancing our ideas, it was an incredibly beneficial experience. The event was impeccably organised and will undoubtedly propel me toward even greater progress.”

He added: “Unlike Expedia and Google’s price protection services, which come with fees, limits, and no visibility into price changes, pAiback offers full transparency and unlimited savings on a win- win commission basis. This is possible due to the recent removal of change fees to drive airline loyalty engagement. Customers can easily track these fare fluctuations on their personalised dashboard from purchase to departure.

“The idea for pAiback was sparked when a companion ticket was booked, turning a business trip into a weekend getaway. Despite booking closer to the departure date, the new ticket was significantly cheaper than the one originally paid for, even on an economy fare. This happened again on a second trip, and after noticing the price dropped for a third time, contacted customer service, who reissued his ticket and gave a credit for the difference – at no extra charge. Realising how time-consuming it was to repeatedly monitor prices, pAiback was created to automate this process.”

The pAiback team will also receive mentoring from business leaders who are members of the Sainsbury Management Fellows network, plus CV packages from PurpleCV and entrepreneurial books from Cambridge University Press and Double your Price, an award-winning book by David Falzani MBE, which covers how pricing works with practical insights, tools and actionable guidance.

The event, hosted by TV presenter and engineer Rob Bell, is the culmination of a year of EIBF-sponsored enterprise competitions held across UK universities, with thousands of undergraduate and graduates taking part.

Each year, EIBF champions business education for engineers and supports universities by giving them grants to award prizes to engineering students who develop ideas that can make a positive impact on society.