Some members are really motivated by points (redemption) and others are motivated by better treatment (status). If a program offers members more than usual for taking certain actions during a specific period of time, they’re going to get more of those actions.
And you can test customer behavior, how much do you need to offer? which customers respond best to which kinds of offers? Here are four that Marriott is reportedly sending out.
The major US airlines mostly follow the same business model, and there’s little disruption today in the industry. However while schedule and price were once the primary drivers of consumer behavior, even proponents of ‘schedule and price über alles like United President Scott Kirby learned years ago at US Airways that it was no longer the only thing that mattered to win business.
Since much of air travel is heavily regulated, the space in which airlines can differentiate themselves becomes more crucial than ever to attract customers.
I’m probably one of the most vocal and consistent critics of American Airlines. I thought I should explain why I still fly the airline — and generally choose to do so over other US domestic carriers.
When Marriott launched their new program on August 18th they encouraged members to combine their accounts. They told you that you were keeping either a Starwood account or a Marriott account, but that wasn’t really true — all accounts were moved onto Marriott’s IT system.
If you were a Starwood member and a Marriott member previously you now had two Marriott accounts but for legal reasons they still displayed Starwood graphics for one of them.
I combined my accounts and somehow showed only three years at the Platinum level towards lifetime status.
Planes are often referred to as birds, and birds of prey are particularly aviation-friendly. At Heathrow hawks are used to scare away other birds as a safety measure. They help prevent bird strikes, which can take out aircraft engines and lead to dangerous conditions not to mention damage to aircraft.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
At American Airlines cleaners frequently board an aircraft and start cleaning before passengers are off the plane. That’s not a great experience, but the airline frequently tries to turn planes around with unrealistic schedules. At least they’re getting cleaned.
British Airways in contrast has trialed ways to reduce cleaning to see if passengers complain. Now they’re taking a new approach — testing the elimination of cleaning altogether on some flights.
There are plenty of meal attempts that aren’t even trying, or actively trying to be disgusting.
There’s a recent viral story about an Emirates passenger complaining about their cajun chicken sandwich. Doesn’t look great, but not actively ‘grosser than gross’.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
