Loyalty programs are really two components bundled in one: recognition and reward. Earn and burn of points matters, but so do elite benefits, which entail better treatment for your best customers.
Bilt Rewards has been mostly an earn and burn program to do, and a very lucrative one at that. But when they launched they clearly recognized the need for an elite level and built out the skeleton of one.
Air France KLM’s Flying Blue is the best frequent flyer program in the SkyTeam alliance. It’s legions better than Delta SkyMiles. At the airline’s investor day, they explained how they’ll be doubling down on the loyalty program to drive profits, as relayed by Brian Sumers in his invaluable Substack. U.S. airlines see loyalty programs as cash cows. That’s not as true elsewhere. In Europe and Australia, credit card interchange is regulated, so rewards card deals aren’t as lucrative. In Australia, we’ve seen Qantas make each point worth less in order to keep awarding around one point per dollar for credit card spend. (Card fees have gone up, and in some cases points-earning has been capped.) In Europe the cards themselves aren’t as profitable, and the deals look different. For instance a past Air France-American Express…
Westin Hotels revolutionized the industry with its “Heavenly Bed” marketing. People genuinely bought into their claim to being better in bed. Guests chose the brand for their beds, and bought the beds and bedding for their homes. And other hotel chains were forced to up their game with better, branded mattresses.
Before the pandemic the American Airlines co-brand portfolio had the largest charge volume, but American, United and Delta were all over $100 billion annually.
In June Delta Air Lines made big news claiming to have broken away from the pack reporting that “approaching 1% of U.S. GDP” in charge volume on their co-brand cards. They appeared to suggest over a quarter trillion dollars being spend on Delta American Express cards.
Only the Department of Transportation has authority to police loyalty programs, and according to the DOT Inspector General the agency has improperly ignored complaints about frequent flyer programs. That appears about to change.
A flight attendant insisted that parents of a young child give up their baby’s seat so that a someone with a disability could have it. The parents refused.
Since children under two aren’t required to have a seat, the crewmember thought that they could sit on a parents lap.
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.
What I’d really love is access to AA20 benefits, 20% off revenue flights and 20% off award travel as well.
A viral video shows Pakistan International Airlines passengers angrily confronting staff after their flight was cancelled due to lack of fuel. Some want refunds, others want alternative travel arrangements.
The world’s worst airline is facing its biggest crisis ever. The government oil company stopped supplying fuel because the government-owned airline stopped paying its fuel bills. They’re cancelling hundreds of flights each month. About 7,000 employees did not get paid in November.
Back in March Delta Air Lines pilots agreed to a new contract. It set the highest pay rates that pilots in the industry had ever received. And it basically set the terms for pilot deals that would be struck throughout the rest of the year.
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 »
