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Emirates Skywards Product VP and Points CEO discuss the case for mileage retailing

Emirates plane flying

Though mileage retailing has only been around since the early aughts, today it ranks second-largest ancillary revenue driver for airlines and travel brands around the world. As these airlines grow, so too are their mandates to make their loyalty program—and their currency retailing factions—bigger, better, and more profitable.

Our CEO, Rob MacLean, covered these topics and more at Loyalty Summit Americas in Chicago with Emirates Skywards VP of product and member engagement, James Curry. Here are five takeaways on how selling points and miles drives immediate revenue and long-term engagement.

 

5 Takeaways from Loyalty Summit Americas

1. Members who buy miles are more valuable

Most people are familiar with the concept of Loyalty Currency Retailing—selling program points/miles to members—as well as the economics of this transaction. Mileage retailing is straight cash inflow for a loyalty program, and at a high margin to boot. But the long-term profitability of a mileage transaction goes far beyond a single mileage purchase. 


Members who buy miles go on to fly more and engage more within their program lifetime. Members who purchase points/miles are known to take five times more revenue flights over the following 12-month period, and redeem 6-10 times more points than non-purchasers.1

Quote from James Curry that reads, A very large proportion of members who engage with buying miles increase their overall propensity to fly with Emirates by between 20 and 100 percent.2. Loyalty Currency Retailing was a key revenue driver during the pandemic

When international and regional travel came to a halt, loyalty programs became a crucial touchpoint in order to maintain member engagement and keep their brands top of mind when travel resumed. 

Interestingly, despite travel restrictions, some brands that leveraged their loyalty programs during this time experienced record-breaking points/mileage sales, solidifying that there is a real demand for program currency outside of immediate redemption needs.Quote from James Curry that reads, In May 2021 we did a flash sale of double miles for the Skywards Buy Miles product for 48 hours—during that period the contribution was about 40% of everything on Emriates.com. So it was very, very, very powerful to present that to senior management. A lot of people…were surprised at the power of selling this currency.

3. Data and analytics are critical to accelerating program growth

From a currency retailing perspective: the more data you have, the more sophisticated your targeting, the more miles you sell. Of course, there are a lot more steps in that process but the headline is: tapping into advanced loyalty analytics allows programs to grow faster, do more, and up their program engagement.

Quote from James Curry reads, The real benefit of working with Points is we have access to the analytics that we just don't have the bandwidth or the ability to scale internally.

4. Multi-faceted personalization strategies maximize marketing efficiency and performance

With so much pressure on databases, programs need to be strategic about how they communicate with their members. Leveraging personalization, advanced analytics, segmentation, and triggered communications ensures each member receives the right offer at the right time, in the right channel and with the right messaging.

Quote from James Curry that reads, through the pandemic we've actually increased the buy miles basket size by 100 percent.

5. Points solutions outperform in-house implementations

The Beatles said it best: you get by with a little help from your friends. It’s simply faster, easier, and more profitable to set up or relaunch a buy miles program with the help of an expert partner. Take for instance Emirates Skywards, which used to have a solid in-house buy miles solution. When Points partnered with their Skywards program, mileage revenue increased by nearly fourfold!

Quote from James Curry reads, When we engaged with Points we exponentially enhanced [our buy miles] product and its performance. So in three years, we did 3.5x [activity] through targeting, still driving a good margin.

Today's loyalty programs are highly sophisticated, but many brands are finding that when they look to the future, they don’t or won’t have the bandwidth to keep up. Leveraging loyalty expertise and products means programs can have the capacity and the creativity to grow, innovate, and adapt now and into the future.

Sources:
1. Aggregated Points Data

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As these airlines grow, so too are their mandates to make their loyalty program—and their currency retailing factions—bigger, better, and more profitable.</span></p>\n<!--more-->\n<p>Our CEO, Rob MacLean, covered these topics and more at Loyalty Summit Americas in Chicago with Emirates Skywards VP of product and member engagement, James Curry. Here are five takeaways on how selling points and miles drives immediate revenue and long-term engagement.</p>\n<div class=\"hs-embed-wrapper hs-fullwidth-embed\" data-service=\"youtube\" data-responsive=\"true\" style=\"position: relative; overflow: hidden; width: 100%; height: auto; padding: 0px; min-width: 256px; display: block; margin: auto;\"><div class=\"hs-embed-content-wrapper\"><div style=\"position: relative; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; padding-bottom: 56.5%; margin: 0px;\"><iframe width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/C7qhpm-8tsw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\" title=\"Driving Immediate Revenue and Long Term Engagement through the sales of miles &amp; points\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: none;\"></iframe></div></div></div>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 24px;\">&nbsp;</h1>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 24px;\">5 Takeaways from Loyalty Summit Americas</h1>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: normal;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #027bb6;\">1. Members who buy miles are more valuable</span></h2>\n<p>Most people are familiar with the concept of Loyalty Currency Retailing—selling program points/miles to members—as well as the economics of this transaction. Mileage retailing is straight cash inflow for a loyalty program, and at a high margin to boot. But the long-term profitability of a mileage transaction goes far beyond a single mileage purchase.&nbsp;</p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><br>Members who buy miles go on to fly more and engage more within their program lifetime. Members who purchase points/miles are known to take five times more revenue flights over the following 12-month period, and redeem 6-10 times more points than non-purchasers.<sup>1</sup></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #027bb6; font-weight: normal;\"><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Quote-01-3.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry that reads, A very large proportion of members who engage with buying miles increase their overall propensity to fly with Emirates by between 20 and 100 percent.\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\">2. Loyalty Currency Retailing was a key revenue driver during the pandemic</span></h2>\n<p>When international and regional travel came to a halt, loyalty programs became a crucial touchpoint in order to maintain member engagement and keep their brands top of mind when travel resumed.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Interestingly, despite travel restrictions, some brands that leveraged their loyalty programs during this time experienced <a href=\"https://news.points.com/how-an-international-airline-drove-48-more-revenue-per-day-with-points-data-led-marketing-support\"><span>record-breaking points/mileage sales</span></a>, solidifying that there is a real demand for program currency outside of immediate redemption needs.<img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Quote_03.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry that reads, In May 2021 we did a flash sale of double miles for the Skywards Buy Miles product for 48 hours—during that period the contribution was about 40% of everything on Emriates.com. So it was very, very, very powerful to present that to senior management. A lot of people…were surprised at the power of selling this currency.\" width=\"845\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 845px;\"></p>\n<h4 style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><span style=\"color: #027bb6;\">3. Data and analytics are critical to accelerating program growth</span></h4>\n<p>From a currency retailing perspective: the more data you have, the more sophisticated your targeting, the more miles you sell. 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When Points partnered with their Skywards program, mileage revenue increased by nearly fourfold!</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Q5-1.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry reads, When we engaged with Points we exponentially enhanced [our buy miles] product and its performance. So in three years, we did 3.5x [activity] through targeting, still driving a good margin.\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<p>Today's loyalty programs are highly sophisticated, but many brands are finding that when they look to the future, they don’t or won’t have the bandwidth to keep up. Leveraging loyalty expertise and products means programs can have the capacity and the creativity to grow, innovate, and adapt now and into the future.</p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 10px;\">Sources:<br>1. Aggregated Points Data</p></span>\n{%- endset -%}\n{%- set hs_blog_post_summary -%}\n    <p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Blog_hero_Chi.png\" alt=\"Emirates plane flying\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">Though mileage retailing has only been around since the early aughts, today it ranks second-largest ancillary revenue driver for airlines and travel brands around the world. As these airlines grow, so too are their mandates to make their loyalty program—and their currency retailing factions—bigger, better, and more profitable.</span></p>\n\n{%- endset -%}\n{%- blog_post_data_wall_wrapper body={{hs_blog_post_body}}, summary={{hs_blog_post_summary}} %}",
    "rss_summary" : "<p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Blog_hero_Chi.png\" alt=\"Emirates plane flying\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">Though mileage retailing has only been around since the early aughts, today it ranks second-largest ancillary revenue driver for airlines and travel brands around the world. As these airlines grow, so too are their mandates to make their loyalty program—and their currency retailing factions—bigger, better, and more profitable.</span></p>\n",
    "rss_body" : "<p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Blog_hero_Chi.png\" alt=\"Emirates plane flying\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">Though mileage retailing has only been around since the early aughts, today it ranks second-largest ancillary revenue driver for airlines and travel brands around the world. As these airlines grow, so too are their mandates to make their loyalty program—and their currency retailing factions—bigger, better, and more profitable.</span></p>\n<!--more-->\n<p>Our CEO, Rob MacLean, covered these topics and more at Loyalty Summit Americas in Chicago with Emirates Skywards VP of product and member engagement, James Curry. Here are five takeaways on how selling points and miles drives immediate revenue and long-term engagement.</p>\n<div class=\"hs-embed-wrapper hs-fullwidth-embed\" data-service=\"youtube\" data-responsive=\"true\" style=\"position: relative; overflow: hidden; width: 100%; height: auto; padding: 0px; min-width: 256px; display: block; margin: auto;\"><div class=\"hs-embed-content-wrapper\"><div style=\"position: relative; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; padding-bottom: 56.5%; margin: 0px;\"><iframe width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/C7qhpm-8tsw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\" title=\"Driving Immediate Revenue and Long Term Engagement through the sales of miles &amp; points\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: none;\"></iframe></div></div></div>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 24px;\">&nbsp;</h1>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 24px;\">5 Takeaways from Loyalty Summit Americas</h1>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: normal;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #027bb6;\">1. Members who buy miles are more valuable</span></h2>\n<p>Most people are familiar with the concept of Loyalty Currency Retailing—selling program points/miles to members—as well as the economics of this transaction. Mileage retailing is straight cash inflow for a loyalty program, and at a high margin to boot. But the long-term profitability of a mileage transaction goes far beyond a single mileage purchase.&nbsp;</p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><br>Members who buy miles go on to fly more and engage more within their program lifetime. Members who purchase points/miles are known to take five times more revenue flights over the following 12-month period, and redeem 6-10 times more points than non-purchasers.<sup>1</sup></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #027bb6; font-weight: normal;\"><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Quote-01-3.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry that reads, A very large proportion of members who engage with buying miles increase their overall propensity to fly with Emirates by between 20 and 100 percent.\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\">2. Loyalty Currency Retailing was a key revenue driver during the pandemic</span></h2>\n<p>When international and regional travel came to a halt, loyalty programs became a crucial touchpoint in order to maintain member engagement and keep their brands top of mind when travel resumed.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Interestingly, despite travel restrictions, some brands that leveraged their loyalty programs during this time experienced <a href=\"https://news.points.com/how-an-international-airline-drove-48-more-revenue-per-day-with-points-data-led-marketing-support\"><span>record-breaking points/mileage sales</span></a>, solidifying that there is a real demand for program currency outside of immediate redemption needs.<img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Quote_03.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry that reads, In May 2021 we did a flash sale of double miles for the Skywards Buy Miles product for 48 hours—during that period the contribution was about 40% of everything on Emriates.com. So it was very, very, very powerful to present that to senior management. A lot of people…were surprised at the power of selling this currency.\" width=\"845\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 845px;\"></p>\n<h4 style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><span style=\"color: #027bb6;\">3. Data and analytics are critical to accelerating program growth</span></h4>\n<p>From a currency retailing perspective: the more data you have, the more sophisticated your targeting, the more miles you sell. Of course, there are a lot more steps in that process but the headline is: tapping into advanced loyalty analytics allows programs to grow faster, do more, and up their program engagement.</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Q3.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry reads, The real benefit of working with Points is we have access to the analytics that we just don't have the bandwidth or the ability to scale internally.\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #027bb6;\">4. Multi-faceted personalization strategies maximize marketing efficiency and performance</span><span style=\"font-size: 13px; color: #027bb6;\"><br></span></h4>\n<p>With so much pressure on databases, programs need to be strategic about how they communicate with their members. Leveraging personalization, advanced analytics, segmentation, and triggered communications ensures each member receives the right offer at the right time, in the right channel and with the right messaging.</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Quote-04.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry that reads, through the pandemic we've actually increased the buy miles basket size by 100 percent.\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<h4 style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><span style=\"color: #027bb6;\">5. Points solutions outperform in-house implementations</span></h4>\n<p>The Beatles said it best: you get by with a little help from your friends. It’s simply faster, easier, and more profitable to set up or relaunch a buy miles program with the help of an expert partner. Take for instance Emirates Skywards, which used to have a solid in-house buy miles solution. When Points partnered with their Skywards program, mileage revenue increased by nearly fourfold!</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Q5-1.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry reads, When we engaged with Points we exponentially enhanced [our buy miles] product and its performance. So in three years, we did 3.5x [activity] through targeting, still driving a good margin.\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<p>Today's loyalty programs are highly sophisticated, but many brands are finding that when they look to the future, they don’t or won’t have the bandwidth to keep up. Leveraging loyalty expertise and products means programs can have the capacity and the creativity to grow, innovate, and adapt now and into the future.</p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 10px;\">Sources:<br>1. Aggregated Points Data</p>",
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  "postBody" : "{%- set hs_blog_post_body -%}\n    {%- set in_blog_post_body = true -%}\n    <span id=\"hs_cos_wrapper_post_body\" class=\"hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_rich_text\" style=\"\" data-hs-cos-general-type=\"meta_field\" data-hs-cos-type=\"rich_text\" ><p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Blog_hero_Chi.png\" alt=\"Emirates plane flying\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">Though mileage retailing has only been around since the early aughts, today it ranks second-largest ancillary revenue driver for airlines and travel brands around the world. As these airlines grow, so too are their mandates to make their loyalty program—and their currency retailing factions—bigger, better, and more profitable.</span></p>\n<!--more-->\n<p>Our CEO, Rob MacLean, covered these topics and more at Loyalty Summit Americas in Chicago with Emirates Skywards VP of product and member engagement, James Curry. Here are five takeaways on how selling points and miles drives immediate revenue and long-term engagement.</p>\n<div class=\"hs-embed-wrapper hs-fullwidth-embed\" data-service=\"youtube\" data-responsive=\"true\" style=\"position: relative; overflow: hidden; width: 100%; height: auto; padding: 0px; min-width: 256px; display: block; margin: auto;\"><div class=\"hs-embed-content-wrapper\"><div style=\"position: relative; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; padding-bottom: 56.5%; margin: 0px;\"><iframe width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/C7qhpm-8tsw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\" title=\"Driving Immediate Revenue and Long Term Engagement through the sales of miles &amp; points\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: none;\"></iframe></div></div></div>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 24px;\">&nbsp;</h1>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 24px;\">5 Takeaways from Loyalty Summit Americas</h1>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: normal;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #027bb6;\">1. Members who buy miles are more valuable</span></h2>\n<p>Most people are familiar with the concept of Loyalty Currency Retailing—selling program points/miles to members—as well as the economics of this transaction. Mileage retailing is straight cash inflow for a loyalty program, and at a high margin to boot. But the long-term profitability of a mileage transaction goes far beyond a single mileage purchase.&nbsp;</p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><br>Members who buy miles go on to fly more and engage more within their program lifetime. Members who purchase points/miles are known to take five times more revenue flights over the following 12-month period, and redeem 6-10 times more points than non-purchasers.<sup>1</sup></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #027bb6; font-weight: normal;\"><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Quote-01-3.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry that reads, A very large proportion of members who engage with buying miles increase their overall propensity to fly with Emirates by between 20 and 100 percent.\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\">2. Loyalty Currency Retailing was a key revenue driver during the pandemic</span></h2>\n<p>When international and regional travel came to a halt, loyalty programs became a crucial touchpoint in order to maintain member engagement and keep their brands top of mind when travel resumed.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Interestingly, despite travel restrictions, some brands that leveraged their loyalty programs during this time experienced <a href=\"https://news.points.com/how-an-international-airline-drove-48-more-revenue-per-day-with-points-data-led-marketing-support\"><span>record-breaking points/mileage sales</span></a>, solidifying that there is a real demand for program currency outside of immediate redemption needs.<img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Quote_03.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry that reads, In May 2021 we did a flash sale of double miles for the Skywards Buy Miles product for 48 hours—during that period the contribution was about 40% of everything on Emriates.com. So it was very, very, very powerful to present that to senior management. A lot of people…were surprised at the power of selling this currency.\" width=\"845\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 845px;\"></p>\n<h4 style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><span style=\"color: #027bb6;\">3. Data and analytics are critical to accelerating program growth</span></h4>\n<p>From a currency retailing perspective: the more data you have, the more sophisticated your targeting, the more miles you sell. Of course, there are a lot more steps in that process but the headline is: tapping into advanced loyalty analytics allows programs to grow faster, do more, and up their program engagement.</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Q3.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry reads, The real benefit of working with Points is we have access to the analytics that we just don't have the bandwidth or the ability to scale internally.\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #027bb6;\">4. Multi-faceted personalization strategies maximize marketing efficiency and performance</span><span style=\"font-size: 13px; color: #027bb6;\"><br></span></h4>\n<p>With so much pressure on databases, programs need to be strategic about how they communicate with their members. Leveraging personalization, advanced analytics, segmentation, and triggered communications ensures each member receives the right offer at the right time, in the right channel and with the right messaging.</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Quote-04.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry that reads, through the pandemic we've actually increased the buy miles basket size by 100 percent.\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<h4 style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><span style=\"color: #027bb6;\">5. Points solutions outperform in-house implementations</span></h4>\n<p>The Beatles said it best: you get by with a little help from your friends. It’s simply faster, easier, and more profitable to set up or relaunch a buy miles program with the help of an expert partner. Take for instance Emirates Skywards, which used to have a solid in-house buy miles solution. When Points partnered with their Skywards program, mileage revenue increased by nearly fourfold!</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Q5-1.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry reads, When we engaged with Points we exponentially enhanced [our buy miles] product and its performance. So in three years, we did 3.5x [activity] through targeting, still driving a good margin.\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<p>Today's loyalty programs are highly sophisticated, but many brands are finding that when they look to the future, they don’t or won’t have the bandwidth to keep up. Leveraging loyalty expertise and products means programs can have the capacity and the creativity to grow, innovate, and adapt now and into the future.</p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 10px;\">Sources:<br>1. Aggregated Points Data</p></span>\n{%- endset -%}\n{%- set hs_blog_post_summary -%}\n    <p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Blog_hero_Chi.png\" alt=\"Emirates plane flying\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">Though mileage retailing has only been around since the early aughts, today it ranks second-largest ancillary revenue driver for airlines and travel brands around the world. As these airlines grow, so too are their mandates to make their loyalty program—and their currency retailing factions—bigger, better, and more profitable.</span></p>\n\n{%- endset -%}\n{%- blog_post_data_wall_wrapper body={{hs_blog_post_body}}, summary={{hs_blog_post_summary}} %}",
  "postBodyRss" : "<p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Blog_hero_Chi.png\" alt=\"Emirates plane flying\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">Though mileage retailing has only been around since the early aughts, today it ranks second-largest ancillary revenue driver for airlines and travel brands around the world. As these airlines grow, so too are their mandates to make their loyalty program—and their currency retailing factions—bigger, better, and more profitable.</span></p>\n<!--more-->\n<p>Our CEO, Rob MacLean, covered these topics and more at Loyalty Summit Americas in Chicago with Emirates Skywards VP of product and member engagement, James Curry. Here are five takeaways on how selling points and miles drives immediate revenue and long-term engagement.</p>\n<div class=\"hs-embed-wrapper hs-fullwidth-embed\" data-service=\"youtube\" data-responsive=\"true\" style=\"position: relative; overflow: hidden; width: 100%; height: auto; padding: 0px; min-width: 256px; display: block; margin: auto;\"><div class=\"hs-embed-content-wrapper\"><div style=\"position: relative; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; padding-bottom: 56.5%; margin: 0px;\"><iframe width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/C7qhpm-8tsw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\" title=\"Driving Immediate Revenue and Long Term Engagement through the sales of miles &amp; points\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: none;\"></iframe></div></div></div>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 24px;\">&nbsp;</h1>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 24px;\">5 Takeaways from Loyalty Summit Americas</h1>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: normal;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #027bb6;\">1. Members who buy miles are more valuable</span></h2>\n<p>Most people are familiar with the concept of Loyalty Currency Retailing—selling program points/miles to members—as well as the economics of this transaction. Mileage retailing is straight cash inflow for a loyalty program, and at a high margin to boot. But the long-term profitability of a mileage transaction goes far beyond a single mileage purchase.&nbsp;</p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><br>Members who buy miles go on to fly more and engage more within their program lifetime. Members who purchase points/miles are known to take five times more revenue flights over the following 12-month period, and redeem 6-10 times more points than non-purchasers.<sup>1</sup></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #027bb6; font-weight: normal;\"><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Quote-01-3.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry that reads, A very large proportion of members who engage with buying miles increase their overall propensity to fly with Emirates by between 20 and 100 percent.\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\">2. Loyalty Currency Retailing was a key revenue driver during the pandemic</span></h2>\n<p>When international and regional travel came to a halt, loyalty programs became a crucial touchpoint in order to maintain member engagement and keep their brands top of mind when travel resumed.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Interestingly, despite travel restrictions, some brands that leveraged their loyalty programs during this time experienced <a href=\"https://news.points.com/how-an-international-airline-drove-48-more-revenue-per-day-with-points-data-led-marketing-support\"><span>record-breaking points/mileage sales</span></a>, solidifying that there is a real demand for program currency outside of immediate redemption needs.<img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Quote_03.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry that reads, In May 2021 we did a flash sale of double miles for the Skywards Buy Miles product for 48 hours—during that period the contribution was about 40% of everything on Emriates.com. So it was very, very, very powerful to present that to senior management. A lot of people…were surprised at the power of selling this currency.\" width=\"845\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 845px;\"></p>\n<h4 style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><span style=\"color: #027bb6;\">3. Data and analytics are critical to accelerating program growth</span></h4>\n<p>From a currency retailing perspective: the more data you have, the more sophisticated your targeting, the more miles you sell. Of course, there are a lot more steps in that process but the headline is: tapping into advanced loyalty analytics allows programs to grow faster, do more, and up their program engagement.</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Q3.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry reads, The real benefit of working with Points is we have access to the analytics that we just don't have the bandwidth or the ability to scale internally.\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #027bb6;\">4. Multi-faceted personalization strategies maximize marketing efficiency and performance</span><span style=\"font-size: 13px; color: #027bb6;\"><br></span></h4>\n<p>With so much pressure on databases, programs need to be strategic about how they communicate with their members. Leveraging personalization, advanced analytics, segmentation, and triggered communications ensures each member receives the right offer at the right time, in the right channel and with the right messaging.</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Quote-04.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry that reads, through the pandemic we've actually increased the buy miles basket size by 100 percent.\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<h4 style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><span style=\"color: #027bb6;\">5. Points solutions outperform in-house implementations</span></h4>\n<p>The Beatles said it best: you get by with a little help from your friends. It’s simply faster, easier, and more profitable to set up or relaunch a buy miles program with the help of an expert partner. Take for instance Emirates Skywards, which used to have a solid in-house buy miles solution. When Points partnered with their Skywards program, mileage revenue increased by nearly fourfold!</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Q5-1.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry reads, When we engaged with Points we exponentially enhanced [our buy miles] product and its performance. So in three years, we did 3.5x [activity] through targeting, still driving a good margin.\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<p>Today's loyalty programs are highly sophisticated, but many brands are finding that when they look to the future, they don’t or won’t have the bandwidth to keep up. Leveraging loyalty expertise and products means programs can have the capacity and the creativity to grow, innovate, and adapt now and into the future.</p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 10px;\">Sources:<br>1. Aggregated Points Data</p>",
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  "postSummaryRss" : "<p><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">Though mileage retailing has only been around since the early aughts, today it ranks second-largest ancillary revenue driver for airlines and travel brands around the world. As these airlines grow, so too are their mandates to make their loyalty program—and their currency retailing factions—bigger, better, and more profitable.</span></p>",
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  "rssBody" : "<p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Blog_hero_Chi.png\" alt=\"Emirates plane flying\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">Though mileage retailing has only been around since the early aughts, today it ranks second-largest ancillary revenue driver for airlines and travel brands around the world. As these airlines grow, so too are their mandates to make their loyalty program—and their currency retailing factions—bigger, better, and more profitable.</span></p>\n<!--more-->\n<p>Our CEO, Rob MacLean, covered these topics and more at Loyalty Summit Americas in Chicago with Emirates Skywards VP of product and member engagement, James Curry. Here are five takeaways on how selling points and miles drives immediate revenue and long-term engagement.</p>\n<div class=\"hs-embed-wrapper hs-fullwidth-embed\" data-service=\"youtube\" data-responsive=\"true\" style=\"position: relative; overflow: hidden; width: 100%; height: auto; padding: 0px; min-width: 256px; display: block; margin: auto;\"><div class=\"hs-embed-content-wrapper\"><div style=\"position: relative; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; padding-bottom: 56.5%; margin: 0px;\"><iframe width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/C7qhpm-8tsw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\" title=\"Driving Immediate Revenue and Long Term Engagement through the sales of miles &amp; points\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: none;\"></iframe></div></div></div>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 24px;\">&nbsp;</h1>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 24px;\">5 Takeaways from Loyalty Summit Americas</h1>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: normal;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #027bb6;\">1. Members who buy miles are more valuable</span></h2>\n<p>Most people are familiar with the concept of Loyalty Currency Retailing—selling program points/miles to members—as well as the economics of this transaction. Mileage retailing is straight cash inflow for a loyalty program, and at a high margin to boot. But the long-term profitability of a mileage transaction goes far beyond a single mileage purchase.&nbsp;</p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><br>Members who buy miles go on to fly more and engage more within their program lifetime. Members who purchase points/miles are known to take five times more revenue flights over the following 12-month period, and redeem 6-10 times more points than non-purchasers.<sup>1</sup></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #027bb6; font-weight: normal;\"><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Quote-01-3.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry that reads, A very large proportion of members who engage with buying miles increase their overall propensity to fly with Emirates by between 20 and 100 percent.\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\">2. Loyalty Currency Retailing was a key revenue driver during the pandemic</span></h2>\n<p>When international and regional travel came to a halt, loyalty programs became a crucial touchpoint in order to maintain member engagement and keep their brands top of mind when travel resumed.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Interestingly, despite travel restrictions, some brands that leveraged their loyalty programs during this time experienced <a href=\"https://news.points.com/how-an-international-airline-drove-48-more-revenue-per-day-with-points-data-led-marketing-support\"><span>record-breaking points/mileage sales</span></a>, solidifying that there is a real demand for program currency outside of immediate redemption needs.<img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Quote_03.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry that reads, In May 2021 we did a flash sale of double miles for the Skywards Buy Miles product for 48 hours—during that period the contribution was about 40% of everything on Emriates.com. So it was very, very, very powerful to present that to senior management. A lot of people…were surprised at the power of selling this currency.\" width=\"845\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 845px;\"></p>\n<h4 style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><span style=\"color: #027bb6;\">3. Data and analytics are critical to accelerating program growth</span></h4>\n<p>From a currency retailing perspective: the more data you have, the more sophisticated your targeting, the more miles you sell. Of course, there are a lot more steps in that process but the headline is: tapping into advanced loyalty analytics allows programs to grow faster, do more, and up their program engagement.</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Q3.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry reads, The real benefit of working with Points is we have access to the analytics that we just don't have the bandwidth or the ability to scale internally.\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #027bb6;\">4. Multi-faceted personalization strategies maximize marketing efficiency and performance</span><span style=\"font-size: 13px; color: #027bb6;\"><br></span></h4>\n<p>With so much pressure on databases, programs need to be strategic about how they communicate with their members. Leveraging personalization, advanced analytics, segmentation, and triggered communications ensures each member receives the right offer at the right time, in the right channel and with the right messaging.</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Quote-04.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry that reads, through the pandemic we've actually increased the buy miles basket size by 100 percent.\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<h4 style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><span style=\"color: #027bb6;\">5. Points solutions outperform in-house implementations</span></h4>\n<p>The Beatles said it best: you get by with a little help from your friends. It’s simply faster, easier, and more profitable to set up or relaunch a buy miles program with the help of an expert partner. Take for instance Emirates Skywards, which used to have a solid in-house buy miles solution. When Points partnered with their Skywards program, mileage revenue increased by nearly fourfold!</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://9407148.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9407148/Q5-1.png\" alt=\"Quote from James Curry reads, When we engaged with Points we exponentially enhanced [our buy miles] product and its performance. So in three years, we did 3.5x [activity] through targeting, still driving a good margin.\" width=\"1742\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 1742px;\"></p>\n<p>Today's loyalty programs are highly sophisticated, but many brands are finding that when they look to the future, they don’t or won’t have the bandwidth to keep up. Leveraging loyalty expertise and products means programs can have the capacity and the creativity to grow, innovate, and adapt now and into the future.</p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 10px;\">Sources:<br>1. Aggregated Points Data</p>",
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