Every industry leaned on its heroes to get through the pandemic, and the travel sector was no different. For airlines and hotels, that hero came in the form of their loyalty programs—delivering a steady revenue stream during reduced travel, and a beacon of hope for when recovery was underway.
Loyalty Currency Retailing has played a major role in sustaining airlines throughout the pandemic. Allowing members to purchase points/miles leads to increased revenue and engagement, among a host of other benefits. Many programs utilize Loyalty Currency Retailing today and it’s a major driver of revenue.1
Members given the ability to purchase points/miles at any point in their loyalty lifecycle can reach their next reward faster than with earning alone—this in turn, provides immediate revenue to the airline. Throw in personalized loyalty currency offers through leveraging data science, advanced analytics, and our collective loyalty intelligence, and long-term member engagement is further solidified.
One of our international airline partners wasn’t new to the business of selling their loyalty currency to members. In fact, this airline already had a currency retailing product of their own. But they were ready to enhance their existing solution to increase their ancillary revenue and grow both high-value member segments and overall member engagement.
Recognizing the value that a more robust solution could bring, Points was recruited to replace their existing Buy miles product and provide our loyalty intelligence, analytical expertise, and marketing muscle to transform their loyalty currency retailing offering from a practical after-thought to a promotional powerhouse.
Integrating our international airline partner into the Points product suite enhanced their Buy miles solution with more personalization and flexibility.
Globally, with dozens of currencies and thousands of languages, the value of curating member experience in the preferred language and currency cannot be understated. Here, we were able to personalize the Buy miles storefront down to a particular currency and region, providing this airline’s member base with a frictionless purchase process and improved UX. A win-win for the partner and their members, but personalization doesn’t stop at payments or languages.
Product integration ready and regulatory requirements met, we launched their first Buy miles promotion to create buzz and reintroduce the product to their members. Marketing analytics and aggregated industry data were used to personalize each member’s offer and push this airline’s revenue and engagement even further.
Thanks to a unique vantage point on loyalty behaviour and our wealth of ever-evolving loyalty insights, we designed a tiered bonus model with segmented member groups to incentivize large purchases. Within each offer, these member segments were analyzed to determine the proper mix of channels and accompanying messaging and language that would best resonate and drive conversions. Following this: a strategic look at reaching these members.
One of the first tenets of marketing is of course to find members where they are. For this partner’s members, this meant we needed to meet their expectations as primarily mobile users. We leveraged mobile apps like WeChat and Line among others to drive engagement and reach. Localization of both the content and the channel is key to curating messaging that feels as relevant as it does authentic to members of our partner’s program and region.
Putting it all together, targeting members with predetermined offers and price points; alongside tailored messaging, and channels create a highly relevant, personalized promotion.
Within the first six months of integrating the Points Buy miles product, the partner had exceeded their record annual revenue.3
After the successful re-launch, this partner also expanded their program to include an online earn mall, with additional Points-powered products in the pipeline. Now with Buy miles solidified as a program fixture, this partner is on track to exceed 87% revenue growth within the first year.4
But this is only the beginning for this international airline partner. Future growth plans include expanded reach of Buy miles promotions through media demand generation, and continued optimization, targeting and personalization with data modelling and analytics.
Points provides best-in-class loyalty solutions and marketing expertise to nearly 60 of the world's most well-known loyalty programs. Learn more about how Points can help loyalty programs unlock their full potential.
Sources
1. 12 Fascinating Facts Revealed About American Airlines AAdvantage Program
2. Data from Points’ International Airline Partner, 2021.
3. Data from Points’ International Airline Partner, 2022.
4. Data from Points’ International Airline Partner, 2022.
5. Data from Points’ International Airline Partner, 2022.