CRM / Loyalty
British Airways and Air New Zealand latest airlines to launch online business communities
14 April 2010 | Realizing they are not only in the business of taking passengers from one destination to the other, but that they are rather connecting people, a number of airlines have launched social networks of their own in the past years. Think BA’s Metrotwin, Virgin Atlantic’s vtravelled.com, Air France-KLM’s Bluenity and American Airlines’ BlackAtlas.com. Other airlines, such as KLM (Club China, Club Africa, Flying Blue Golf), and Lufthansa (Miles & More MemberScout) have launched business-oriented social networks for members of their frequent flyer programs.
British Airways has just launched an online ‘Face-to-Face Community’ for small business professionals in the U.S, as part of its ‘Face-to-Face’ campaign. Initiated in July 2009, the airline’s ‘Face-to-Face’ program solicited stories from U.S small and medium companies on how a face-to-face meeting overseas would help them during the recession. The 1,000 winning entries received free travel on three special BA flights from New York, Los Angeles and Chicago to London and beyond to make their meetings a reality. BA says the people who went on the first Face-to-Face trips at that time asked how they could stay in touch with each other, hence the online network.
Read full article »
Air New Zealand’s ‘Airpoints Fairy’ honours a wish a day
23 February 2010 | Air New Zealand (ANZ) has come up with a clever way to surprise members of its Airpoints frequent flyer program. ANZ’s ‘Airpoints Fairy’ once a day pubicly will grant a customer’s wish. ANZ Airpoints members can make wishes via Twitter and hope that ANZ’s ‘Airpoints Fairy’ will honour their request. Says the Airpoints Fairy: “You can wish for whatever you want, but I can only grant wishes for Airpoints members. Most wishes I grant are related to Airpoints or a few other services Air New Zealand offer.”
The wishes that are granted can be big or small, and wishes so far have included requests for 500 Airpoints, lounge passes, to several requests for elite status upgrades and free flights. In order to get the Airpoints Fairy’s attention for their wish, some members have been getting very creative, like this lovely request to the Airpoints Fairy via YouTube. All in all this is a great way for ANZ to make its Airpoints program top of mind for its members and strenghten the ties with a daily random act of kindness.
Etihad and Lufthansa launch loyalty apps for the iPhone
13 January 2010 | There are travel-related iPhone applications (apps) abound, devoted to everything from ticket search and booking (Kayak), airport codes (Airport Codes), airport gates (GateGuru), airplane seating charts (Airline Seat Guide), to flight tracking (FlightTrack), flight delays (Flight Tracker), and aircraft specifications (aeroguide).
Compared with the above, the list of airline-branded apps remains relatively sparse. British Airways led the way in July 2008 with the first iPhone app launched by an airline. Qantas soon followed suit, while Air Canada became the first North American carrier to launch an application. Other airlines that have launched iPhone-based services include Lufthansa, Swiss, Southwest, Cathay Pacific, DragonAir, Viva Macau, and Air New Zealand. Apps from these airlines mainly provide general travel information, such as timetables, and the ability to change booking details. Some airlines also offer the passengers the ability to check in, or let them check their FFP mileage balance. For a full overview of airline iPhone apps, see this blog by mvolution (in German). Lately, airline applications have been getting more specific, with Virgin Atlantic’s ‘Flying without Fear’ app, and Air New Zealand’s mobile boarding pass app.
Read full article »
Delta and Continental latest airlines to introduce uber-elite loyalty tier
17 December 2009 | In order to recognize their highest-value customers, several major airlines maintain unpublished programs that operate as ‘top tiers’ to existing frequent-flier plans. These über-elite tiers are often by invitation-only and offer VIP-perks such as personal concierges, exclusive express check-in lines at airports, access to high-end lounges even when the customer flies economy, and personal escorts to help travelers make tight connections.
Airlines don’t discuss the selection process to get in these programs, and only say that a small number of passenger are invited based upon their annual spending in addition to mileage earned. For example, United Airlines’ 6-year-old Global Services program is granted to no more than 20,000 of United’s estimated 1 million elite Mileage Plus members. Says a United spokesperson: “It’s like the American Express black [invitation-only] Centurion card: We try to keep the mystique.”
Read full article »
Cathay Pacific’s ‘I Can Fly’ course teaches young people the basics of aviation
16 December 2009 | Cathay Pacific’s ‘I Can Fly’ program is dedicated to teaching young people between 15 and 18 years old, and who are interested in aviation, the basics of the industry at no cost. ‘I Can Fly’ was launched in 2003 and every other year, several courses are organized, with 3,000 ‘students’ participating to date in Hong Kong. The carrier has just announced the fourth ‘I Can Fly’ series, which will start in February 2010. Hong Kong youth can apply until 25th December of this year, and 100 participants will be selected.
Enrolling in the ‘I Can Fly’ program is by no means a free ride. The course runs for nine weeks, with once-a-week nightly classes, and includes airport visits, one weekend of community service, and workshops with staff from Cathay’s engineering, flight control, marketing and catering departments, as well as pilots and cabin crew. As part of Cathay’s community program, Cathay Pacific staff volunteer their time to the course.
Read full article »
Jet Airways rewards frequent flyers for Tripadvisor reviews
14 December 2009 | Jet Airways and TripAdvisor India have teamed up in a mutual promotion to attract both new members for Jet Airways’ frequent flyer programme and to increase the number of reviews by Indian travellers on TripAdvisor India. TripAdvisor India was launched in September 2008. The promotion lets members of JetPrivilege, the frequent flyer program of Jet Airways, earn basic JPMiles by writing hotel reviews on tripadvisor.in.
The amount of JPMiles frequent flyers can earn depends on the number of hotel reviews written and published on TripAdvisor. Writing 3 to 6 reviews will get them 500 miles, and 7 or more reviews will earn 1000 miles, with a maximum of 4000 JPMiles per year. Five members that post a minimum of 10 reviews per quarter five members stand a chance to win 5000 bonus JPMiles each. Members who post their hotel reviews between December 3, 2009 and December 31, 2009, receive a 20% bonus JPMiles.
Read full article »