Conventional travel loyalty programs have long been a topic of debate and
criticism.
Consumers are regularly frustrated by complex rules around earning and
burning points, limitations on transferability and interoperability and –
particularly with travel limited by the pandemic – concerns about points expiring.
Meanwhile for travel brands, loyalty programs can be expensive to operate
and attractive targets for hackers.
And complicating the topic further is the question of whether these programs
do in fact turn consumers into loyal customers – ones that will choose their
brand over others again and again.
According to Phocuswright’s report, Loyalty
Programs Revisited: Key Metrics and the Impact of COVID-19, from March
2021, 89% of travelers belong to at least one travel loyalty program.
Subscribe to our newsletter below
Says the report, “The pandemic has
opened a…