TREND / December
Points,
miles, and
stamps
Airlines’
newest strategies for
turning passengers into
frequent fliers
Words by Christopher Walsh
Photo by Dāvis Ūlands (F64)
If you travel with any regularity, it’s
likely that you’ve come across stories of
‘travel hackers’ – ultra-frequent travel-
lers who leverage airline and hotel loyalty
programmes for dramatic results. Their
accomplishments can be jaw-dropping:
free first-class travel on cross-continental
flights, suite upgrades in some of the
world’s finest hotels, Instagram accounts
that would make celebrities jealous.
But for the vast majority of flyers, these
loyalty programmes are not a one-way
ticket to the high life. The proof can be
seen in the volume of points and miles left
unused by travellers around the world.
According to recent marketing analysis,
up to 100 billion dollars’ worth of loyalty
points could be going to waste.
While it may seem that these unused
points are a benefit to airlines, hotels,
and other companies – after all, some-
one has to pay for the flights, nights, and
champagne enjoyed by ultra-frequent
travellers – the ultimate goal of any loyalty
programme is to increase engagement. If
a passenger isn’t taking advantage of free
rewards, they’re likely not engaging at all.
‘Retention of our customers has always
been very important to us,’ says Māris
Rudens, Head of Digital Marketing and
Loyalty at airBaltic. ‘We live in an age
when price is one of the key factors for
customer decision-making, and this
drives us to be innovative in retaining our
customers and staying a step ahead of
our competitors.’
A key example of Rudens’ and
airBaltic’s innovation in this area is the
airline’s recently developed airBaltic
Club. Building off of the airline’s long-
standing loyalty currency, pins, the new
programme offers a hybrid reward system
consisting of pins points (based on money
spent on airBaltic flights and with a wide
variety of retail partners) and stamps
(based solely on the number of flight seg-
ments flown with the airline). According
to Rudens, this innovative approach is key
to delivering value to both frequent and
infrequent fliers.
‘The airBaltic Club stamp-card feature
is designed to benefit those passengers
who travel less often and otherwise
wouldn’t reach the highest tiers of the
programme,’ comments Rudens. ‘Instead,
our stamp card gives instant rewards for
nearly every interaction with the airline.
For example, our customers receive their
first reward – a free seat reservation on
their next flight – just for signing up for
the programme.’
airBaltic’s loyalty programme offers
another unique benefit when compared
with competing airline programmes: the
opportunity to earn points on non-travel-
related purchases. Whether it’s a sub-
scription to Bloomberg Businessweek,
an insurance policy with Gjensidige, or a
cup of coffee at a Narvesen convenience
store, every euro spent can add up to a
free flight on airBaltic. ‘This really cre-
ates a much better value proposition for
our passenger,’ says Rudens.
For airBaltic and other airlines, every
innovation in loyalty programmes repre-
sents an effort to build better customer
relationships. According to Rudens, the
new stamp concept is already paying
dividends: ‘More than 20,000 customers
have started collecting stamps, and that
number is growing rapidly with each
passing day.’
Māris Rudens
is Head of Digital
Marketing and Loyalty at
airBaltic. He recently led
the redesign of airBaltic’s
loyalty programme,
resulting in the new
airBaltic Club. He earned
his degrees in marketing
from the University
of Latvia.
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/ airBaltic.com