Most frequent flyers loyal to more than one airline
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The majority of frequent flyers are “loyal” to more than one airline, with passengers happy to swap between programmes to get the best benefits, a new report has found.
A study of passenger behaviour by Deloitte discovered that 72% of high-frequency business travellers are enrolled in two or more frequent flyer programmes, with a third of respondents participating in four or more FFPs. This, according to Deloitte, indicates that airline loyalty programmes “are not as effective as they could be in driving loyalty among their core audience of frequent travellers”.
“Our survey findings demonstrate that airlines should consider taking a hard look at how they are engaging with their loyalty programme members if they want to cultivate genuine brand loyalty,” said Adam Weissenberg, vice chairman of Deloitte LLP, and the company’s US travel, hospitality & leisure leader.
“With increasing competition and heightened consumer pragmatism, airlines may need to focus on personalising the customer experience in a way that makes individual travellers feel special,” he added.
As well as the current trend of enrolling in multiple FFPs, the study found that two-thirds of respondents are receptive to the idea of switching to a competing loyalty programme, even after achieving the highest status level with their current FFP.
In fact only 40% of business travellers fly at least three-quarters of their air miles on their “preferred” airline, while nearly one-third of business travellers fly fewer than half of their air miles on their main carrier.
And Deloitte believes that airlines should tailor their frequent flyer offerings to suit the individual needs of the customer.
“Airlines should consider making their loyalty programme rewards personally meaningful,” Weissenberg advised. “They should consider providing customised experiences for individual travellers, and encourage loyalty with unexpected and in-the-moment, accessible rewards, to help them not only redefine and reshape the customer experience, but also ultimately build lasting relationships with their customers.”
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