Loyalty Archives – London Air Travel

easyJet To Relaunch Frequent Flyer Programmes

easyJet is to launch a new frequent flyer scheme in 2019 which promises new ways to earn and redeem points when flying with easyJet.

London Air Travel » Loyalty

easyJet Airbus aircraft (Image Credit: easyJet)

By far the most dominant frequent flyer currency in the UK is “Avios” used by British Airways, its fellow IAG airlines and many partners such as Flybe.

The sheer range of earning opportunities through flying and everyday expenditure as well as the redemption opportunities on flights from the UK, means that rival airlines struggle to offer a competitive alternative.

That may change next year. Virgin Atlantic will partner with Air France-KLM when the two combine their respective transatlantic joint-ventures with Delta into one.

easyJet also promises to relaunch its frequent flyer proposition next year.

Currently, easyJet has two parallel schemes, easyJet Plus and Flight Club.

easyJet Plus is paid for membership scheme which affords certain benefits such as free seat selection and fast track ground facilities.

Flight Club is a scheme for frequent flyers who book more than 20 flights a year with easyJet. They are invited to join at the discretion of the airline and afforded benefits such as free flight changes.

easyJet’s New Programme

easyJet intends to relaunch its frequent flyer programmes with a new currency where points can be earned in a range of ways.

The new programme will be announced next year and rolled out across Europe in 2020.

It will be behaviour led. It will be possible to earn points in a variety of ways, specifically those that contribute to easyJet’s bottom line. This includes using certain online services or buying easyJet branded financial services such as travel insurance. Third parties will also be invited to participate in the programme.

Points can then be redeemed on “exclusive rewards to enhance the trip” and reward flights for points and a cash payment. easyJet also suggests that the programme will have tiers which will provide additional benefits.

easyJet’s approach to loyalty to date is to focus on activities that generate additional revenue without adding significant expense or operational complexity. This is likely to continue. Do not expect a full blown replica of the Avios programme. However, easyJet clearly sees this as a means to win more passengers from legacy airlines.

What easyJet’s programme may lack compared to the Avios currency is an “aspirational” reward, such as business and First Class long-haul flights. However, given easyJet has a very extensive short-haul network from Gatwick, this is one we’ll keep a watching brief on.
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Virgin Atlantic to launch new loyalty programme

Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Group have announced they are to launch a new loyalty programme in 2019 which will use Virgin Flying Club miles as its currency.

London Air Travel » Loyalty

Virgin Atlantic Logo (Image Credit: Virgin Atlantic)

Virgin Atlantic & Virgin Group have today, Monday 20 August 2018, announced they are to launch a new group loyalty programme in 2019.

At present, Virgin Group and Virgin Atlantic have separate loyalty programmes. Virgin Group operates Virgin Red which issues points for customers of numerous Virgin branded businesses. The rewards are relatively modest, such as free WiFi on Virgin Trains. Virgin Atlantic also operates its own frequent flyer programme Virgin Flying Club.

In 2019, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Group will launch a new, and as yet unnamed, programme. It will adopt Virgin Flying Club miles as its currency.

The New Programme

Details of the new programme are scant at the moment. Virgin Atlantic has provided a brief update for its Flying Club members.

It can be said with confidence that one new partner will be Air France-KLM. In April 2019, Air France-KLM, Delta and Virgin Atlantic will launch a new combined transatlantic joint-venture. It was confirmed in a regulatory filing that Virgin frequent flyers would be able to earn and redeem miles on Air France-KLM.
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BA offers two years’ free Executive Club card renewal following IT outage

British Airways is offering frequent flyers caught in last week’s IT meltdown a free renewal of their Executive Club status for the next two years.

London Air Travel » Loyalty

After British Airways’ worst week in nearly ten years, the airline has begun to take steps to repair the damage to its brand and restore relationships with its frequent flyers.

The airline has e-mailed members of its Executive Club frequent flyer programme who were caught up in last week’s disruption to advise that their current Executive Club card status (e.g. Bronze, Silver or Gold) will be renewed automatically for the next two years.

This means that these members of the Executuve Club do not need to earn the requisite number of tier points to renew their current status level.

This is not the first time BA has done this. It has previously either offered or entertained requests for automatic renewal when there has been severe disruption at London Heathrow or when there has been a downturn in the economy.

However, it is the first time BA has renewed some members’ cards automatically for two years. Continue reading “BA offers two years’ free Executive Club card renewal following IT outage”

Do you have a bmi Diamond Club account? Your miles expire on 30 November 2016!

London Air Travel » Loyalty

It’s nearly five years since the parent company of British Airways, International Airlines Group, acquired bmi British Midland from Lufthansa.

The bmi name was long disappeared from London Heathrow. Its regional arm bmi regional is still flying having been acquired by independent investors.

However, bmi’s frequent flyer programme Diamond Club has remained in operation.

Whilst it hasn’t been possible earn Diamond Club miles from flights, it was possible to earn miles through Diamond Club credit cards issued by MBNA Ltd until 30 September of this year.

Any remaining miles in all Diamond Club accounts will expire in perpetuity on Wednesday 30 November 2016.

However, it is possible to transfer any remaining miles in your account on a 1:1 basis to Avios in a British Airways Executive Club frequent flyer account. This must be done before 30 November 2016.

In order to do this you will need to be able to access your Diamond Club account online (to retrieve your membership number and miles balance) and have an active British Airways Executive Club account.

BA has a dedicated tool on its website called Combine My Avios. You can use this to transfer however many Diamond Club miles you have to your Executive Club account.

A transfer of miles should only take a few minutes to do and should then appear in your Executive Club account shortly afterwards.

On a related note, here’s our analysis, albeit superseded by recent events, of what happened shortly after the merger of bmi into BA.

Update

The Diamond Club website has now closed and it is no longer possible to access Diamond Club accounts. Any mileage balances that have not been transferred or used are now forfeited.

easyJet to launch frequent flyer programme “Flight Club”

London Air Travel » Loyalty

The narrowing of the gap between the traditional “full service” network airlines and low cost carriers continues as easyJet has today announced it is to launch its first frequent flyer programme “Flight Club” across Europe in 2016.

Details are scant at the moment, but at first glance it does not appear to be a traditional miles-accrual based programme.

Instead, Flight Club, offers a defined set of benefits based on eligibility criteria.

Passengers will be invited to join Flight Club based on a minimum number of easyJet flights taken in a 12 month period and/or minimum spend.

In return, passengers will receive benefits such as fee-free ticket & name changes, special offers and access to a dedicated contact team.

There’s no news of any other airline or hotel partners yet. This programme will also run in parallel to easyJet Plus.

What information is available is contained in this easyJet press release.

BA removes seat selection for Executive Club members on “Hand Baggage Only” Fares

London Air Travel » Loyalty

British Airways Short Haul Economy Cabin (Credit: British Airways)

Two years ago, British Airways introduced “Hand Baggage Only” fares on its short-haul route network. As their name suggests, passengers purchasing these fares have to pay a separate fee if they wish to check in a bag into the hold of the aircraft.

BA has long claimed that these fares have been a success. They enable the airline to keep headline fares low when competing against low cost carriers (who have the advantage of generating considerable ancillary revenues from pasengers).

In a somewhat surprising move, BA has today announced that Silver and Gold Executive club cardholders will no longer be able to choose a seat free of charge at the time of booking when booking a hand baggage only fare from Thursday 26 March 2015.

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BA Executive Club announces changes to earning and redeeming Avios

London Air Travel » Loyalty

British Airways has today, 28 January 2015, announced major changes to the way members of the British Airways Executive Club can earn and redeem Avios on BA and partner airline flights.

BA’s International Airlines Group sibling Iberia has also announced changes to its Iberia Plus programme that take effect from 1 March 2015.

The changes are quite significant and will impact on members depending what level they are in the Executive Club, what cabins they fly on BA and, for the first time, what type of ticket is purchased.

There are some definite negatives and some positives may emerge in time. It is also important to emphasise that they only apply to bookings made after 28 April 2015, so there is a three month window to make bookings in advance of the changes.

Here’s a summary of the key changes and our take on them:
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BA Introduces Lifetime Gold For Executive Club Members

British Airways has introduced a new “Lifetime Gold” status for members of its Executive Club who accumulate more than 35,000 tier points.

London Air Travel » Loyalty

If you are a member of the British Airways Executive Club, you may notice a small, but significant, change when you next log on to your account at ba.com

BA has, in addition to annual tier points which determine the level of status (Bronze, Silver, Gold) a member is entitled to for their membership year, introduced “lifetime tier points”.

Put simply, these are all the tier points a member has earned since joining the Executive Club.

At the moment, if a member has earned 35,000 lifetime tier points or more they are now entitled to gold membership for life.