American Airlines Has Made a Contentious Change to Retain its Customers
If you own a big airline and a global epidemic means fewer passengers are flying, you have a problem. You’ll most likely try to persuade folks to fly. Or, at the very least, you’ll strive to discover methods to keep them linked to your brand so that when they do board another plane, they’ll be wearing your colors.
The trouble is that if you’re really excellent at keeping people connected—say, by prolonging their frequent flyer status—you could discover that when they do start flying again by booking cheap international flight tickets, you’ve overpromised what you can provide. You may wind up with too many individuals with status in comparison to the benefits you can offer.
This has been a problem for nearly every airline in the last year. Some of them are finally doing something about it. Delta Air Lines, for example, raised the bar for each of its elite status categories, essentially making it more difficult to achieve the airline’s top levels of status.
Making it more difficult for others to do business with you might be contentious. Making it more difficult for people to obtain benefits to which they have become used does not generally result in positive sentiments. Whenever you make a change to something that people have grown accustomed to, it is bound to be contentious.
American Airlines introduces contentious Change
American Airlines, on the other hand, is adopting a somewhat different strategy. It is making it more difficult to achieve elite rank, but just at the entry-level. The corporation is also revamping the way it compensates loyal customers.
Earlier this year, the airline launched something called Loyalty Points, which is a suitable term for something you receive for spending money with a corporation. As you accumulate loyalty points, you become eligible for incentives at various levels. And you don’t get them just by flying on American Airlines, for say flights to India from USA. Loyalty Points may be earned through the airline’s partners, including its co-branded credit cards.
“It’s a tough loyalty environment out there across numerous reward programs,” AAdvantage managing director Heather Samp told USA Today. “We focused on simplicity.”
It’s a little daunting reading through the number of awards you may receive. When you collect 15,000 reward points, for example, you “unlock Group 5 boarding for the remainder of the year.” You may also select between two benefits: Group 4 boarding on a single trip or five preferred seat coupons.
On the other hand, it is a wise decision. American airlines – prominent flights to India from USA air carriers have done 2 great things, both of which are significant lessons for any firm.
- First and foremost, it is plainly geared toward rewarding its most important clients. When you think about it, that is the purpose of a loyalty program: to reward your most important customers. The issue is that you must ensure that you have identified who they are. Many frequent flier members were ineffective during the epidemic because they were not flying. As a result, as customers began traveling again, the perks the airline might provide, such as free upgrades or priority boarding, became diluted. If you want to reward your greatest clients, you can’t provide the same gifts to everyone.
“Loyalty is a two-way street,” Samp explained in a subsequent interview. “We want to make certain that we are rewarding clients that interact with us.”
- This leads to the second lesson, which is that American Airlines is attempting to differentiate itself from rivals by rewarding travelers along the road rather than only at fixed levels for gaining status. In fact, after you gain American’s top-tier status, you may continue to receive benefits as you accumulate loyalty points. There just aren’t enough rewards to go around to reward everyone in the same way. It seems to reason, then, that you would want to do all possible to take care of your best clients. That is exactly what American Airlines is attempting.
Some of the major changes include a new set of prizes at various qualifying levels and the removal of the miles-earning restriction for flights.
Can AA Advantage members receive perks prior to attaining status?
One of the most significant improvements coming to AAdvantage members next year is the availability of some privileges before earning the lowest level of elite status.
Once a member has accumulated 15,000 Loyalty Points, they will be allowed to board with Group 5 for the remainder of the membership year. They will also have the option of upgrading to Group 4 and receiving extra priority benefits for one trip or receiving five preferred seat coupons. Look for flight offers on Flyopedia.ca for your next trip to India from Canada.
How does a member of AAdvantage earn Loyalty Points?
Members of AAdvantage may earn loyalty points by flying with American Airlines and its partners.
Flying earns points based on the cost of the ticket, which is calculated on a sliding scale dependent on the member’s status. This covers base miles on fares as well as elite status multipliers.
Points may also be earned through the following partners: shopping portals, hotels, rental vehicles, AA cruises, and retail establishments. Members may also earn Loyalty Points by purchasing on their cobranded MasterCard.
