Why Do We Pay To Be Loyal To You?
Why should you have to pay to become a member of a loyalty scheme for the majority of the major airlines? Is there some huge admin fee I’m not aware of? I don’t have to pay (directly) to join fly buys, get a Placemakers “know how” card, a Tesco “Club Card”, or Best Western Rewards etc . The problem here is dominant logic.
Airlines seem to share a dominant logic that their loyalty schemes are so special that they must be worth paying for. Well I’m sorry to say, they’re not. Basically because the airlines have always charged for airpoints memberships they continue to believe they always should; but they shouldn’t! To me this mindset is fundamentally flawed. If you want me to become a loyal customer, you better make it as easy as possible for me to do so. In fact, make it too enticing for me not to!
Intensification of competition means there simply must be a change in this mindset. Low cost airlines have taken the prestige out of air travel. Consumers want to fly further for less money, full stop.
The solution: Make it free to join, make it possible to earn air points proportional to every dollar I spend with the airline (regardless of what fare classification I buy), and make the rewards grow exponentially – the more I spend the greater my airpoints to dollar ratio should be. This encourages me to book more expensive flights more frequently, whilst also gaining loyalty with customers who are booking the cheapest flights. Simple!
I’m impressed with a lot of things Air New Zealand are currently doing in terms of customer service, but having to fork out $50 to join a loyalty scheme is totally backward thinking. The first airline to really take their rewards programme seriously will, in my opinion experience unprecedented levels of customer loyalty. Stop looking at air points as a cost and start thinking of it as an investment in future business growth.