USA TODAY International Edition
Loyalty programs are growing, evolving
Would you bid 420,000 miles to see a parked 747?
TUPELO, Miss. – Dan Hopper couldn’t have been happier as he strolled through the first-class cabin of a United Airlines Boeing 747 this month. What a great use of frequent-flier miles, he thought.
Hopper bid 420,000 miles for a spot on the plane, but it never left the ground. The trip Hopper doled out all those miles for wasn’t for a swanky overseas flight. Instead, it was for an auction package that took him and his partner from Chicago to Mississippi for a final chance to see United’s last 747 before it’s sold for parts.
The number of miles Hopper used for the trip would have been enough for as many as 16 domestic coach-class round trips. Or for three business-class tickets to Europe. Instead, Hopper’s chunk of miles went toward United’s “Dinner with the Queen of the Skies” frequentflier package. That included coach-class travel to Memphis, two nights at a local hotel and bus transportation to and from an “aircraft disassembly center” in northeast Mississippi, where Universal Asset Management CEO Keri Wright gave them a tour of the facilities. The visit concluded with an al fresco dinner on the tarmac with three retired 747s providing the backdrop.
Hopper had no second thoughts about how he used the miles. “I’ve been infatuated with the 747 ever since I was a little kid,” Hopper says, chatting from the first-class cabin of the now-retired jumbo jet that flew United’s last Boeing 747 passenger flight from San Francisco to Honolulu in November.
For Hopper, it was the special access to something that normally would be off-limits. “I think it’s great, because this is something incredibly unique,” he says. “Flying to Rome, it can be done. This, not so much. I think it’s worth it.”
Eight other MileagePlus members joined Hopper, coming after United put five of the two-person packages out to bid as part of its “MileagePlus Exclusives” program that lets frequent fliers use miles for “experiential” packages. Cumulatively, the five two-person bids netted a total 1.3 million miles, with one woman flying more than 10 hours from Hawaii to attend the one-day event.
Other MileagePlus Exclusives packages up for bid include items such as dinners with award-winning chefs, backstage passes to blockbuster concerts or VIP access to sporting events.
Such packages are not new to the travel industry’s loyalty programs, but their scope is expanding.
“The oldest frequent-flier programs are now approaching 38 years old,” says Henry Harteveldt, a San Franciscobased travel analyst of the Atmosphere
Research Group. “Just as a person evolves over 38 years, so do these marketing programs.”
United’s Queen of the Skies package underscores a new direction loyalty programs are taking with their experiential packages: access to behind-thescenes events tied to the company itself.
“I think the Tupelo event is a tremendous example of that,” says Luc Bondar, United’s vice president of Loyalty and president of MileagePlus, “where we’re able to look across our business, find experiences and events that are unique to United that no one else can offer.”
More broadly, Bondar acknowledges the “growing and evolving trend” that has seen travel loyalty programs increasingly market not only free travel, but experiences.
“The shift has been a continual one toward recognizing that the experiences
customers have … need to evolve with changing customer interests and changing customer demands,” he adds.
It’s not just United. Delta’s version – “SkyMiles Experiences” – first rolled out in 2010. Hotel brands also have gotten in on the trend. Starwood’s “SPG Moments,” for example, made its debut in 2007 and has since been incorporated into merger partner Marriott.
Travel-focused credit cards are on board, too. Chase, which offers a broad portfolio of travel cards, has its own “Chase Experiences” packages. Similar to the airline and hotel offerings, they include everything from private dinners with award-winning chefs to sports and entertainment options.
Says Bondar: “If we’re just doing the same thing everyone else is doing, then we’re competing with a vanilla offering, and eventually that’s not going to work.”