How Virgin Subtly Keeps International Flyers Loyal to Velocity

Update: Since this article was written, United MileagePlus had added the ability for Premier qualifying credit to be earned for Virgin Australia flights. Some Australian-based frequent flyers were disappointed to discover, when the recent Virgin Australia-United partnership launched, that Virgin Australia flights will not earn premier qualifying credit with the United MileagePlus program. This means that, … Continued

Podcast #85: When Should Loyalty Programs Stop Extending Status?

Throughout the pandemic, most airline and hotel loyalty programs have offered free or easy status extensions to retain once-loyal customers and try to prevent them from switching to the competition when travel makes a comeback. But with travel starting to return with a vengeance and airport lounges getting full, is it now time to wind … Continued

Rex to Launch Frequent Flyer Program by September 2022?

Rex says its new frequent flyer program will be up and running by the third quarter of this year, in time for the launch of a new interline agreement with Delta Air Lines. Once it finally launches, Rex Flyer is set to offer frequent flyer points and access to lounges for frequent flyers in Sydney, … Continued

IHG Relaunches Loyalty Program as IHG One Rewards

For many years, the loyalty program of IHG Hotels & Resorts was relatively uncompetitive when it came to status perks. Its former IHG Rewards program was fine as a program for accumulating points and burning them for free nights – especially back in the days of PointBreaks. But the benefits of IHG elite status were … Continued

Virgin Eyes High-Flying Business Travellers

Virgin Australia has renewed its focus on attracting business travellers and high-spending corporate flyers with the launch of a new loyalty program for businesses and a new invitation-only “Beyond” status tier. Virgin Australia launches Business Flyer The new Virgin Australia Business Flyer program launched last week, replacing the previous Accelerate loyalty program for small-to-medium businesses. Existing … Continued