Anytime we review a loyalty or rewards program for our readers, we use the available facts as assumptions in a model that estimates the effectiveness of the program.
Because all customers are not the same, we normally create a customer profile based on spending patterns and objectives and project the earning velocity for those segments. As [...]

Every day I play on the seesaw.
It seems like I have one call with a person who expresses doubt about the efficacy of traditionally structured loyalty programs, and then turn around and inadvertently encounter a new program to add to my growing list that I have catalogued and reviewed.
Every seesaw has a balance point.
In this [...]

I’m sensing a tipping point in how customers relate to loyalty program rewards, and my thinking goes like this: when customers choose which company to do business with, rewards just don’t matter like they used to.
My take is that the classic loyalty reward scheme—earning points toward “hard” rewards for repeatedly doing business with a company—has [...]

Frequent Flyer Miles, American Express Membership Rewards Points, Citi ThankYou! points,  AirMiles – which loyalty currency holds the crown as the world’s most recognized and highly valued?
While that debate rages on, let me suggest that the answer might be “none of the above”.
It’s not the points or miles that will drive consumers to shift their [...]

Air travel has changed from an exciting and privileged experience to something considerably less elegant. Leisure travelers absorb the shock from ever-changing TSA procedures at security checkpoints, and unknowingly contribute to the woes of their fellow travelers when they board loaded down with enough bags to make the Beverly Hillbillies look like minimalists.
For the business [...]

In the midst of checking a slew of emails, it would have been easy to ignore this short message from American Airlines:
“We would like to provide you with an important update to the American Airlines AAdvantage® program. Effective July 1, 2010, the Marriott Rewards program will no longer offer AAdvantage miles for stays at Marriott [...]

In the midst of checking a slew of emails, it would have been easy to ignore this short message from American Airlines:
“We would like to provide you with an important update to the American Airlines AAdvantage® program. Effective July 1, 2010, the Marriott Rewards program will no longer offer AAdvantage miles for stays at Marriott [...]

I am a frequent flyer of Delta Airlines and have a Marriott credit card and enjoy the benefits that I get from using both companies (I like free flights and frequent flyer miles). I just booked a “free” vacation using both vendors and feel pretty good about my loyalty to them, and their loyalty back.
Loyalty [...]

I am a frequent flyer of Delta Airlines and have a Marriott credit card and enjoy the benefits that I get from using both companies (I like free flights and frequent flyer miles). I just booked a “free” vacation using both vendors and feel pretty good about my loyalty to them, and their loyalty back.
Loyalty [...]

Almost 10 years ago, I wrote an opinion piece for COLLOQUY questioning whether Frequent Flyer miles were still the most valuable currency in the Loyalty Marketing landscape.  The premise was that the weakening value of the FF mile might open the door for a better offer to capture the loyalty imagination of consumers. The next [...]