 membership of a loyalty
programme is usually free Members join by
filling in a registration form on paper or, now
more commonly, on the Internet,
the
plastic card is not usually sent out until the
member has taken two or three flights. A
provisional card number therefore has to be
supplied before the actual card is sent
out,
the
member must give the type and number of the card
when making reservations or paying directly for
the ticket at the counter. The card rarely needs
to be produced or read,
"miles" are credited to the member's
account in accordance with the flight taken and
the following predefined criteria: basic earnings
measured by fare or kilometres travelled, the
reservation class or variable criteria such as
bonuses.
these "miles", which may or may not
have an expiry date, can be built up to reach a
sufficient total to earn an award.
awards are most often taken as free
tickets for flights run by the company,
numerous partnerships are in force
between airline companies and complementary
services: hotels, car hire companies, amusement
parks, etc. These partners enable members to earn
additional "miles" and sometimes spend the "miles"
they have earned,
alliances have been set up between
the main global companies to make the individual
programmes more attractive and make it easier to
earn "miles",
in
addition to their loyalty programme, many
companies offer paid subscription
programmes that offer discounts on
paid-for flights as well as "miles".
|
