A loyalty program is a marketing strategy designed to encourage customers to continue to shop at or use the services of a business associated with the program. Today, such programs cover most types of commerce, each having varying features and rewards schemes, including in banking, entertainment, hospitality, retailing and travel. The market approach has shifted from product-centric to a customer-centric one due to a highly competitive market and a wide array of services offered to customers, therefore, it's important that marketing strategies prioritize growing a sustainable business and increasing customer satisfaction.
An airline alliance is an aviation industry arrangement between two or more airlines agreeing to cooperate on a substantial level. Alliances may provide marketing branding to facilitate travelers making inter-airline codeshare connections within countries. This branding may involve unified aircraft liveries of member aircraft.
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific, is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have scheduled passenger and cargo services to more than 190 destinations and present in more than 60 countries worldwide including codeshares and joint ventures. Cathay Pacific operates a fleet consisting of Airbus A320, Airbus A321, Airbus A321neo, Airbus A330, Airbus A350, and Boeing 777 aircraft. Cathay Pacific Cargo operates two models of the Boeing 747. Defunct wholly owned subsidiary airline Cathay Dragon, which ceased operations in 2020, previously flew to 44 destinations in the Asia-Pacific region from its Hong Kong base. In 2010, Cathay Pacific and Cathay Pacific Cargo, together with Dragonair, carried nearly 27 million passengers and over 1.8 million tons of cargo and mail.
Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited, also known as Cathay Dragon (國泰港龍航空) and Dragonair, was a Hong Kong-based international regional airline, with its corporate headquarters and main hub at Hong Kong International Airport. In the final year before it ceased flying, the airline operated a scheduled passenger network to around 50 destinations in 14 countries and territories across Asia. Additionally, the airline had three codeshares on routes served by partner airlines. It had an all Airbus fleet of 35 aircraft, consisting of A320s, A321s, and A330s.
A frequent-flyer program (FFP) is a loyalty program offered by an airline.
Star Alliance is the world's largest global airline alliance. Founded on 14 May 1997, its CEO is Jeffrey Goh and its headquarters is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. As of April 2018, Star Alliance is the largest of the three global alliances by passenger count with 762.27 million, ahead of both SkyTeam (630 million) and Oneworld (528 million). Its slogan is "The Way the Earth Connects".
Oneworld is an airline alliance founded on 1 February 1999. The alliance's stated objective is to be the first choice airline alliance for the world's frequent international travellers. Its central alliance office is in New York City and includes 13 member airlines: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian and SriLankan Airlines, as well as Fiji Airways as a Oneworld Connect partner. On 20 June 2022, Oman Air announced it would formally join the alliance by 2024.
AAdvantage is the frequent-flyer program of American Airlines. Launched May 1, 1981, it was the second such loyalty program in the world and remains the largest, with more than 67 million members as of October 2011.
Aeroplan is a coalition loyalty program owned by Air Canada, Canada's flag carrier. The Aeroplan program was created in July 1984 by Air Canada as an incentive program for its frequent flyer customers. In 2002 it was spun off as a separate corporate entity and eventually sold to Aimia. On May 11, 2017, Air Canada announced it plans to launch a new loyalty program to replace the Aeroplan program in 2020. On August 21, 2018, Air Canada, along with TD, CIBC and Visa, agreed to acquire Aeroplan from Aimia for CA$450 million in cash. There are approximately 5 million active members in the program. On August 11, 2020, Air Canada released details about its new loyalty program, which was a relaunch of Aeroplan.
Air Macau Company Limited is the flag carrier airline of Macau. It operates services to 24 destinations in Mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam, from the airline's hub at Macau International Airport. In 2014, Air Macau carried 2.12 million passengers with an average load factor of 68.20% and carried 15,900 tonnes of cargo and mail.
The Air Miles Reward Program is a group of separately operated loyalty programs owned and operated by LoyaltyOne. The programs are available in Canada, the Netherlands and the Middle East. Points are earned on purchases at participating merchants and can be redeemed against flights with specific airlines.
Wings Alliance was the working name of a proposed airline alliance to be anchored by the American carriers Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlines of USA with the European flag carriers KLM of the Netherlands and Italy's Alitalia. Although these airlines cooperated with one another through code-sharing and frequent flyer program coordination, no formal association was ever announced. It was rendered superfluous in September 2004 when most of its participants joined the SkyTeam alliance.
Hong Kong Express Airways Limited, commonly known as Hong Kong Express or HK Express, is a Hong Kong-based low-cost airline fully owned by Cathay Pacific Airways. It provides scheduled air service to 27 destinations in Asia, including Cambodia, China, Japan, South Korea, the Northern Mariana Islands, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The airline's main hub at Hong Kong International Airport uses a fleet that consists exclusively of the Airbus A320 family. The company slogan is Your Move.
An airport lounge is a facility operated at many airports. Airport lounges offer, for selected passengers, comforts beyond those afforded in the airport terminal itself, such as more comfortable seating, quieter environments, and often better access to customer service representatives. Other accommodations may include private meeting rooms, telephones, wireless internet access and other business services, along with provisions to enhance passenger comfort, such as free drinks, snacks, magazines, and showers.
Mileage Plan is the frequent-flyer program of Alaska Airlines. Members accrue program "miles" by flying Alaska Airlines and partner-operated flights, using co-branded credit cards, and booking vacation and hotel packages, among other methods. Mileage Plan miles can be redeemed for award flights on Alaska Airlines and partner carriers and provide eligibility for elite status with Mileage Plan.
SkyMiles is the frequent-flyer program of Delta Air Lines that offers points to passengers traveling on most fare types, as well as to consumers who utilize Delta co-branded credit cards, which accumulate towards free awards such as airline tickets, business and first-class upgrades, and luxury products. Created in 1981 as the "Delta Air Lines Frequent Flyer Program", its name was changed to SkyMiles in 1995. Originally all airlines including Delta, only gave miles for airline travel and not credit card spend. Delta claims to have been the first major U.S. airline without mileage expiration, so travelers can redeem awards at their leisure, but others have since followed. The airline also has a separate SkyBonus program that provides small to mid-sized business owners with a way to earn points for trips taken by employees, good towards free flights, upgrades, Medallion status and other travel awards. It has been ranked fairly highly according to some independent news outlets.
U-FLY Alliance is a regional airline alliance based in the Chinese Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, and made up of low-cost airlines from Hong Kong, Mainland China, and South Korea. Upon founding, it became the world's first alliance of low-cost carriers, formed in January 2016 between founding members HK Express, Lucky Air, Urumqi Air, and West Air. All four founding airlines excepted HK Express are affiliated with the HNA Group, with a focus on Hong Kong, mainland China, and Southeast Asia, but they are currently seeking new members which are not affiliated with HNA Group. Eastar Jet, a South Korean low-cost carrier, joined the alliance on 27 July 2016. The main founder HK Express withdrew from U-FLY Alliance after becoming a wholly-owned low-cost subsidiary of Cathay Pacific, a Oneworld member, and the alliance became inactive.
InterMiles was the airline's frequent-flyer program of Jet Airways that ceased operations in April 2019, in which 50.1% stake is held by Etihad Airways, part of the Etihad Aviation Group. InterMiles is an independent, loyalty and rewards company formed in 2014. The program has about 1 crore members.
