Air Miles thrives on rewards innovation
Life recently separated busy Windsor residents Talia Masse and Nathan Wilson.
He was posted to Ottawa for a year on contract as a military reservist. She was completing a biology degree at the University of Windsor before going on to teachers’ college.
Air Miles brought them back together.
“I have two Air Miles cards and gave one to Nathan,” says Masse. “I told him if he wanted me to visit him more while he was away, he should keep using my card, so I’d have enough points to take the train up or fly to Ottawa.”
They started working towards the goal of collecting Air Miles so they could be together. The result was that Masse was able to take two flights and two train trips to Ottawa and now has a higher status in the program.
“Having a gold card means I get extra points and get rewards for fewer points,” she says. “I also have an Air Miles MasterCard so I get two times the points every time I shop.”
Created more than 20 years ago, the Air Miles reward program now has well over 10 million active collector households in Canada. Owned and operated by Loyalty One, it is promoted as a frequent- buy rather than frequent- fly program, but many members do use it for travel. Built on a coalition of sponsors, it focuses on the ability to earn on everyday spending.
Air Miles associate vice- president of marketing Rachel MacQueen says the program has been compelling and relevant to collectors throughout its existence and is constantly evolving and innovating.
“When we launched Air Miles cash, it was about enabling collectors to earn instantly and we got great feedback on that,” she says. “More than 1.6 million collectors have opted in for cash. We also had great feedback when we added experiential rewards. Now, we’re really excited to be introducing a new set of benefits, specifically to reward small businesses in the same way we have been rewarding Canadian consumers.”
Air Miles is focusing on recognizing the million- plus small businesses across Canada with exclusive rewards of particular interest to their owners, such as attendance at business conferences and weekend getaway packages and an awards program in conjunction with Profit magazine.
“We’ve got some great sponsors coming to the table with great benefits relating to small business,” says MacQueen, including Staples, National Car, Best Western, BMO Bank of Montreal and American Express. “This is really all about keeping relevant to our collectors.”
The business program will have a specific online destination, to be launched in October on the Air Miles website.
Air Miles are subject to an expiry date, but, says MacQueen, this has “no impact, as active collectors redeem regularly. Therefore, there are no plans to change or cancel the expiry provision at this time.”
For further information, visit www. airmiles. ca