What is the state of play for loyalty programs?

A recent article states how “many point programs had run stale years before the pandemic,” recognizing the lack of engagement travel memberships had. Deloitte backs up this statement, saying “historically (subscription models) struggled due to low frequency of travel.”

“I’m pretty convinced we will move into the direction of loyalty programs dealing much more with daily engagement of the customer,” said Frederic Kahane, senior vice president of Customer Loyalty and Director of Flying Blue, Air France-KLM at the Skift Travel Loyalty Summit.

This may have been the case during a time of normal travel, but for airlines or other travel players, subscription programs have long been a strategy they could lean on during challenging times.?

The reliability of this business model became even more evident during the pandemic when brands were forced to rethink how they could generate recurring revenue.?

How airlines stayed afloat during a time of minimized travel provides a useful lesson that hotels could adopt for boosting and maintaining stable revenue.?

Why is now the pivotal moment for hospitality to support subscription programs versus the traditional mass distribution channels??

Getting through the pandemic was only half the challenge for the travel and hospitality industry. Airlines and accommodation providers, such as hoteliers, must now find ways to rebuild their businesses stronger than they were before.?

Selina recently launched a subscription service called Nomad Passport, enabling guests to stay in any of its properties for as long as they want and with access to co-working, local events, and wellness activities - to capitalize on the work-from-anywhere trend.?

The success of loyalty programs suggests an exciting opportunity for hospitality to bounce back from the pandemic’s impact. And if done correctly, hospitality can future-proof itself by creating financially bonded consumers - so, should a low travel period ever come around again, it’ll be ready.?

According to PYMNTS, “airline subscription plans could be (the) blueprint for travel industry recovery”.

For additional information about the subscription phenomenon, download Travel subscriptions: where are we now?