People who love to travel know how enriching the experience is. Those who travel over great distances prefer to journey by air. Regular travellers can join frequent flyer programs and avail the benefits of membership. These schemes have grown for a number of reasons.
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Reasons for Popularity
Alliances
It is not uncommon for two mainstream airlines to form a strategic partnership. Emirates and Qantas formed an alliance, which would give customers added benefits. This would include frequent travel points, which can be gained when travelling on their joint network.
E-Commerce
One by product of the digital age is the ease of access that customers have. If you want to make a reservation at the cinema or book a local flight immediately, it can be accomplished easily.
All customers would need is internet access. This convenience has made their lives much simpler. They can choose flight times, seating and redeem their frequent flyer points online without any physical interaction at all.
Benefits
Rewards
The primary advantage to customers have when they are members of a loyalty program are the various rewards they can enjoy. The relevant airline may offer gifts like cheaper tickets, better airport lounge services or greater luggage allowance.
Customers can avail services like https://www.pointsbank.com.au/ to keep track of their points and what they can get in return. This is the main reason why customers are motivated to join frequent flyer schemes.
Ease of Access
Passengers can simply book flights or check in online before their arrival using their points. The airline already maintains a record of their details.
Mileage Points
The method of calculating flyer points is generally done by looking at the distance they’ve covered. Members are assigned points based on their mileage. The more they travel, the higher their points tally will be.
E-Money
Although frequent flyer points cannot be swapped for actual currency, customers may be able to spend their points on just airline services.
Frequent flyer points can be converted to e-money which passengers can use it for other purposes also.
Drawbacks
Deadlines
A common shortcoming of frequent flyer plans is that they are prone to expiry. They have to be redeemed before their validity lapses. Depending on the airline’s terms and conditions, they will usually allow a time of 2 or 3 years before the points are lost.
Exclusivity
The total mileage is only meant for the particular airline only. For instance, you might generally travel with Qantas but may use Virgin Australia and their loyalty program called the Velocity Frequent Flyer for one trip.
In terms of flyer programs, the points gained from this flight will not be transferrable to Qantas or any other airline. If you do not travel with Virgin again, those points are meaningless. In other cases, these points may be non refundable if the customer cancels his trip.
All in all, frequent flyer points can be a worthwhile investment if you use the same airline for all your travels and are able to monitor your points.
