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Allegiant Unveils New Travel Loyalty Program

Allegiant’s “Winter The Dolphin” livery departing for a flight (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)

The Covid-19 ordeal continues to remain at large and the push for vaccinations is on the rise and evolving as more research and development are being completed. However, the encouragement to become vaccinated has provided an easier opportunity for those who have been forced to quarantine at home, to travel for leisure. As a result, the airline industry experienced a significant surge in passenger travel demand and load factors during this summer holiday travel season. In response, Allegiant’s ultra-low-cost strategy and target market mainly focused on attracting leisure travelers and tourists is leading towards the airline’s new method for rewarding its frequent flyers. 

The Las Vegas-based carrier recently unveiled its new loyalty and frequent flyer program called Allways Rewards that is not dependent upon using a credit card and is targeted towards its regular, common leisure travelers. Within the program, Allegiant plans to allow its frequent travelers to earn and redeem points when traveling, while also being able to access event promotions and redeem points for music and sport event tickets, through the passenger’s account within the program.

“We designed Allways Rewards specifically to have an immediate personal impact for our customers. It was truly inspired by the best innovative technology and retail programs that make earning, tracking and using rewards incredibly easy,” Scott DeAngelo, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Allegiant, said.  “It’s a generational departure from traditional miles-based airline loyalty, which exclusively addresses high-mileage business travelers with long layovers in airport lounges.”

Budget Airlines’ Loyalty Programs

Allegiant’s new, structured loyalty program is contributing to revamping the image and reputation of low-cost carriers. The carrier is not the sole ultra-low-cost airline to do so, as Spirit – one of its cutthroat competitors and one of the country’s largest budget carriers – also revealed a restructured, revamped version of FreeSpirit, which is its existing loyalty program, earlier this year.

The Miramar, Fla.-based carrier’s new FreeSpirit program features different status levels and benefits associated with each status. Additionally, within the program, the airline outlined its proposal to allow passengers to earn points on flying, seats and bags, strategically providing an incentive for passengers to use its services. Prior to the newer program, Spirit had a reward chart for redeeming points that has since been discontinued, and points would expire after three months of inactivity, whereas now it is 12 months of inactivity.

Bobby Schroeter, Spirit Airlines Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Spirit, said, “Points are useless if you have to wait forever to use them. We started with a clean sheet of paper so we could focus on what travelers and their families want, which is points that add up fast and generate rewards just as quickly. We know our guests want to be able to earn and redeem their points without jumping through hoops.”

Evidently, the low-cost or budget carriers in the U.S. have taken upon characteristics of their larger, more extensive legacy carriers. Allegiant is one of the smaller of the low-cost carriers in the country, compared to Spirit – its prominent rival. However, its brand new loyalty initiative will allow the airline to attract more passengers in the leisure travel market while making itself more notable in the airline industry.

Benjamin Pham

Author

  • Benjamin Pham

    Benjamin has had a love for aviation since a young age, growing up in Tampa with a strong interest in airplane models and playing with them. When he moved to the Washington, D.C. area, Benjamin took part in aviation photography for a couple of years at Gravelly Point and Dulles Airport, before dedicating planespotting to only when he traveled to the other airports. He is an avid, world traveler, having been able to reach 32 countries, yearning to explore and understand more cultures soon. Currently, Benjamin is an Air Transporation Management student at Arizona State University. He hopes to enter the airline industry to improve the passenger experience and loyalty programs while keeping up to how technology is being integrated into airports.

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