In the end the difference was a couple hundred million or so. That’s the sweetener added by Air Canada and its banking partners to buy Aeroplan back from Aimia and boost the “new” in-house loyalty program at the carrier
Loyalty
Parker shoots down AAdvantage spin-off idea. Again.
The push for US airlines to better monetize their loyalty programs continues to grow. But don't expect it to happen any time soon. Airline executives continue to push back – strongly – against such suggestions from Wall Street analysts. The most recent such conversation, during American Airlines' Q2 2018 earnings call CEO Doug Parker was aggressive in explaining why his airline will not be considering such. The co-brand relationship with the credit card is simply too strong.
This content is for subscribers only.
Register
Register
Already a member? Log in here
Porter Air signs on to join Aeroplan in 2020, oneworld in the wings
Aeroplan will still have a Canadian airline partner when Air Canada’s participation in the program ends in 2020. Toronto-based Porter Air will convert its VIPorter loyalty program into the Aeroplan scheme at that time. Ongoing conversations with the oneworld alliance could further extend the loyalty program’s reach as its Star Alliance link disappears.
Too many award seats? Alaska Airlines says whoopsie!
Does a merger integration still count as wildly successful if it hurts revenues to the tune of 1.5% for 9ish months? Alaska Airlines’ PSS integration came off incredibly smoothly on the operations side, but the carrier missed on the loyalty side. And lots of frequent flyers got a ton of award seats as a result.
Air Canada, banks offer to buy Aeroplan
A year after announcing that it would no longer be an Aimia customer Air Canada (and its banking partners) now wants to buy the Aeroplan program off the loyalty operator. At a nice discount, of course. And it still is probably a smart move for everyone.
Major expansion coming for Delta Premium Select
Passengers won’t pay for more space on planes. This is the commonly accepted mantra and driving logic behind the ongoing “densification” efforts to squeeze more seats onto planes. And, for the most part, that’s proven true. A growing subset of travelers are, however, willing to pay more. Delta Air Lines’ Premium Select will expand across the widebody fleet to capture even more of that revenue.
Emirates Skywards swallows flyDubai OPEN
The long slog to full integration of Emirates and flyDubai continues apace. This week’s announcement brings the loyalty programs of the two carriers together. And the move looks an awful lot like a shotgun wedding, with minimal regard for the flyDubai OPEN members’ history with that program.
SkyTeam grows a Digital Spine
How can global alliances increase their relevance to member airlines? Better data sharing is good but enabling ancillary sales on top of that is great. SkyTeam’s SkyLink Digital Spine delivers that new connectivity and sales opportunity.
Star Alliance teases increased award availability, new top tier for travelers
More award seats? Better elite status recognition? Star Alliance hopes to deliver both thanks to its new digital middleware platform. But can these improvements be delivered without eroding the inherent value of points or the existing status tiers??
Fiji Airways signs on as inaugural oneworld connect member
Oneworld wants to grow its route network and it is willing to take on smaller airlines to deliver on that plan. Fiji Airways is the inaugural member in the new “oneworld connect” program allows limited alliance membership and limited benefits for passengers. But locking up the new connect member airlines is a smart move for the group.