John Wenzelman, vice president, BCD Travel Supplier Relations
The news: A recent report from PricewaterhouseCoopers quantifies the common-sense assumption that fliers who spend more reap more benefits from revenue-based frequent flier programs. Such spend-based rewards have the potential to put on-the-road employees’ interests at odd with their companies’ travel policies.
Advice for travel managers: “Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are the biggest U.S. carriers so far to introduce spend-based flier rewards. If they succeed in maintaining these programs, others will follow suit,” Wenzelman said. “The airlines are trying to reward travelers they feel are most important to them, and right now the carriers view those who spend the most—on both tickets and ancillary offerings—as their most important customers.
“Frequent-flier programs can have a negative impact on a well-managed travel program in many ways,” he said. “It’s important for travel managers to monitor their exception reports and booking patterns to watch for any changes—such as an increase in last-minute flights—to make sure travelers aren’t adjusting bookings to align with spend-based rewards.”
Advice for travelers: “The PwC research shows most business travelers will reap rewards from spend-based revenue programs simply because they fly more than leisure fliers,” Wenzelman said. “So, it’s absolutely possible for travelers to book according to corporate policy and still gain frequent-flier rewards.”
