Americans and Canadians are the world’s most active users of airline loyalty programs, redeeming their collected points on free flights and hotel rooms twice as frequently as those from other countries, according to a new global study of almost 4,000 frequent flyers conducted by Collinson Latitude.
In the past five years, North American flyers have redeemed their loyalty program points for flights on an average of 4.7 occasions -- compared with 2.8 occasions for U.K. residents and 3.9 for Europeans.
What’s more, North Americans have redeemed their points on flight upgrades 4.5 times and hotel rooms 4.7 times. In contrast, British flyers have redeemed just 2 and 2.7 times, respectively.
North Americans are also more likely to redeem their points for car rental hire, but when it comes to items such as holidays, days out and digital downloads, the picture globally is much more balanced.
“This study shows just how active North American fliers are in using these loyalty programs, partly because they fly so much and partly because of their strong ‘value-for-money’ culture,’’’ Dan Martin, commercial product manager for Collinson Latitude, said in a press release.
The study also revealed that flyers from the Middle East and Africa are the most likely to redeem their points for raffle tickets and to donate to a charitable cause.
“Many of us like to think of Europeans and Americans as being very charitable, but it’s the Middle East and Africa coming out strongest in terms of donating their airline loyalty points,” Martin said.
The study also found that:
•Flights and hotel rooms are the most prized rewards offered by airline loyalty programs
•The majority of flyers want to redeem their points online
•Most flyers (76 %) would rather redeem their points against a range of reward items than exchange them for cash at a lower exchange rate
Martin added: “Successful programs demonstrate that extending depth and breadth of rewards does drive engagement and, as a result, program participation and profitability.”
The study of 3,920 frequent flyers was conducted by Collinson Latitude online during July.