As the new holiday season approaches, consumers are busy making numerous shopping lists and booking travel plans. It is a time for family gatherings and new meetings between old friends, and many brands are also using this time to offer a customer experience that mitigates the hectic nature often associated with the season.
To better help people manage their busy travels and to add value for those seeking to save a little money for holiday expenditures, Expedia India has just launched a new loyalty program. It’s called Expedia+, and it will allow customers to collect and redeem points almost without restriction. The program also comes with no blackout dates to give members more flexibility throughout the holidays.
Expedia, which operates numerous global online travel brands across more that 60 countries, will launch Expedia+ with three tiers. Each will come with its own benefits, exclusive member-only promotions, and bonuses.
Expedia decided to design the program after extensive data analysis proved that consumers were interested in such a loyalty program.
"With the growing acceptance of e-commerce and evolution of the Indian travelers, the consumer has now started looking for value-based programs that not only offer them great rewards but also exclusive benefits,” said Manmeet Ahluwalia, Expedia India Marketing Head. “Our survey on loyalty programs discovered that 47% Indians are a part of 2-3 travel loyalty programs while 38% participate in at least 1 program. This clearly reflects that there is an appetite for loyalty programs as the Indian consumer wants to accumulate and avail benefits on every purchase."
Expedia’s loyalty program and customer experience survey also found that 44% were willing to enroll into a new travel initiative if it included the desired benefits. For example, 82% wanted a loyalty program that offered complimentary hotel room upgrades, 77% wanted free food and drink, 34% wanted to receive free hotel stays abroad, and 27% desired a high degree of flexibility while redeeming or gifting points.
Expedia took these factors into consideration while designing Expedia+. Particular emphasis was placed on the cultural values of the region as most Indian travelers (73%) regularly use loyalty programs to make both personal arrangements and book travel plans for extended family members.
"The Expedia+ program will not only help us reach out to a larger number of customers but also expand our base of loyal customers in the country,” Ahluwalia continued.