Loyalty program partnerships seem to be a strategy that more brands are embracing, and for good reason. Today, most consumers are gravitating to customer experiences that provide a high degree of both flexibility and value. By offering customers more options to accumulate points and redeem rewards, loyalty program partnerships can significantly increase customer engagement and satisfaction.
Virgin America’s new partnership is following this line of thought. The plan to link Elevate, Virgin America’s loyalty program, with Rocketrip, a travel management and rewards platform, will now give consumers the chance to earn and exchange points between the two promotions.
By providing rewards and discounts for business trips, Rocketrip already allows users to redeem points for items such as gift cards and cash cards. But now users will be able to convert Rocketrip rewards into Elevate frequent flyer points, which will also give them access to the full range of available Virgin America perks.
Conversely, simply by signing up for Elevate and for flying Virgin America on business trips, members can also earn extra Rocketrip points. Enrolling in Elevate, for example, will instantly earn Rocketrip users 500 complementary points.
“Virgin America was created with the intention of making flying good again and to improve the overall traveler experience in the U.S skies,” said Sylvie Charbonnier, Head of Partnerships for Virgin America. “We are delighted to be partnering with Rocketrip to offer more utility to business travelers and to be associated with a brand that is approaching loyalty in an innovative way.”
The new partnership will also further build customer engagement between shared members by optimizing the overall level of personalization available.
Another example would be Rocketrip’s customized “Budget to Beat,” which calculates real-time prices for flights, hotels, trains and rental cars. The points earned by taking advantage of this promotion can then be used either for additional Rocketrip savings, or converted into Elevate points. The choice is up to the member.
This also applies to the ability for members to advance through Virgin America’s loyalty program tiers: 5,000 Rocketrip points unlocks Elevate’s Silver status, and 10,000 points provides all the benefits and services accompanying Elevate’s Gold Status.
“Our mission is to make travel rewarding for our users, and the data shows that they love flying on Virgin America,” said Emily Hurd, Rocketrip’s VP of Business Development and Marketing. “We’re excited to work with Virgin America to put more money and frequent flyer points back into the pockets of road warriors and treat them to enhanced travel experiences.”