The Loyalty Illusion: Why Points Don’t Create Love
Business Lunch
Airline miles economics and $25B revenue from miles
Roland and Ryan unpack how airlines monetize miles via credit card partnerships and how devaluation threatens that $25B model.
Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss break down the “loyalty illusion”—why points and perks often backfire, how spreadsheet thinking killed customer love, and a practical framework to audit or rebuild a program that actually increases retention, spend, and referrals.
What you’ll learn
- Why “loyalty penalties” drive your best customers away
- The airline/credit-card miles economics—and how devaluation erodes $25B in perceived value
- The 5-Question Loyalty Audit (value, simplicity, frequency of wins, emotion vs. switching cost, financial sanity)
- What great looks like: status, access, and convenience (not discounts)
- A 7-step roadmap to design (or reset) your program
Timestamps
- 00:00 Cold open: founders’ meeting recap, wine cellar banter
- 02:05 The hook: the “loyalty illusion” and why consumers feel trapped
- 05:20 Consumer POV: when complexity makes customers give up
- 08:10 Finance-driven devaluation: how “pencil-whipping” kills goodwill
- 09:45 Airlines > miles > credit cards: the $25B machine and breakage
- 12:40 From distance flown to dollars spent: fallout and backlash
- 15:05 “Loyalty penalty”: new-customer offers vs. existing customers
- 16:50 The 5-Question Loyalty Audit (red flags & benchmarks)
- 19:30 Simplicity wins: JetBlue/Southwest lessons (and where they slipped)
- 22:15 Frequency of wins: Starbucks habit loop vs. margin compression
- 25:20 Luxury model: status & access (Hermès, Four Seasons, 100 Acre)
- 28:40 Access > discounts: Wynn Private Access, line-skip convenience
- 31:10 Choosing your currency: points, status, experiences (Sephora case)
- 34:35 Setting earn ratios: 2–5% cost with outsized perceived value
- 37:10 Tiering for aspiration: Prime renewals, why Amazon is an outlier
- 39:20 7-Step Roadmap: objective → currency → earn ratio → tiers → early wins → daily integration → quarterly audits
- 43:30 Operator action items; consumer playbook (negotiate, switch, diversify)
- 46:10 Ultimate test: does your program create love—or hostages?
- 47:40 Closing thoughts & invitations to share experiences
Takeaways
- Discounts train delay; access creates desire.
- If <30% of points are redeemed, your program likely isn’t driving behavior.
- Measure outcomes (retention, AOV, referrals) as symptoms of real loyalty—not substitutes for it.
- Make it explainable in 60 seconds.
CONNECT
• Ask Roland a question HERE.
RESOURCES:
• 7 Steps to Scalable workbook
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Join Roland & Ryan at Get Scalable Live
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