#408: Emirates Launches "Skywards Everyday" and shares its Latest Success Driving Loyalty
Jul 19, 2023
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Emirates Skywards, a loyalty program with 32 million members worldwide, shares its latest updates. Topics include the launch of Skywards Everyday proposition, adjusting the value of the Skywards currency, and earning rates for airline versus non-airline activities. The podcast also highlights efforts to become a global lifestyle loyalty program and the success and future plans of Skywards Plus subscription service.
Emirates Skywards launched the Skywards Everyday proposition, which is a card-linked concept for their loyalty program.
The value of the Skywards currency was recently adjusted, reflecting the commercial needs of the airline while protecting its most valuable members.
Skywards is successfully achieving its goal to become a global lifestyle loyalty program, not just an airline frequent flyer program, through effective earn rates for airline and non-airline activities.
Deep dives
Emirates Skywards Recognizes and Rewards Over 32 Million Members
In this podcast episode, Dr. Najee Benkether, head of Emirates Skywards, shares exciting updates about the loyalty program, including the launch of the Skywards Everyday Proposition and the recent adjustment of the Skywards currency. The program has reached over 32 million members globally, with a significant number of members based outside of the UAE. The team is working on curating experiences and leveraging the broader ecosystem to offer personalized benefits to members. The podcast also discusses the challenges of migrating to a new platform and the importance of communication and transparency within the program.
Benefits of Skywards Plus Subscription and Personalization
The podcast highlights the success of Skywards Plus subscription, with 40% of subscribers being gold members. The subscription offers additional benefits such as lounge access and increased tier miles for tier retention or upgrades. Dr. Najeeb Benkether discusses the importance of communication in promoting the subscription and increasing awareness among members. The team is continually enhancing personalization and leveraging artificial intelligence to offer tailored offers and experiences to members while ensuring transparency and value within the program.
Enhancing Member Experiences and Creating Emotional Links
The podcast discusses the future focus of Emirates Skywards, including the plan to curate experiences for members and offer additional benefits through partners. The team aims to build emotional links with members by providing unique experiences and surprises, leveraging the airline's assets and partnerships. They also aim to enhance personalized offers on emirates.com to incentivize members to log in and make the most of their membership. The program is working on increasing transparency and recognition within the airline, highlighting the value and contribution of the loyalty program.
Challenges and Future Direction
Dr. Najeeb Benkether discusses the challenges of balancing the migration to a new platform while progressing and innovating the loyalty program. The team is focused on achieving a seamless and personalized experience for members, including the exploration of an a la carte program and customized benefits. Communication plays a vital role in increasing awareness and understanding among members about the available features and benefits. The team is also keen on collaboration and leveraging technology to provide enhanced services and meaningful interactions throughout the member journey.
Building Loyalty within the Emirates Brand
The podcast emphasizes the importance of loyalty within the Emirates brand and the efforts to align the loyalty program with the airline's objectives. Dr. Najeeb Benkether highlights the need for internal recognition and transparency within the company to ensure the program's value is fully appreciated. The team is focused on providing exceptional experiences, curating partnerships, and ensuring the loyalty program's contribution is well understood by internal stakeholders.
Today’s episode features some incredibly exciting updates from the loyalty program I personally use most often, the award-winning Skywards program from Emirates Airlines.
Emirates is known and respected globally as one of the world’s best and fastest growing airlines, and its loyalty program, Skywards now recognizes and
rewards over 32 million members around the world!
Based in Dubai, the Emirates Group employs over 103,000 staff from more than 160 nationalities and in early May 2023, they reported their post-pandemic turnaround results, delivering their best ever profit of US$ 2.9 billion.
In today’s episode, I’m once again joined by Dr Nejib Ben-Kheder, Head of Emirates Skywards, who shares all their latest exciting news, including the
launch of Skywards Everyday proposition, which will be fascinating to anyone considering launching a card-linked concept for your own loyalty program.
Dr Nejib also explains how and why the value of the Skywards currency was recently adjusted, and how the program has managed to protect its most valuable members, while also reflecting the commercial needs of the airline.
Other exciting news you’ll hear today include Dr Nejib’s incredible statistics on their earn rates for airline versus non-airline activities, which proves how effectively Skywards is achieving its goal to become a truly global lifestyle loyalty program, rather than simply an airline frequent flyer program.
