Managing customer loyalty programs can quickly become a part-time job. Although customer retention is the primary concern of loyalty programs, the individual programs don't make it easy to manage the information. It's not efficient to check multiple websites to track points and expiration dates, for example. It's worse for the frequent traveling family, with mutiple family members and multiple customer loyalty programs.
Several companies have realized the need for centralized management, including Yodlee, Pageonce and MileageManager. Prior to researching and selecting a customer loyalty program manager, however, consider the following questions:
- Are all of your past, present and future loyalty programs supported? This varies widely and can change at any time.
- Does the site seem secure? What is the security policy?
- Do you want to manage your spouse's and/or child's programs, too? Not all of the third-party sites allow multiple accounts.
- Do you want to track expiration dates? Again, this is not supported by all of the sites.
- Are there any add-on features you need or want? For example, is an iPhone app an absolute must? Do you want to manage your Netflix queue at the same time?
Once you select a site, you will need to find all of your customer loyalty program account numbers and passwords. All of the third-party sites require entering account log-in information.
Yodlee
Yodlee developed a one-stop account access geared towards customers of banks and financial institutions. Its product is used by Bank of America, Wachovia, HSBC, Fidelity and others. Each Yodlee-based site is similar in concept and practice: customers provide log-in information for each bank account, investment account, credit card, rewards program or even insurance plans, and the balances appear consolidated in one view. It allows unlimited accounts per family, but it does not track expiration dates. It's a free service provided by many institutions to customers, but people who are not customers may enroll for free directly with Yodlee.
Pageonce
Pageonce promotes itself as a personal productivity assistant. Its primary feature is account tracking via mobile application. It supports iPhone, Blackberry, Android and Windows mobile. Pageonce provides tracking of travel itineraries, Netflix queues and mobile minutes. Pageonce has free and premium accounts. The premium account provides, among other things, unlimited accounts and no advertisements for $9.99 a month.
MileageManager
MileageManager is run by the publishers of InsideFlyer magazine. The website includes alerts for expiring miles and upcoming status milestones. The website also supports award travel searches. The cost is $14.95 per year, and the site allows a 30-day free trial. Managing additional family members' accounts will require additional memberships.
AwardWallet
AwardWallet offers free and pay-what-you-want level accounts. Both let you track award programs for multiple users, share travel itineraries and customize your views. The paid account allows the tracking of expiration dates for unlimited programs, whereas the free account lets you track expiration dates for only three programs.
MilePort and MileageTracker
Both sites are run by USAToday. MilePort is web-based, and MileTracker is desktop-based. These free sites allow for multiple accounts and track expiration dates for participating loyalty programs.
Points.com
Points.com is another free option for tracking reward program points. It also offers swapping and sharing of miles, as well as redeeming miles for gift cards.