CALimey
Mar 1, 11, 10:55 pm
No-one likes a back seat frequent flyer programme administrator, but I'm in sales and marketing, so I can deal with not being liked :P
Were I deciding who to give the oh-so-precious A+ to in year one of RR 2.0, I would have considered the following:
- Even folks who have taken 32 flights in CY 2010 have done a pretty respectable amount of flying
- The only tangible cost associated with RR 2.0 is redemption of points either with WN or with partners (sure, we may lose $5 here and there on what tiny number of planes have wifi, but seriously...)
- The only way in which A+ member can cream the A+ mileage bonus is by flying a lot. And to do any reasonable damage, only by flying Biz. Select.
- we can safely assume that in introducing A+, there may be irritated A- qualifiers. But there is also the potential to really please a LOT of mid tier (32-50 flight in CY 2010) flyers.
Were I to have been at the controls, I would have surprised ALL A-List members with A+ status for the duration of 2011. This would have placated just-missed-A+ members like myself, and also have been a very welcome surprise to regular A-listers, leading to a lot of positive word of mouth.
The marketing is easy: "Although you would not have made A+ in 2010, as you are one of our most valued customers we wanted to thank you for your loyalty by giving you access to our brand new premium tier from now until the end of the year so you can see what benefits you could be regularly enjoying if you flew just xxx more Southwest flights each year"
As I say, I work in a totally different industry, and this is pure armchair stuff, but WN's decision to knowingly risk the loyalty of a significant sector of their customer base who - by definition- are very regular flyers goes against every marketing instinct in my body.
Cheers,
Paul.
Were I deciding who to give the oh-so-precious A+ to in year one of RR 2.0, I would have considered the following:
- Even folks who have taken 32 flights in CY 2010 have done a pretty respectable amount of flying
- The only tangible cost associated with RR 2.0 is redemption of points either with WN or with partners (sure, we may lose $5 here and there on what tiny number of planes have wifi, but seriously...)
- The only way in which A+ member can cream the A+ mileage bonus is by flying a lot. And to do any reasonable damage, only by flying Biz. Select.
- we can safely assume that in introducing A+, there may be irritated A- qualifiers. But there is also the potential to really please a LOT of mid tier (32-50 flight in CY 2010) flyers.
Were I to have been at the controls, I would have surprised ALL A-List members with A+ status for the duration of 2011. This would have placated just-missed-A+ members like myself, and also have been a very welcome surprise to regular A-listers, leading to a lot of positive word of mouth.
The marketing is easy: "Although you would not have made A+ in 2010, as you are one of our most valued customers we wanted to thank you for your loyalty by giving you access to our brand new premium tier from now until the end of the year so you can see what benefits you could be regularly enjoying if you flew just xxx more Southwest flights each year"
As I say, I work in a totally different industry, and this is pure armchair stuff, but WN's decision to knowingly risk the loyalty of a significant sector of their customer base who - by definition- are very regular flyers goes against every marketing instinct in my body.
Cheers,
Paul.