Why should using airline rewards still feel like a research project?
This is Part 2 of a series where I’m exploring what the next generation of airline loyalty could look like, using
Alaska Airlines’ Atmos Rewards as the working example.
Meet Marcus: an Atmos Gold member planning a family trip for four to Shanghai in December. He has loyalty benefits, but he doesn’t know whether using them is actually the best option.
Simple request, right? Deloitte found that 72% of consumers are more likely to spend with a preferred brand because of its loyalty program, yet 40% sometimes forget to redeem their rewards. Their advice: “Make redemption effortless.”
So what if Marcus could simply say: "Get my family of four to Shanghai in December. I’d like to use loyalty benefits if it makes sense.”.
And Atmos did the hard work:
1. check availability,
2. account for constraints,
3. compare cash vs. loyalty benefits,
4. rank the few options personalized for Marcus and
5. explain why one is best, and let him book.
For Marcus, that means less searching and more confidence.
For
Alaska Airlines, there’s a bigger opportunity. 54% of travelers say they want to deal directly with airlines. And IDC expects 30% of travel bookings to be executed by AI agents by 2030. Airbnb is already expanding beyond stays into services and experiences.
As more trip planning moves into AI-powered experiences, airlines and hotels need to own more of the journey i.e. from intent to recommendation to booking.
Alaska already has a strong asset in Atmos: more than 70% of guests on its new Rome service are Atmos members. If Atmos can help more of those members plan and book within the loyalty experience, it can strengthen the direct relationship and support Alaska’s publicly stated goal of ~$150M in incremental profit from loyalty by 2027.
If I were building for Atmos, I’d want Marcus to start there, get to the right recommendation fast, and book within minutes.
I mocked up what that could look like here 👇
(see
https://lnkd.in/gyUXQhwH.)
#TravelTech #AirlineLoyalty #AIProductManagement #Loyalty