The results of the 2010 Frequent Traveler Survey, undertaken to better understand frequent travelers' opinions towards their current loyalty programs and reward redemption were announced. 

The results of the survey indicate a shift in satisfaction of rewards currently offered by loyalty programs and demonstrates the need for a wider array of reward options to effectively engage and excite today's consumers - and especially frequent travelers.

The Loylogic survey was completed between September 17 to October 15, 2010 and reflects the opinion of over 36,000 responses from members of over 140 loyalty programs worldwide.

The 2010 Frequent Traveler Survey summary:
 
The 2010 Frequent Traveler Survey indicates that the internet is the preferred medium by travelers, as 58% of travelers prefer to earn and redeem points or check loyalty program balances online, followed by mobile (20%), in store (11%), SMS (4%) and lastly Facebook (3%).

In today's technology-based society, being connected "anytime, anywhere" is an everyday part of consumers' lives, so it only makes sense that online is the preferred method of interacting with their loyalty programs.

With the ever-fluctuating cost of air travel and with the average US domestic ticket price in the second quarter of 2010 costing $341¹, it's no surprise that 43% of those surveyed indicated that travel was their preferred non-core reward category.

Merchandise (26%) and experiences (10%) rounded out the top three categories, demonstrating that consumers want a wide variety of options when it comes to redeeming their rewards beyond the standard offerings of traditional loyalty programs.

Other results from the 2010 Frequent Traveler Survey:

• Survey takers indicated it was either very important (41%) or nice to have (45%) the ability to earn miles or points with online merchantswithin their own country or region.
• While 75% of travelers are satisfied they can use their points or miles on what they want and when they want, 22% would like more redemption options and 3% indicate they can never use their points or miles on reward options that appeal to them.
• With responses dominated by members of US-based loyalty programs, 2 out of 3 voters would like to have the ability to redeem for items that can be shipped anywhere in the world.

The future of loyalty programs

With almost 2 billion loyalty program memberships in the U.S. and more worldwide, the "one-size-fits- all" loyalty program will no longer suffice.  Consumers have more options and more control than ever and it's vital for businesses to provide consumers with rewards they want to earn in order to maintain customer engagement and encourage repeat business.

The next generation of reward programs must offer unique, desirable and, importantly, attainable reward options. In order to increase the participation rate of businesses' loyalty programs, they must offer lower level redemption offers, to encourage earlier engagement in the loyalty program, and increased revenues over time. 

After all, it just makes (dollars and) sense.

1 - www.bts.gov/press_releases/2010/bts050_10/html/bts050_10.html

For more information about Loylogic and to obtain results from the 2010 Frequent Traveler Survey, or to arrange an interview to discuss further, please contact Jennifer Rodrigues at jlr@travelinkd.com or +1.647.867.0093.