Customer loyalty is an essential ingredient that every business needs to succeed. It is never owned but must be constantly earned, and while it cannot be bought, it should certainly be rewarded.
Air Canada highly prizes the loyalty of the more than 50 million customers who fly with us annually, and our commitment to customer service aims to engender and retain that loyalty. Beyond this, we are investing heavily in a new loyalty program to take Aeroplan to a new level next year. In devising it, we met with 36,000 customers and invested nearly 12,000 hours in the survey.
We aim to create Canada’s best travel loyalty program and one of the world’s best airline loyalty programs. It will feature more personalized and relevant service, use advanced analytics and include more ways to use miles when travelling. We intend to introduce new mileage-accumulation and redemption partnerships. And, through redesigned digital channels, our program will provide greater flexibility, because we know that customers want more control in using their miles to realize the best value – and that includes for travel partners and families, and we intend to enable the family dynamic.
Recently, we began introducing features to Aeroplan as part of this transition, including new refund options when your travel plans change. On the technical front, we are implementing a system so that customers can log into all their Air Canada and Aeroplan accounts using a single password for a user experience that will be easier and, importantly, more secure.
Still, we intend to retain the best of Aeroplan, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary this month with a contest offering 10 grand prizes of 3.5 million miles. Its popularity was reinforced by recent awards, including a coveted Freddie Award as the fastest-trending loyalty program in the Americas, and this month for Best Family-Friendly Frequent-Flyer Program at Global Traveler’s Wherever Awards.
Mindful of Aeroplan’s importance, we have also confirmed that members’ miles will transfer seamlessly on a one-for-one basis to our new loyalty program.
We are committed to building a Capital L Loyalty program, one that not only recognizes but differentiates and provides an occasional “wow” factor.
These and other commitments by Air Canada to its customers reflect another abiding truth about loyalty: You must demonstrate it to receive it.
Calin’s column appears every month in enRoute Magazine, Air Canada’s award-winning in-flight magazine found onboard all Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Express flights. This edition is from the September 2019 issue.
