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In a break from the strategy of many U.S. airlines, Emirates’ Skywards program is being used to boost loyalty for the airline without a heavy financial focus.
Emirates flies almost a million passengers every week, making it one of the world’s largest international airlines. As part of this, its Skywards program aims to boost loyalty to the brand, converting first-time customers into Emirates devotees.
The scheme has seen its membership base triple in the last nine years. It currently has around 35 million members, of which five million have made a transaction in the past 12 months.
Alongside its UAE home, the U.S, U.K, India, and Australia are the other top markets for the platform. Leading the program is Dr. Nejib Ben-Khedher. Speaking to Skift in a wide-ranging interview, he shares some of the secrets of Skywards’ recent success.
1. Use Free Wi-Fi as a Recruiting Tool
Last year, Emirates launched free inflight app messaging for all passengers who have a Skywards membership number on their boarding pass. Unlimited free Wi-Fi is also available to Skywards guests who have higher loyalty status and those traveling in premium cabins.
According to Ben-Khedher, the roll-out of free connectivity has led to thousands of new enrollments, making it one of the carrier’s top channels for acquiring new members.
He is a particular fan of this approach as everyone signing up is already flying with the airline, making them immediate active members of the program.
2. Think of Loyalty as a Lifestyle
Ben-Khedher has big ambitions for Skywards, and talks of its evolution from a fairly linear platform into a much more diverse offering. “When we started this transformation in 2015, we wanted to go into the whole lifestyle category and become much more than just ‘earning and burning’ [points] on flights.
“Today, the burn continues to be mostly on flights, with 80% of the miles redeemed this way, with upgrades the most sought-after. But the earning proposition now has a mix of 60% on flights and 40% via partners worldwide.”
To support this ambition, Skywards has built an ecosystem of retail partners. These look beyond more traditional tie-ups with financial organizations. For instance, shopping at Dubai Mall is one of the most popular non-flying ways to earn miles. The company has also built a platform to award miles on daily spending with a dedicated app called Skywards Everyday.
3. The Importance of Faster Rewards
Skywards is working to allow people to engage with their miles more easily. Ben-Khedher explains that 12 percent of people who fly on Emirates have used their miles in some form for that flight.
One of the airline’s newer redemption methods is a ‘Cash Plus Miles’ option. Earlier this year it was introduced on ancillary services such as preferred seating, checked bags, and lounge access.
Last month, the company also reduced the pricing on economy class rewards.“We want to accelerate the flywheel of earning and burning, so people don’t wait long before they can see a redemption, and then fly again,” said the Skywards chief.
4. Don’t Forget the Little Guy
Ben-Khedher says the program achieved this level of activity by “democratizing” the system so that it also caters to less frequent fliers. “We have a lot of infrequent travelers because we are an international carrier moving people through our Dubai hub.
“We added redemption capability on Skywards SkyMall and we are going to add more redemption capability on Skywards Everyday. These are all partners where you can earn but also burn as well. Think of us as being the loyalty currency of all these partners.”
Ben-Khedher also confirmed that Skywards is also exploring the introduction of classic rewards, i.e. redemptions that require a fixed number of miles on partner airline flydubai. The carrier, which operates an all-narrowbody fleet, folded its loyalty program OPEN into Skywards in 2018.
5. Learn Lessons from Subscriptions
In 2021, Skywards launched Skywards+, its first attempt at a subscription product. However, Ben-Khedher acknowledges that there is room for further improvement, admitting that “we’re still learning.” The platform has 12,000 subscribers to date.
“We have three packages in Skywards+. From the numbers, the highest package is the most popular. This helps members earn a 20% bonus on tier miles, apart from discounts on upgrades,” says Ben-Khedher.
For non-tier members, Skywards+ can be used to sample various perks through a subscription to the basic tier of the program. For example, this could be used to gain access to airport lounges and to minimize excess baggage charges.
6. Experiment with Experiences
In other developments, Emirates has been working to expand the perks Skywards members receive at major events. This is particularly relevant for experiences that have the sponsorship or other backing of Emirates, such as major soccer and cricket matches.
Emirates recently established a new platform called Skywards Exclusives to offer members the opportunity to redeem miles for experiences. “It’s a platform for people to redeem their miles that is not flight related. These experiences really build the emotional connections we have with our members,” said Ben-Khedher. While speaking to Skift, he noted members that same day were heading to the French Open to watch tennis.
Asked what’s holding Skywards back, Ben-Khedher admits that technology can sometimes be an inhibitor. The loyalty program is trying to bring on board more partners, including other airlines, but it wants to do it quicker.
With that ambition, Emirates is “upgrading its platform” to be able to on-board partners much more easily than today. It is hoped that this will speed up the process compared to the current six-month timeline.
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