Discover

The 'Air Miles Reward Program' is a loyalty program that operates separately in the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain (under the brand Travel Club), the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar through which points are earned on purchases at participating merchants. Air Miles Reward Programs in each country are independently run, but use the same logo and trademark.

Contents

United Kingdom

History

Canada

Middle East

External links

References

United Kingdom

In the UK, Airmiles can be collected through Lloyds TSB credit cards, Shell petrol stations, Tesco supermarkets, Scottish and Southern Electric, Air Miles online shopping portal, on travel products and package holidays purchased from Air Miles and through a variety of other partners. From July 2007, Airmiles can no longer be collected on Natwest credit cards, and NatWest have chosen to terminate the co-branded Airmiles Credit Card. Airmiles are now issued on Lloyds TSB Airmiles Duo cards.
Airmiles can be redeemed for flights, hotels, travel insurance and package holidays.

History

Air Miles was created during the mid 1980s by Alan Dellor (then Commercial Director of British Caledonian Airways) and partners of advertising agency Mills, Smith & Partners. These were Keith Mills, Brian Smith, William Kershaw, Nick Tomlin, Peter Badham and Geoffrey Bean. Liam Cowdrey joined Mills, Smith & Partners some months later.
Together they formed the Air Miles Travel Promotions Company Limited in 1986 and sold 51% of the UK operation to British Airways soon after.
Mills, Smith & Partners produced the consumer launch campaign ‘Stop dreaming. Start Collecting’ gaining a database of three million Air Miles collectors in the first three months.
Keith Mills later went on to found the Nectar loyalty card.

Canada

Air Miles is Canada's largest loyalty program—reward miles can be earned at more than 100 participating companies in Canada. According to Alliance Data (the US parent of the Canadian company that launched the program in 1992 and which continues to operate it), approximately two-thirds of Canadian households actively participate in the Air Miles program.^[1]
Air Miles collectors can redeem their reward miles for travel, entertainment and merchandise rewards.
AMEX Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal offer Air Miles credit cards and WestJet offers Air Miles for on-line flight bookings. Participating airlines (for redeeming Air Miles) include WestJet, Air Canada, Northwest Airlines/KLM, American Airlines, Lufthansa, as well as several regional airlines. Recently, Air Miles opened up their travel options, allowing members to book on non-partner airlines for more airmiles.
Major companies involved in Air Miles Canada include Shell Canada, Rona, and provincial liquor agencies such as the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. The lucrative supermarket partnership is split regionally between Safeway (Thunder Bay and Western Canada), A&P/Dominion (remainder of Ontario), and Sobeys/IGA (Quebec and Atlantic Canada).

Middle East

In the Middle East region Air Miles is co-owned by the parent Air Miles company, HSBC and supermarket chain Spinneys. Currently it operates in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, but is in the process of expanding to three more countries in the region. Air miles collected in Europe or Canada cannot be redeemed in the Middle East region, as the company operates independently here, but customers can earn Air miles across the different countries Air Miles Middle East operates in.

External links

★ Air Miles UK

★ Air Miles Canada

★ Air Miles Shops Canada

★ Airmiles Netherlands

References

★ Alliance Data's Canadian Loyalty Business Signs Multi-Year Agreement With Leading Car Rental Brand