US leisure carrier Allegiant Air is one of the most recent airlines to create a frequent flyer program. The company's Allways Rewards loyalty program launched three years ago this month and is giving away hundreds of thousands of points to celebrate. To mark the occasion, Simple Flying sat down with Allegiant Air's Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Scott Deangelo to discuss what goes into making a program that works for consumers.
A chance to win 500,000 points Allegiant Air is ending its anniversary month with two significant sweepstakes. The first, revealed in an email to the roughly 18 million current Allways Rewards members, offers a grand prize of 500,000 Always points. That represents a value of $5,000, which the airline equates to a year of flights on Allegiant.
In addition, the prize includes two tickets to an NFL game at Allegiant Stadium this season, two tickets to an NHL game at T-Mobile Arena, and a two-night Sunseeker Resort stay. Allegiant Air's new Allways Rewards is one of the simplest loyalty programs and is free to join. For new and existing loyalty members, the airline is running a concurrent giveaway on Instagram for 100,000 points.
To enter, one must complete the following steps by noon Pacific Time on Friday, August 30th: Follow @allegiant on Instagram. “Like” the official Sweepstakes Post . Tag one friend in the comments section of the Post.
Join Allways Rewards if not already a member. When asked about the motivations behind the current giveaways, Deangelo noted that they provide an opportunity to attract new customers and highlight the simplicity of the program: "We're super excited to be giving those opportunities to show people, not just the winners, the points are really dollars that they can for anything that is sold on Allegiant.com, in any amount they choose, at any time, with no blackout dates.
"With the game at Allegiant Stadium or T-Mobile Arena or at Sunseeker Resorts, is how we take our partnerships or other assets and really bring them to bear to provide value and additional rewards for our Always Rewards members. This is something we do on a on a recurring basis as well, with a variety of the partnerships we have throughout the nation, largely in the sports space." However, promotions are just one part of creating a popular flyer program, as customers are constantly looking for additional ways to find value from loyalty programs .
What makes a successful frequent flyer program? To learn more about how Allways Rewards grew from zero to 18 million customers (8 million of whom joined within the last year), Simple Flying sat down with Scott Deangelo for an exclusive interview. Deangelo, who joined the company six and a half years ago when all it had to offer its most frequent flyers was a cobranded credit card, noted that since starting up an airline loyalty program from scratch is relatively uncommon, the airline conducted a significant amount of research into what customers wanted. The most recent US airline to launch a loyalty program was Breeze Airways, with Breezy Rewards debuting earlier this year .
When the carrier looked to find out what customers wanted, the data revealed that just a quarter of the passengers who flew with the airline in 2017 flew with Allegiant again in 2018. This provided a significant opportunity to encourage customers to return but also a challenge in designing a program that customers would engage with. For Allegiant, there was acute pressure to provide what customers were expecting while also offering something unique, with Deangelo noting: "I think one of the biggest challenges, it's not a structural one, it was more of an ideological one, to get over the fact that you have to create a program that looks like the guys to your left and your right, that is miles based, or that has to be done the way that travel is done.
" The research found that the programs consumers engaged with the most in their everyday lives were ones with a fixed rate of earning and redemptions, specifically citing Amazon Prime and the Apple Card. In terms of frequent flyer programs, the majority of customers were members of Delta Air Lines SkyMiles , Southwest Airlines, Rapid Rewards , and American Airlines AAdvantage , in that order. OAG's 2024 North American traveler survey further reinforces this idea, revealing that only 65% of Gen Z and 70% of Millennials are frequent flyers.
When asked if they wanted Allegiant to create its rewards program, 95% of those surveyed said yes. When asked why, given that the overwhelming majority of respondents already had memberships at competing programs, the response was that they were not flying enough to ever achieve the miles required to redeem for a free flight or tier upgrade. According to Deangelo: "85% of [those surveyed] said they had never received a tangible benefit from their program membership with other programs.
" This reaction was especially noticeable among leisure travelers, who comprise the majority of Allegiant's customers. The more frequent of Allegiant Air's passengers fly between two and four times per year, making it especially important for them to see benefits early on. Distance versus spend-based earning One of the things Allegiant discovered in its research is that customers were drawn towards a currency that can be used for anything, like cashback cards.
For reference, most airlines worldwide still charge cash taxes and fees on award redemption tickets, ranging from a few dollars to several hundred per leg of the trip. Love learning about points and miles? Read more of our loyalty news and guides here . For Allegiant, this resulted in a deliberate move to develop a currency with a fixed value that customers can redeem at any increment for any purchase from the airline.
The end product was the Allways Rewards points, which are worth a penny each. Customers who spend $500 or more on a single transaction (which usually means adding a hotel or rental car) earn two points per dollar. Customers can begin spending their newly earned points immediately, with Deangelo noting: If you have $2.
50 and you would like to use that, be our guest. If you want to save it to $1,000 for a family vacation, that's fine too. The resulting program is one he feels offers unique value even to the most infrequent of flyers.
Citing college students as an example, Deangelo noted that a program worked well for those who travel on low-cost flights to take advantage of things like spring break or a trip to Allegiant's base in Las Vegas to earn a little discount on flights: "I often refer to it as the closet gift card effect. "Cleaning out the closet, I find a Starbucks gift card here and a Nordstrom one there. I call in, I find out my balances.
Okay, so the Nordstrom one I got $13 on it. "There's not a lot of Nordstrom that you can buy for $13 but does that mean I throw away the card, or does that drive me to go there and say, 'Well, I mean, I am looking for a new dress shirt, I might as well not leave this $13 unspent. Let's go do it.
" The result is a significant increase in return travelers who both spend points as they earn them and stock up points for big purchases. When asked about the loyalty program's high-rollers, Deangelo confirmed that 5% of program members now hold 100,000 points ($1,000) or more in their Allways Rewards account. Either way, it's earning the airline more money, with Deangelo noting that the passengers so far this year are flying 10% more than they did in 2019, but they spent 30% more per itinerary booked, which results in them being 40% more valuable than they were in 2019.
Get the latest aviation news straight to your inbox: Sign up for our newsletters today. The program has also been well-received among critics and the traveling public. Earlier this year, USA Today named Allegiant's Allways Rewards program the top frequent flyer program worldwide.
Its cobranded credit card also placed in the top spot for the publication's 10Best Peoples' Choice Awards..
