air mile

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Air Miles logo

The Air Miles Reward Program is a loyalty program or frequent flyer program in Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain (under the brand Travel Club), the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar through which points are earned on money spent at participating merchants. Air Miles Reward Programs in each country are independently run.

In all countries where the program operates, the "Air Miles" name and logo are trademarks of LMG, the company which originated the concept, and which was acquired by Aeroplan in 2007. However, in many cases LMG is simply a licensor and not involved with the operations of local franchisees; more specifically, in Canada, the current operator of Air Miles is completely separate from its main rival Aeroplan. Likewise, Air Miles UK has no affiliation to LMG's newer Nectar brand.

Air Miles UK

In the UK, Airmiles has eight million customers.^[1] Airmiles can be collected through Lloyds TSB Airmiles Duo Credit Card accounts, Shell petrol stations, Tesco supermarkets, Southern Electric, travel products, package holidays bought in cash from AIRMILES and over 100 online retailers.

The Air Miles UK website also provides an online shopping portal to a number of UK retailer partners including eBay.co.uk and Currys. Registered collectors can access retailers' websites via Air Miles Online Shopping and can collect points on purchases.

Airmiles can be redeemed for free flights with British Airways and many more scheduled airlines, Eurostar and ferry crossings, cruises, hotel accommodation, car hire, travel insurance, package holidays, spa & golf breaks and UK leisure activities.

While Air Miles is a subsidiary of British Airways, the airline runs a separate scheme for its frequent flyers called 'BA Miles'.

History

Air Miles was created during the mid 1980s by Alan Deller, Commercial Director of British Caledonian Airways and the 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.

Air Miles Canada

The Canadian Air Miles is a loyalty program and was launched in 1992^[2]. The miles can be accumulated from a large number of Canadian companies, notably Sobey's, Bank of Montreal, Liquor Control Board of Ontario, Shell Canada, Safeway in the western provinces, Metro/A&P in Ontario, Rexall and PharmaPlus pharmacies in Ontario, IGA in Quebec, Sobeys in the Atlantic provinces, Rona, and Yahoo. Air Miles has currently more than 9.5 million members ^[3] and approximately two-thirds of Canadian households participate in the program.

While miles of this program were primarily for travel, they can also be also exchanged for entertainment and merchandise. The sole Canadian airline company that redeemed these Air Miles for air travel was WestJet, which is no longer a sponsor of the program as of December 31st, 2008. Connecting flights can be obtained at Northwest Airlines/KLM, American Airlines, and Lufthansa. ^[4]

Air Miles Middle East

In the Middle East region Air Miles is operated by Rewards Management Middle East and is co-owned by the parent LMG and HSBC. Currently it operates in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, but is in the process of expanding to more countries in the region.^{[citation needed]} Air miles earned in Europe or Canada cannot be redeemed in the Middle East region, as the company operates independently there, but customers can earn Air Miles points across the different countries Air Miles Middle East that it operates in. In addition to Air Miles' retailer network in the Middle East region, users of HSBC credit cards that participate in the Air Miles program are credited Air Miles points for every credit card purchase transaction they complete worldwide.

Air Miles The Netherlands

Air Miles was originally a saving program to get "miles" and save for a flight. Nowadays other companies are using Air Miles and one is able to buy gifts and services from your saved miles also. The usage for flights has been limited to "miles and money," one pays partly with miles and partly with cash.

Halfway through the 1990s, Air Miles was introduced with a lot of advertising. The popularity dropped halfway through the 2000s. In 2004, ABN AMRO terminated its program for giving Air Miles; also, Albert Heijn did the same in some of its branches to make room for more discounts on their products. At Shell gas stations, one still has the option to choose between Air Miles or stamps.

After the creation of Air Miles other companies made saving cards like Rocks, Freebees, and Power Points.

Air Miles US

An American version of Air Miles was launched at the same time as the Canadian version in 1992 by Loyalty Management Group. Participating companies included Lenscrafters, General Cinema, AT&T, and Citibank. Unlike its Canadian counterpart, the US Air Miles program was financially unsuccessful and suspended operations in May 1993. [1]

References

• "Alliance Data's Canadian Loyalty Business Signs Multi-Year Agreement With Leading Car Rental Brand". http://www.alliancedata.com/news/newsreleases/viewrelease,942189.html. Retrieved on 2007-01-24. 

External links

• AIRMILES UK
• AIRMILES UK shopping portal
• AIR MILES Canada
• AIR MILES Shops Canada
• Airmiles Netherlands