[LINK] SMH: 'Loyalty plan puts more than bums on seats'

[Scott Howard]

This is nothing new.

In 2005 Air Canada spun-off their Frequent flyer program to be a separately
traded company.  The market cap of the FF program is now over 5 times that
of the airline itself - and it's been even higher in the past.

In the US the various credit card companies have collectively invested
billions of dollars into the airlines to help keep them flying, just to
protect their frequent flyer credit card revenue.

There's been talk for a long time that Qantas is close to breaking out QFF
as a separate company, and there's not a lot of doubt that if (when!) that
happens, in short order it will outweigh the airline itself...

  Scott.



On Thu, Sep 1, 2011 at 7:58 PM, Roger Clarke <Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au>wrote:

> [Nice article on how Frequent Flyers works.]
>
> Loyalty plan puts more than bums on seats
> Colin Kruger
> September 2, 2011
>
> http://www.smh.com.au/business/loyalty-plan-puts-more-than-bums-on-seats-20110901-1jo43.html
>
> Qantas profits from its trailblazing Frequent Flyer program in
> several ways, writes Colin Kruger.
>
> While consumer advocates have questioned what value shoppers actually
> get from loyalty programs, Qantas - which has built an astounding
> position in the market with its Frequent Flyer program - offers an
> example of why corporate operators have no doubts about its value for
> them.
>
> ...
>
>
> --
> Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/
>
> Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
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> mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/
>
> Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni of NSW
> Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University
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