Virgin Blue is the best Australian airline at making reward seats available to its customers, according to a new survey.

ezRez Software and the IdeaWorks Company this week launched an annual guide for understanding and maximizing loyalty marketing.

Virgin Blue finished in fourth place overall in a survey topped by Southwest Airlines in the United States.

Jay Sorensen, president, IdeaWorks Company said,
“ They (FFPs) may all sound the same, but they’re not. Some frequent flier programs make good on their promise, to customers and the sponsoring airline.

“Others create as much trouble as they do benefit ‒ for customers and for the airline.”

Sorensen said loyalty marketing programmes have become a crucial tool to reach the best customers, encourage consumer retention, and generate millions in revenue.

“The most popular such tools are frequent flier programmes, and managing member expectations has become an airline marketing skill as important as planning routes or choosing fares.

“Reward seat availability is a key measurement the best customers use to assess the value of a frequent flier program.

“When seats are lacking, consumers grumble in protest to friends, co-workers, and members of the media. Perhaps just behind a la carte fees, reward seat shortages have become the number one complaint among savvy travelers worldwide."

Sorensen added, “When seats are plentiful, the love is returned many times over as consumers brag about their good fortune and heap praise for the gift of travel received from a favoured airline.”

Sorensen said the distinction between top ranked programmes and those "most stingy with reward seats is significant".

The survey results

Overall Reward Availability

1 Southwest 99.3%
2 Air Berlin 98.6%
3 Air Canada 93.6%
4 Virgin Blue 90.0%
5 Lufthansa/SWISS/Austrian 85.7%
6 Singapore Airlines 77.1%
7 Iberia 76.4%
8 Alaska Airlines 75.0%
9 Jet Airways 72.9%
10 Qantas 72.9%
11 Continental Airlines 71.4%
12 United Airlines 68.6%
13. AirTran Airways 67.9%
14 Cathay Pacific 67.1%
15 British Airways 65.0%
16 SAS Scandinavian 64.3%
17 American Airlines 57.9%
18 AirFrance/KLM 56.4%
19 Emirates 36.4%
20 Turkish Airlines 35.3%
21 Delta Air Lines 12.9%
22 US Airways 10.7%

IdeaWorks made 6,160 booking queries at the websites of 22 frequent flier programs during February and March 2010.

Travel dates spanned June through October 2010; 10 long-haul routes and 10 city pairs under 2,500 miles were checked to assess reward seat availability.

• Article reproduced courtesy of TravelMole Asia/Pacific