Loyalty Program benchmarking survey


Frequent Flyer Programs (FFPs) are a crucial part of customer relationship management. Recent IATA research shows that more than 4 business class passengers out of 10 mention "FFP" as the main decision-making factor when they select an airline.
As such airline loyalty programs must remain as attractive as possible in order to remain a key driver of choice for passengers.

What does this survey measure?

The IATA FFP Survey provides airlines with quantitative information on several attributes of the covered FFPs on topics such as:

  • Miles earning (Ease of earning, ability to get miles with partners, amount of miles earned per flight, etc.)
  • Miles redemption (Ease of booking flights / hotels with miles, Use of miles for upgrade, etc.)
  • Services / VIP status (Lounge access, priority check-in, etc.)
  • FFP Communication (Access to account, clarity of info, media used, etc.)

Which Loyalty programs are covered?

For the last edition (2007), the following Loyalty programs were covered in the report:

    1. Air France / KLM - Flying Blue
    2. American Airlines - AAdvantage
    3. British Airways - Executive Club
    4. Cathay Pacific - Club Marco Polo / Asia Miles
    5. Continental Airlines - OnePass
    6. Delta Air Lines - SkyMiles
    7. Emirates/Sri Lankan - Skywards
    8. Finnair - Finnair Plus
    9. Gulf Air - Frequent Flyer
    10. Lufthansa - Miles and More*
    11. Northwest Airlines - World Perks
    12. SAS Scandinavian Airlines - EuroBonus
    13. Singapore Airlines - Kris Flyer
    14. Thai Airways - Royal Orchid Plus
    15. United Airlines - Mileage Plus
    16. Virgin Atlantic - Flying Club

Your benefits

  • Understand the different elements of the covered FFP programs and their relative importance to members.
  • Identify cost-effective measures to improve passenger loyalty.
  • Assess how well your program and its benefits are communicated to your frequent flyers.
  • Better understand member perception of strengths and weaknesses of each of the covered programs.

The IATA Advantage

  • As the organization officially representing the world's major airlines, IATA is at the forefront of all commercial aviation activities, including airline and airport satisfaction studies.
  • Because of its status, IATA acts as an independent consultant or provides review, with unbiased analysis, plans and recommendations.
  • Through its unique panel of travelers, IATA can reach more than 50’000 passengers and have them rate their favorite FFP.


For more information, please contact us at: businessinsight@iata.org