Etihad Airways was winner of the “Best Use of Technology” in this year’s Golden Loyalty Awards, the gathering of the travel loyalty industry taking place in Rio de Janeiro.
Etihad won won the best use of marketing in 2022 for the Big Australia campaign, and the best use of technology in 2021 for the innovative Miles on the Go product. The award winners in each category:
- Best Marketing Campaign: Aegean Airlines
- Best Use of Technology: Etihad Airways
- Excellence in Management: Global Hotel Alliance
- Best Loyalty Partnership: Accor and Qantas
- Best Supplier Innovation: Loyalty Juggernaut
- Best Lifetime Achievement: Randy Petersen
BEST MARKETING CAMPAIGN
The award recognising the “Best Marketing Campaign” was received by the Greek flag carrier, Aegean Airlines. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of its loyalty program, Miles + Bonus, the company celebrated with a set of campaigns, released within a 4-month period. Aegean’s campaigns obtained outstanding results in terms of activation and reengagement of members.
BEST USE OF TECHNOLOGY
Etihad Airways was the winner in the “Best Use of Technology” category. The airline was one of the early movers in the NFT area by launching a collection of aircraft models, dubbed EY-ZERO1. The purchase of NFTs was also smartly linked to granting benefits in the Etihad Guest loyalty program.
EXCELLENCE IN MANAGEMENT
Global Hotel Alliance deserved the Award in the “Excellence in Management” category thanks to a far reaching and well executed program transformation. Leaving its historic recognition-only approach behind and notably introducing a redeemable award currency delivered results beyond expectations.
BEST LOYALTY PARTNERSHIP
The last award for program operators recognised the “Best Loyalty Partnership”. Accor and Qantas emerged as winners here. They extended their already close partnership by including more tier members to the benefits granted on the respective partner. The uptick notably in terms of member engagement convinced the jury.
BEST SUPPLIER INNOVATION
In the supplier category, IT company Loyalty Juggernaut topped the competition for the third year in a row. It introduced GRAVTY Pulsar, a patent-pending innovation powered by Generative AI that delivers an autonomous approach to loyalty campaign management, enabling a much more personalised approach than traditional means.
BEST LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
Randy Petersen is considered the most powerful voice of frequent flyers and the driving force behind many relevant channels, from his original printed InsideFlyer magazine to FlyerTalk and BoardingArea. He is also the father of the Freddie Awards.
