Scandinavian Airlines will formally accept online ticket purchase of UnionPay cards before the end of the summer. It will join hands with many European airlines like Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Deutsche Lufthansa, Finnair, LOT Polish Airlines, and Ukraine International Airlines to accept UnionPay.
Voting from 3.2 million frequent travelers reveals the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Card is the top loyalty credit card in the Americas region. The annual Freddie Awards also voted American Airlines AAdvantage as the top frequent flyer program of the Year and Marriott Rewards as the top hotel loyalty programs in the Americas region.
Munich-based Wirecard has taken over the acquiring customer portfolio from Lufthansa AirPlus Servicekarten. Airplus is Germany’s top provider of payment and settlement solutions for business travel.
Dynamics announced today that it now offers cardholders the ability to earn Air Dollars on major US and International airlines, as well as allowing them to earn seats on private jet flights through its exclusive reward partner JetLimo. Unlike airline rewards cards, which typically offer consumers 1 mile for every dollar they spend on most purchases, Dynamics ePlate Visa card lets customers earns 1.35% in Air Dollars for every dollar they spend. These Air Dollars can then be redeemed for $250 credits on major US and International Carriers, on any ticket they buy from the airlines websites, without blackouts or flight restrictions, or limited availability of frequent flyer seats. Unlike airline cards, consumers can also choose to earn seats on private jet flights though Jet Limo, a new travel option that makes the benefits of business aircraft travel available at airline fares. Consumers can earn seats on flights they select valued up to $1500, after spending only $12502, making this an over 100% reward.
Samsung Electronics expands consumer offerings available through Samsung Wallet, a practical and easy-to-use mobile app for storing tickets, boarding passes, membership cards, coupons, and more, with the addition of new partnerships across several industries-including transportation, coupons and hospitality. New partners like American Express, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Malaysia Airlines, Amtrak, Valpak, eGifter, Gyft, Yowza, SpotOn, Agoda, HRS, Opodo and Thrillcall are joining the Samsung Wallet ecosystem, which includes partners previously announced at the Mobile World Congress 2013 – Walgreens, Expedia, Belly, Lufthansa, and Hotels.com. Samsung Wallet is available for download on the Galaxy S® III, Galaxy S® 4, Galaxy Note®, Galaxy Note® II and Galaxy Note 3 from Samsung Apps (http://apps.samsung.com) or Google Play.
Mastercard and Citi have enhanced the agent loyalty program offered by Lufthansa German Airlines, called “eXperts.” Designed for agents who sell international travel, not only keeps members informed about Lufthansa’s latest products and services, eXperts members also benefit from exclusive fares, perks and privileges. The reloadable pre-paid cards by Citi is the latest innovation for eXperts members, making the eXperts Agent Loyalty Program now much more user-friendly and allows agents to quickly redeem their loyalty rewards. The new card-based solution is set to be rolled out by Lufthansa to eXperts members in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia, with future plans to extend to Malaysia and the Philippines. Citi Prepaid Services, a division of Citi Transaction Services, provides customizable prepaid card solutions for companies looking for more effective and convenient ways to deliver key payments, including customer incentives, consumer rewards and rebates and sales commissions. For the recipient, a prepaid card offers convenience and flexibility compared to paper-based delivery methods.
Grapevine Rewards travel social rewards, announced that its Bamboo Facebook and Twitter Rewards Platform is fueling Estonian Air’s Social Loyalty Program, “AirScore.” Running in parallel to their current frequent flyer program, AirScore, which achieved more than 1,340,000 wall impressions in its first ten days, has recently been awarded two major social media awards in the aviation loyalty and frequent flyer programs industries. The event took place at the EyeforTravel Online Marketing and Social Media Summit in Amsterdam, Holland. AirScore customers who use the Bamboo Platform become ‘Brand Ambassadors’ and gain access to the inside scoop, all the while distributing the latest news, videos, polls, quizzes, and special offers via wall posts, invites and gifts to their connected friends.
AirPlus International travel payment and analysis solutions released its ‘Wire…from AirPlus,’ entitled “Ancillary Aggravation Eases.” It shows 44% of corporate travel managers are not tracking airline ancillary fees but many are finding ways to review them. Meanwhile, 38% rely on travelers to include fees manually in expense reports, while only 7% include fee menus and 15 percent have automated capabilities built in to their expense reporting tools. Other tracking options include the five% who track through their travel management company (TMC) and 11% who rely on corporate card data.
AirPlus International expense analysis and payment solutions partnered with Santander, BNP Paribas, UBS and Nordea to provide companies the optimal solution to worldwide travel cost management challenges with its “NextGen” system. Offering an all-in-one tool for professional business travel management that integrates the corporate cards, lodge cards and management information system (MIS) solutions, “NextGen” focuses on professional travel management globally. For users, it circumnavigates excessive locally provided tools that might fail to meet the needs of their modern global travel management.
AirPlus International, a leading global provider of corporate travel payment and analysis solutions, released May’s “The Wire…from AirPlus” titled: “Mobile Tools Remain an Area of Opportunity for Travel Managers.” With more mobile tools available than ever before, almost two-thirds of travel managers believe that more than half of their travelers carry a smart phone. Only 10% of the companies sanction their preferred apps and tools.
Citibank has launched the “PremierMiles” Credit Card with frequent flyers as a ‘universal’ mileage platform. This platform allows cardholders the freedom and flexibility to earn miles on their travel on over 50 domestic and international various airlines, setting customers free from the limitations of choosing one loyalty program over another. The feature-rich Card offers a superior earn rate of 10 PremierMiles per Rs.100 on all airline spends and a preferential interest rate. It also lets users enjoy access to over 700 VIP lounges at airports across the world, dining experiences at over 800 restaurants and special offers at PVR Cinemas and access to a dedicated Priority PremierMiles helpline for query resolution. The annual fee is rupees Five Thousand, the Citibank PremierMiles Cardmembers receive a first-year activation bonus of 5,000 PremierMiles. An annual spending of Rs.4 Lakh in a year earns cardholders a bonus 2,500 PremierMiles. All non-airline purchases on the card earn customers 2.5 PremierMiles for every Rs.100 spent.
AirPlus International corporate travel payment solutions has released Januaryâs The Wireâ¦from AirPlus entitled: “Multiple Policies, Multiple Processes.” Findings disclosed only 39% had one comprehensive policy and one comprehensive platform for processing business travel expenses and reimbursements while 24% stated several policies and multiple platforms were standard for their companyâs T&E management. Additional findings in “Multiple Policies, Multiple Processes” disclosed 56% felt the main benefit of an integrated and cohesive approach are the efficiencies gained from streamlining internal processes. AirPlus International provides savings to over 32,000 customers worldwide through a suite of business travel payment solutions which include central bill accounts, corporate cards and online management tools.