Travel Trends with Dan Christian
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Travel Trends with Dan Christian
How Airlines are Redefining Loyalty for the Modern Traveler with KM Malta Airlines
We’re excited to kick off a new three-part Loyalty Series, where we explore how airlines, hotels, and loyalty status companies are rewriting the rules of traveler engagement. In this first episode, we begin with a refreshingly simple philosophy from KM Malta Airlines: make value clear, make status meaningful, and make the journey smoother. Oliver Piers Ross, Head of Loyalty & CRM, joins us to share how a small flag carrier built a transparent currency, introduced genuinely useful status tiers, and used smart partnerships to influence traveler behavior in all the right ways.
We break down Skybucks, pegged at one euro cent so members always know what they’re earning and spending. That clarity powers instant earn on takeoff and a seamless redemption slider in the booking flow so intuitive that redemptions began before the program even launched. Oliver also outlines the Traveler, Explorer, and Pioneer tiers, where milestone Skybucks can be used for seats, bags, or part-paid fares. We touch on the value of status recognition and how tools like status match, subscription boosts, and buybacks reduce friction while maintaining solid program economics.
We discuss why loyalty programs can be worth more than airlines, how redemption simplicity increases conversion, and where KM Malta is headed next with a Malta-wide marketplace, exchange partnerships, and tighter CRM personalization. It’s a practical playbook for travel brands rethinking loyalty with clear value, fewer hoops, better data, and benefits that actually get used. What perk would make you switch airlines today?
For more information about KM Malta Airlines, please visit https://kmmaltairlines.com/en.
👉 Listen to How Airlines are Redefining Loyalty for the Modern Traveler Now
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Good loyalty programs recognize that frequent flyers are not the only individuals that are interested in a loyalty program.
SPEAKER_02:Hello everyone and welcome back to Travel Trends. This is your host, Dan Christian, and we're about to begin a special three-part series on one of the most powerful forces in our industry, and that is loyalty. It's a topic we have not covered yet on Travel Trends, which is amazing given that we're in season six and this is now episode 11. So we're midway through season six and we're finally covering what is one of the most important topics and partially a background for me in the travel industry. And we're actually going to be looking at this from three different angles. We're going to start today with an airline, then next week we're going to have a technology provider, and then finally a hospitality group. And the whole idea here is to try and give our global listeners a 360 view of how massive this area of travel is and how it is evolving. And as a spoiler, I just want everyone to let everyone know that we are actually going to be covering this topic in even more detail next season. I'm currently in San Diego at the Focus Right Conference. We have an event spotlight episode coming out from here shortly. We just released our Adventures Travel and Trade Association event spotlight episode. And based on the interest in this topic, I know we're going to be covering a lot more about loyalty going into season seven. And for this series, I'm really pleased that we have partnered with our friends over at Loyalty Status Co. who are rewriting the playbook on status program management. They're the global leaders in status commercialization and the team behind the award-winning status match platform. In short, they help airlines, hotels, and even retailers turn status into real value. They attract high-value customers, keeping members engaged, and unlocking serious revenue. To learn more, check out loyaltystatus.com. Now, a bit more about them in a moment because we actually have my friend Aaron Murray, who's the CMO of Loyalty Status Quo, joining us on episode two. But we're kicking things off in today's episode with Aviation and bringing in in a moment Oliver Ross, who is the head of loyalty and CRM at KM Malta Airlines. And he's going to walk through the loyalty landscape in the airline world and also the unique value of a regional program for a smaller carrier. And then we'll have Erin Murray. So she will be focusing on the technology space. She is based in Toronto as well, and we've crossed paths at a number of industry conferences. And I've been so keen to bring her onto the Travel Trends podcast. And interestingly, Mark Ross Smith, the CEO of Loyalty Status Co., joined us for our Focus Right Europe Barcelona event spotlight. And I found it so fascinating to learn about their business. So I was really keen to partner with them for the series and bring Erin into the discussion. But the other aspect of the series that I really wanted to touch on is hospitality. And I'm so pleased that to round out the series, we're going to be joined by the CEO of Citizen M, which is one of the hottest boutique hotel collections, and was recently bought into the Marriott ecosystem. And there's a fascinating backstory about their loyalty program and now the integration with Marriott Bonvoy. So that's going to round out our three-part series when I bring in Leonard DeYoung, the CEO from Citizen M. So get ready for a really exciting series. And don't forget, we do post clips and highlights from these conversations on our social channels, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. And we also send out a monthly newsletter as a roundup, which you can register for at Traveltrendspodcast.com. But let's get things started and bring in Oliver Ross and discuss airlines. Great to have you joining us, Oliver. Hi Dan.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks very much for the um invitation. It's great to be here.
SPEAKER_02:For sure. I'm so keen to talk about loyalty and to talk about airlines. Obviously, that's the theme of this series and something that we haven't touched on before at Travel Trends, and we're doing both in season six. So I'm thrilled to be able to have this conversation with you to learn more about the loyalty space as it relates to airlines. But before we get into that, tell everyone where you're based, a little bit about your role and how you got into uh the airline and loyalty space.
SPEAKER_00:Sure. Um so uh a bit about me. I I live in the UK, um, I work in Malta, so I get to commute to work by plane, which is pretty cool for someone who is both an Av Geek and a loyalty afeccionado. Um but uh I actually grew up in the US, born in the UK, grew up in the US, um, went to boarding school in the UK, university in the US and the UK, um, and uh traveled a huge amount um growing up. So I um think that that kind of really shaped my interest and and and where I wanted to focus my career. I knew I from a very young age I wanted to work in the airline industry, and loyalty was a very quick second to that. Um so the uh my my career in up until now, um I've done a variety of things from revenue management partnerships at British Airways to uh loyalty partnerships at IAG Loyalty or Avios as it was. I ran the loyalty program at Flybee and worked with Virgin Atlantic on uh the move from Flybee to Virgin Connect on the rebrand. Um still sadly they they went bust during COVID. Pivoted out of the industry for a couple of years, um, and then managed to get back into loyalty at Hilton, um, where I uh ran uh director of loyalty EMEA for um a year and then focused on co-brand um strategy for another year before spending time at Visa, um understanding the payment network side of co-brand, of which loyalty is so key. Co-brands are massive in loyalty. And then I was tempted back into the airline business um by uh our CCO um who I worked with when he was CCO at Flybee. Um and uh the rest is history, and now I'm at KM Multa Airlines.
SPEAKER_02:Well, let's tell everyone about KM Multa Airlines, because I think it's interesting, certainly, to get your background because it's always fascinating how people come into the industry and take up certain roles. And my uh son, who is now studying to be a pilot, he's one of those, you know, we traveled so much as a kid, and he's a totally an av geek. And I've spent many, many years going to airports for plane spotting, which uh I now thoroughly enjoy as well. He takes pictures of planes, and as I'm having this conversation with Oliver, you are surrounded by uh airplanes and pictures and and models. And I've I uh I every Christmas, every birthday, it was just model plane. So he is very much in your world, and I think it's it's fascinating when people work in the travel industry how you know what verticals they work within travel. And and this is why I'm so excited to do this series because when we think about airlines, there's there's such a huge passion and such an industry unto itself. So tell everyone a bit about KM Malta Airlines. Help us understand the brand, a bit of the background, and where you guys stand today, because I want to get into the loyalty program, but I think it would be worthwhile our listeners understanding a bit more about the airline.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, sure. Um and I I remember you mentioning on a previous episode about your son and and his love of travel. And uh my my son is younger than yours, um, also loves traveling, um, but is equally getting into loyalty. So when he uh when we travel, um he says, Well, what benefits do I have? And he's only seven, but he understands that that he's got one world elite status and he knows that he's got certain benefits. My wife does too, and and my wife is actually in the airline industry as well, but different airlines. Um but getting back to KMolta Airlines, so um the airline launched on March 31st of last year. Uh the K Molta is the flag carrier of the Maltese Islands. Um they set up uh when the previous flag carrier Air Malta um closed, the very next day K Molta launched. Brand new airline, brand new processes, startup airline, um different call sign for the uh the Yav geeks. They might like to know that um our call sign um that the pilots use is actually Sky Knight, um, which harks back to the Knights of Malta, um very sort of historical reference. And KM is our two-letter code, which stands for Knights of Malta. Um I think that's really cool. And that actually says a lot about how the airline weaves Maltese culture into the airline's corporate identity and our customer experience as well. Um so that's a little bit about the airline based in Malta, um, carry 1.8 million passengers a year, um, fly to pretty much every major European city there or thereabouts, um, fleet of nine aircraft, um, A320 NEOs. Um, we've actually got the youngest fleet in Europe at the moment, I think is the correct stat. Um we were recognized recently as having the quietest fleet entering Heathrow uh or flying to and from Heathrow. Um won um an Apex four-star uh airline award recently. Um and uh yeah the airline's just going from strength to strength um and launched a loyalty program shortly after the airline started last year. It's been launched in phases. Um so I joined in February and uh I have tripled the membership base um of the loyalty program since I joined. Um really because there was a plan. I've been executing on that plan, we've refined things, we've made things a bit better for our members, and we've got a number of innovations coming out in the program that uh members have asked for and that that we knew we needed to do. And as a result, um yeah, the program itself is is growing and and we're adding partnerships, we're adding new ways to earn and burn. Um, and uh it's a really interesting place to be.
SPEAKER_02:Well, you've brought up two things. So obviously the airline and the loyalty program, and I want to get uh into the loyalty program. I just one other thing I wanted to ask you on the airline itself. Uh for our fellow Av Geeks out there, my son included, because he would typically know exactly what nine types of aircraft you have. Um tell us about the fleet itself, because obviously you've mentioned the number of passengers you take, but obviously Airbus, Boeing, and the exact models also relate to the experience people are gonna have, the routes that you carry people on, and so forth. So tell everyone what is the the makeup of that fleet.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, of course. So we have nine Airbus A320 Neos. Um they are in a two-class configuration. We have a business class cabin um with a sort of typical Euro business style layout, unlike in in the US where you have the the sort of two two. We have two two, but with a block seat in the middle. Um it means we we can uh we can really respond to passenger demand on a particular route. We can move the curtain. Um but where the business class product really comes to the fore is in the service and the catering on board, a little bit of extra space, um, and then the ground experience as well. Um Having said that, so we're we're two cabin, uh two-cabin aircraft, business and economy, and um I think our our economy product is at least as good as any um other European flag carrier. And that's a really important distinction. We are not a low-cost airline. Um we are a flag carrier, um, small flag carrier, but we are a flag carrier nonetheless, and we offer a product to suit all types of different customers looking to travel to and from Malta.
SPEAKER_02:Tell everyone what that means, a flag carrier, because I'm always very keen to make sure that all we bring our listeners on the journey. And many of our you kindly listened to a number of episodes of our podcast, which I appreciate. We've covered a lot of topics, and I want to make sure that anyone that is not as familiar with the airline space as we do our loyalty series and airlines. So tell everyone what being a flag carrier means, as as contrasted with what you just mentioned is like you know, low-cost or ultra-low-cost airlines.
SPEAKER_00:So I I I think it it's really about um in in the kind of older terminology would have been a say a full service carrier. Um full service carriers tend to be more network-based, so you'll have long haul and short haul. Um, but we are a full-service short haul airline. We offer two products of service, economy and business. Um we although we compete against low-cost carriers, and we do have products like an economy basic product, we also have other products that very much play in the full service carrier traditional um airline space. And it's up to the customer to make a choice as to whether they want a bag included in their fare, when they want a seat included, what kind of catering they would like. And even in business, do they want lounge access, do they not want lounge access, that kind of thing? Um so it's really about standing for high quality air transportation, good product, friendly cabin crew, um, excellent onboard catering, um, reliable operation, um, and uh that that's gonna be recognized with that that Apex Four Star Award.
SPEAKER_02:That's great. I appreciate giving that context because when I speak on stage about travel brands and talk about operational excellence, you really can't have a great brand experience or even a loyalty program that people want to keep coming back to if you don't deliver on the guest experience. So it really starts with uh the product, obviously the service that you've highlighted and making sure that people love the experience that KM Multi-Airlines offers. And then you can build a repeat and give them these frequent flyer points, and and that's the part I want to get into next. So when you and then part of the reason I asked you about the uh being a flag carrier, because you mentioned about your son, so like the obviously uh recognizing what status means, which my kids know what status means when they travel with me, because for a number of years I was super elite with Air Canada. I will get there again for 2026, which I am thrilled about. And so um I it's one of those things when you get status, it's very hard to go back to the regular lines and not having lounge access and all the other perks that can come with extra baggage or a dedicated phone number to be able to call if you have uh to make changes. So for me as a frequent traveler, I am totally obsessed with having status, maintaining my status, uh earning points, and you use the terms that are music to my ears about earn and burn, uh, given my background at points.com and working in the loyalty side of the business. But let's give an overview of kind of the big uh programs or the dig the big providers. So if you wouldn't mind, let's just talk about the landscape of the airline industry and the big frequent flyer programs. So, of course, you have Star Alliance, which is what Air Canada is a part of, and you have OneWorld. Um tell us a little bit about those two, if you wouldn't mind. Just give us a bit of an overview of the kind of the two largest networks and some of the frequent flyer programs, and then we'll get into Oliver how then that applies to a smaller carrier, because oftentimes smaller carriers choose to be a part of that network because they get the carryover effect. Um so yeah, give us, if you wouldn't mind, tell us a little bit about the landscape of the airlines, alliances, and these frequent flyer programs.
SPEAKER_00:Sure. Um so uh you've got OneWorld Star Alliance and Sky Team. Um so OneWorld um was founded over 25 years ago now um with uh British Airways, American Airlines, Cathy Pacific, um Canadian Airlines was uh was a founding member. Obviously, they were then uh taken over by Air Canada. Um but OneWorld um has carriers from all over the world. Star Alliance does as well. You in the US you've got United, you've got Air Canada and in Canada, you've Lufthansa group, so all the Lufthansa carriers are in in Star Alliance, Singapore Airlines um in uh in in the Far East, um in Asia, um, and and a bunch of others. I think Star Alliance has the the most number of airlines that that participate. Um and then Sky Team is Delta, Air France, KLM, um Saudia, uh and uh uh a couple of Asian uh carriers like um Korean Air. Um so each airline still maintains their own loyalty program, but they collaborate through these marketing alliances, which have a positive benefit for customers because they provide a slightly more seamless experience. But then within those alliances you often find that you'll have joint ventures. So for instance, when I was at British Airways, I worked very closely with American Airlines, who are part of the um the British areas, American Iberia Thin Air and Um Airlingus joint business, um, where you can um collaborate a lot more closely because you have something called antitrust immunity. Um outside antitrust immunity, you're um really controlled in terms of what you can collaborate on, but marketing and customer experience, absolutely you can collaborate. Um, improving operational um performance, connecting passenger experience, that kind of thing. Um and also, I mean, the key for me, and and what I think a lot of travelers really benefit from these alliances, yes, there's the operational piece of being able to through check your bag to your final destination, but a lot of that you can have outside of an alliance, um, just with with code share partnerships or interline partnerships. But really, it's about the frequent flyer benefits that you can get when traveling on one of those partner airlines and the simplicity and uniformity that you get that each program is kind of pegged to another program or to all the programs in each alliance. So it's very clear that I'm a British OS Gold member, therefore I get One World Emerald benefits, and I know that my loyalty will be recognized when I fly Alaska Airlines or when I fly Qantas or Qatar. Um and uh that provides a lot of reassurance, but it also the the alliances themselves um oftentimes can help uh the individual airlines with which loyalty program is going to attract a particular customer based on the types of travel that customer does outside of the own uh their own programs, programs, airlines network, I should say. Um so for instance, I'm a a British Airways elite member. I have family in the US, I travel back and forth four to five times a year. I fly America and I fly Alaska. If I go to Asia, I fly with Qatar, I fly to fly with ThinAir, I fly with Cathay. Um and uh so customers get a lot of benefit from from those schemes. You mentioned uh that smaller carriers um sometimes participate in alliances and sometimes choose not to. And you're actually right. So there are um smaller carriers like uh Fiji Airways uh that are part of One World. You've got Aegean, um the Greek flag carrier, the uh de facto flag carrier that's in Star Alliance. Um you have instances where other smaller carriers choose not to become part of an alliance. There are a lot of costs associated with alliance membership. Um you look at Airlingus, they used to be in One World, they left One World, and then when IAG, who's the parent company of British Airways Nigeria, purchased Airlingus, um, they chose not to rejoin One World, but instead participate in that joint business because of all of the additional complexities and costs of uh of the Alliance. As someone who loves alliances, I think that those costs are absolutely worth it from an airline perspective, but it does depend on a case-by-case basis.
SPEAKER_02:Aaron Powell That's really interesting, Oliver. I appreciate you sharing all of that context. I think that's really important for our listeners to understand the overall landscape, especially as we talk about your specific loyalty program and understand some of the nuances between the different offerings that are out there. And so when we think about loyalty programs and airlines, one of the things I also wanted to highlight to our listeners that I found astounding when the uh companies that were investing in airlines and then also spinning off their loyalty programs, where the loyalty programs can often be worth more than the airlines themselves, which seems so crazy at first, but it just highlights the value of a loyalty program. And when companies can sell points or miles and they can actually affect customer behavior, I'm sure everyone knows this in all the major markets, whether it's air miles or whatever the program you belong to, a lot of times companies will do partnerships and they'll give you double points, and it really does impact consumer behavior. And so when you control the ability for people to earn and burn, and burn is obviously the idea that people use their points, and uh many of these organizations want to successfully manage both because they actually don't want a huge amount of liability on the books when it comes to people storing up their miles and points. So they need to make sure that people are using them, and there has been a lot more regulation, as you well know, Oliver, in the last several years to make sure that uh from gift certificates to you know how you can use them, that you that they don't expire or sunset. And so there's been a lot more regulation around this to make sure people can maintain it, and therefore it increases the liability. Most of these organizations want to make sure that you're using your points, and that's why you see it with credit cards. So again, this is why I'm so fascinated with this space. Let's talk about the the program you created, especially given it's so recent and you understand uh the space so well. So tell us a bit about the loyalty program that you created and give us uh kind of a an understanding of how it works.
SPEAKER_00:Um so I I can't take credit for creating the program. Um, although I was a sounding board um in a friendly capacity prior to joining. Um I only did join in in February and the the program launched prior to me joining. Um but the the program itself, so our loyalty program is called KM Rewards. Now, most loyalty programs historically in the airline space have been frequent flyer programs. So they cater to the the the road warrior or the plane warrior, I don't know if that's even a term, but you you get the reference. The the the frequent business traveler. Um good loyalty programs recognize that frequent flyers are not the only individuals that are interested in a a loyalty program, or where um the loyalty programs can actually influence choice and and behavior and um actually can can drive greater affinity to a brand, even for those passengers that maybe travel once or twice a year. Um so KM Rewards uh being uh an airline based in Malta in a um a holiday destination with a population of only 500,000, um, we have created a loyalty program that very much caters to both to business travelers and to um leisure travelers, holiday makers, etc. Um and they want very different things. And uh you see that in in loyalty programs throughout the world. Some loyalty programs have gone a little bit too extreme. They've chased the corporate traveler, but they've done so in a way that it's revenue-based entirely, and it's all based on the fare and the corporate deal that a brand has with or a business has with an airline, and you're effectively just rewarding customers that are already committed to traveling with you. And that that's not really rewarding loyalty. Rewarding loyalty is about those customers that absolutely have a choice, and for the the brand that runs a loyalty program to give back to those customers as a thank you, but also to to drive greater engagement um so that they come back time and time again.
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SPEAKER_02:And now back to the show. So when you're putting a program together, you are obviously focusing on giving people uh some type of incentive in terms of like the points or miles so they can earn, and then they earn that within and the miles was the easiest one for people to understand, although a lot of programs now have been moving towards dollars spent. Uh Air Canada is a good example of that, which works for people like me who do spend a lot on airline tickets. But many of these road warriors you just described, or the people that you know they travel frequently, they travel for distance, but they're always they're lower cost flights. So there's always this kind of challenge of trying to uh reward customers for distance versus spend. So more companies are leaning more into spend than just distance, uh, which is an interesting development. Um but the the idea was to try and incentivize people to travel more frequently and go farther distances, because that typically would have been a more expensive ticket. So when you when the team was putting this together, what was the metric that you guys decided to put in place? And how did you kind of value that? Because that's the other part that I think that most people are also trying to wrap their head around is that what is a point or uh a mile worth with different programs? And it differs substantially as you well know. And people can look them up, but it you know it can be worth anywhere from one cent to two cents or thirty cents. It all really depends on the program. And when you earn and burn, it's a very simple formula um where you know you earn uh at one cent and you burn with two cents. And so it makes sense for the program to be able to sell these points to companies, and this is where the business model comes in. But yeah, tell us a little bit about uh how you how you the the team approached, I guess, the the value and how you created the structure.
SPEAKER_00:Sure. Um so the the the program itself um has a currency. The the currency is called Skybucks, um S K Y B U X, uh play on the dollar. Um we have taken the decision to have a very transparent value for that currency, which is is quite unique. Um one skybucks is one euro cent, and a hundred skybucks is uh one euro. Um so really transparent, really easy for customers to understand. And I think given our um leisure focus in particular, um that that really helps because the average customer doesn't want to spend loads and loads of time trying to understand the loyalty program. That's for the frequent flyers that have the time and the inclination to understand how to game the system and what the benefits are and everything else. For the the average customer, it's about the convenience factor of okay, you know something about me, so when I come back to book again, um I'm gonna have a smoother booking experience. Or um I've actually collected enough Skybucks, I can now make a part payment using Skybucks when I'm booking my my flight on the website. Um so we we've taken that that approach to be really transparent with the value. Um, but that does not mean that that it we we can't offer customers um the breadth of sort of opportunities for earn and burn that that you see with more traditional programs. Um if anything, it actually makes it slightly easier because You've got that clear value, so it's easier to go to um uh so we're we're building a really interesting concept and I'll use this as a segue to talk about that, um that we're calling the the KM Rewards Marketplace. Um it launches um in uh a few months' time and it will effectively cater to both locals that live in Malta and visitors to Malta, in as much as um you will earn your Skybux with flying with KM Malta and and purchasing our products, etc. But you will also be able to earn and burn um not only with the airline, but also with a variety of businesses in a whole number of different sectors from restaurants to bars to shops to um ride sharing. There's a whole variety of categories we're looking at um when you're in Malta. So and the idea being um because we're a startup airline, um we have designed the program from scratch and we've taken some of the the hallmarks of of really good programs. For instance, it was only two or three years ago that Qatar Airways um was the first major airline to actually introduce instant points issuance. So you actually earn your points as soon as the plane is taken off. Um we do the same. Most large airline programs are still using batch file processes for awarding points, and that can take anywhere from a day to a week. And if you're trying to then claim with a partner, sometimes it gets lost, it can take a while to come through. Um we will see more and more of that. But effectively the premise is a visitor comes to Malta, they've earned Skybucks on their purchase with the airline, they can then use those Skybucks to ha to enjoy a coffee in the coffee shop while they're waiting for their ground transportation at the airport, and then they can earn Skybucks when they're doing a tour somewhere in Malta, or when they're buying a t-shirt, or they're buying some souvenirs, or if they're ordering takeout, or they're they're ordering a drink at the bar. Um and so we're creating this whole ecosystem. And I think that's that's something really interesting. Um, but we are also looking at at the and engaged in um conversations with the more traditional partnerships as well, which ultimately are all about allowing a member to choose how they receive benefits from the program and how they interact with the program, whether they fly with us once a year or they fly with us every week. Got it.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so this is great. You've got you've now uh given everyone a clear idea, and I appreciate you mentioning the valuation because that is so important, and I actually have uh um a great respect for the way you've approached it, because it is confusing for a customer often to understand when they should be using their points and when they're being taken advantage of. And it's one of the things I've seen with loyalty programs, uh, especially my time working in the loyalty space where people would look at what it would cost them to transition from one program to another. And this was one of those burn opportunities, and I was working uh with a loyalty program provider to give people the opportunity to convert from one program to another. But the trade itself was not in the best interest of the organization. So they would they would kind of penalize people so they would it would be a huge amount of points that you would cost you to transition to another program. And this is another one of those complexities for people to understand when they're uh buying something with points, what is the actual value, even if it is upgrading their flight or given the opportunity to use even more points to pay for the rest of the flight to cover tax fees, for example. Um so I appreciate you demystifying that for everyone. The other part I'd like you to speak to, please, Oliver, is on the status side, because that to me is the primary driver of me joining a loyalty program. I love the points as well, but for me, they're a major secondary benefit that I also get to use all these points to be able to fly my family places or um to be able to purchase things, but I primarily use my points to redeem for additional air travel. That's like and I've got so much air travel, I'm continually using my points uh when I have uh accumulated enough again. So I I definitely benefit from the points side of it. But really for me, it's about the status. And I don't mean status in the what other people. I was speaking to Mark Roth Smith, who's the CEO of uh Loyalty Coin Status Match. He joined our podcast when I was at the uh focus rate conference in Europe. And when I was saying to him, you know, uh humans are status oriented, it's part of our species. So like there's there's a direct connection to the fact that pretty much everything we do is status oriented, the cars we buy, the watches we wear, the schools we send our kids to. But for me, when it comes to status, it's not so much about people seeing that I have that tag on my bag or I'm in the uh elite line. It's not, I I don't think psychologically, it's not what I think other people think of me, which um I know it can be a driver of people's status motivations, but for me, it's truly the benefit I get from it. Like it is the seamless way I can navigate through an airport. It's the lounge access. It's not being steam in the lounge, it's the fact that I can relax in the lounge, take calls, get work done. So tell us a little bit about the status part of your program and what some of the incentives are. And ultimately, too, Oliver, since you're you know an expert in this space, how important status is to a loyalty program.
SPEAKER_00:Um you mentioned Mark Ross Smith. Um, I've known him for many, many years. Um we uh bumped into each other at a conference back in May and within two months had launched a status match partnership. Uh they've got an amazing uh piece of technology. I've seen, I've worked for companies that do status matches manually, and it's just a mess. And there's so much fraud and it's really hard to keep track of. So what Mark has built, because he's run a loyalty program, he gets it, the whole team there does. Um I appreciate that they they sponsor this series, but I'm saying this from the heart because I I've known them for a while. Um they do what they do best because they've lived and breathed it. And uh so we we marked on our partnership because I saw an opportunity to um change the preference of certain uh potential passengers that are maybe flying their preferred airline that have an alliance membership um to and from Malta whenever they're traveling for business. And I also saw an opportunity to drive a little bit more leisure travel as well. Um the reason being we have the best scheduled to and from every major European city to and from Malta. Therefore, um on on sort of key business routes, and uh therefore I wanted to remove that status barrier. And so we we launched this this status match. Um now you're gonna have status in a One World, a Sky Team, or a Star Alliance member program as well if you travel lots outside of Europe. But if you're traveling regularly to and from Malta, it makes sense to fly with the national airline. And I've now removed that barrier of friction to making the jump to do so. Um in terms of the the tiers themselves, um, so you join as a member, um, quite quickly you can progress to a traveler. Um traveler comes with um a couple of additional benefits, but it's really about um driving a little bit more engagement. Um you earn points at a slightly quicker rate, um, you earn a tier milestone bonus that that is uh a direct um Skybux um award. So you can then use those Skybux, I think it's it's 10 euros equivalent. You can then use them which covers the cost of of a seat or or um can contribute towards a bag, or you can use towards your flight, or or even once the marketplace launches, you can buy round of coffees. Um and uh then you progress to Explorer once you you've hit um a certain amount of spend, and then our very top tier is is pioneer. Um and uh we find that our pioneer members are um fiercely loyal. That there's uh um a small but but very important group of of pioneers. The explorer base is much larger than pioneers as as you would expect, and and and and the funnel kind of is like a a triangle or pyramid, and and that's the same in every loyalty program. The wants and needs of explorers and pioneers is very different to that of base members. Their travel expectations are different, the reasons for travel, their motivations are different. Um, and much like you said, it's those pioneers that are traveling week in, week out, they're primarily traveling for business, but they do still occasionally travel for leisure or they travel with their family, and they want to get those benefits in both instances. So we've developed a program that does that. Um, where we maybe aren't as generous as some of the larger carriers, but we we have to be because we need to um make sure that we have a sustainable program that we don't constantly look to devalue, is that we don't give away absolutely everything to our status members. But what we have done is we've introduced these tier milestone bonuses. So when you cross a tier, you earn a milestone bonus. That milestone bonus is Skybucks. If you're a pioneer and you've gone from member to pioneer in that one year, you earn the bonus at each of those thresholds. And you can then choose to do what you want with those Skybucks, whether it's to pay for a flight or whether it's every time I fly, if my company won't pay for me to select a seat in advance, I'm gonna use those Skybucks and I'm gonna pay for a seat in advance because I always want to sit in 9A or whatever it might be. Um but we do provide things like priority boarding with guaranteed cabin baggage, uh priority check-in, lounge access, all the primary typical things that you would expect at that very top tier level. Explorers get a taste of that. Um, and we we do just enough to kind of push people up each of the tiers. And there are a number of benefits that we're looking into as the program matures um over uh the coming sort of six months to a year.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's interesting to hear those different stages, and it's exactly what I was you know uh highlighting with my experience where you know you get your uh 50k, 75, 100, and then you see the benefits to achieving a higher status, and then you are totally freaked out at the idea of losing your status. And sometimes that happens by virtue of like a job change, or if you took time off, or you know, the pandemic, a lot of programs extended them for one year and then two years, and then some people still found themselves uh not achieving their previous status, so um, which is exactly the situation I found uh myself in. So uh since you mentioned status match and marketing, yes, of course, they kindly sponsored this series, which is appreciated. But one of the things I just wanted to uh to highlight is uh how that works from your point of view. Like what was it about their uh product and solution that appealed to you that you decided to partner with them? I'm just genuinely curious because this is where I as I've gotten to know uh more about their company and their team, I see huge potential for it. But I don't uh help us understand why and what what what was it that convinced you uh to partner with them?
SPEAKER_00:Um I think it's the technology. Um it's the technology and the know-how and knowing that you're working with people that have been in your shoes. And the the the platform itself, um there's a a data feed between our program and and their platform. It's white labeled, so it looks like it it's our website and it's just an extension thereof. But uh by effectively charging for a status match instead of just giving the status of match away for free, a that alone provides a higher quality of member and makes sure that um you reduce fraud. But then they also do a number of um fraud checks um to make sure that we're getting those good quality members. Um and we it also removes a lot of the manual headaches. Um so it's previous companies I've worked for that have done status matches, they have been very manual. There's been a form that you fill out or an email that you send. Um there's been a manual adjustment of the tier um on on the backend side. Um a huge percentage of those status matches typically are either people that are being opportunistic that maybe don't ever have any intention of actually engaging in your program, or they're um they're they're they're spam, um uh sort of bots running in the background, just deciding to to kind of hammer the database, etc. Um or the people that wanting to do it for for one time to get the benefits and then cash out and never interact with your brand again. So knowing that there's an amazing tech solution, that they're charging, yes, we make a little bit on that, but it really just covers the benefits if someone then travels once or or twice um with us. And then it's up to us to then really engage with that member to make them want to preference KM Alta Airlines as the primary airline of choice when traveling to and from the Maltese Islands. Um but there are other products that that we're we're introducing too. So I imagine by the time this launches, um, this this podcast, we will have launched, or be very shortly about to launch a status boost product, um, also facilitated by Loyalty Status Co. Um for all the reasons that I previously mentioned, uh primarily around the technology piece. That is around people realizing that they see someone in that priority boarding queue, or they see someone with their guaranteed cabin baggage, or they see the lounge and think, how can I get in there? They're like, I want that. I want those benefits. Um, I want that dedicated phone number to be able to call and speak to someone straight away. Um we're gonna give them that opportunity because for a small fee, you'll be able to earn double or triple status points on all of your upcoming trips for a period of three months on a subscription basis. And then at the end of the membership year, say someone hasn't been able to travel as much as they thought, or a couple of business trips got cancelled, um, but they can't bear to lose their benefits. Um much like I myself have actually paid for uh preventing points from expiring in the currency sense, we're introducing the ability to effectively buy back your status that you were going to be downgraded at the end of the membership year. So I'm I'm excited about that because I think it gives the customer choice. Um, but it also means that we understand and we found a kind of a way that satisfies both the airline and the customer, that if you don't want to lose your benefits, we've got a solution for that.
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SPEAKER_02:And now back to the show. There's uh so much to know about loyalty programs, and there's clearly lots of um not only podcasts, but uh newsletters, websites. I mean, there's the point sky, there's like this is an industry uh unto itself, and you know, we are uh I'm keen to I'm I'm keen to explore it further for many of our listeners. But um one of the things that I wanted to also ask you about is given where we are, so you've you know talked about the the skybox and the monetary value, you've talked about the status, which I can I can't see as um I couldn't see as as as more important. So it's interesting to get your uh take on your collaboration with the team there and how you're seeing that. The one thing uh I would love to understand, the combination of those things, how important is it to build repeat? And what have you seen so far? I realize you know you've had this program for just over a year. You've obviously you know you're just launching this uh status match initiative, but just in terms of frequent flyer loyalty programs, what could you share with us that you've seen so far as the the benefits from implementing a program? How much has it increased uh repeat bookings or you know, taking customers that uh and you know that concept of share of wallet is like to get them to make sure that every time they're flying to Malta, they're choosing uh to fly with you. So tell us what you've seen so far.
SPEAKER_00:Sure. Well, I think probably the best way to illustrate that um is uh last month we introduced the ability to redeem your Skybux in the booking flow. Um so rather than have to go to a separate part on the website and search for availability and all of that, we we've just effectively added the ability to use your Skybux with a point slider. So you can choose how many you want to use. You can mix them with your credit card payment, we're expand, uh you can purchase ancillaries, we're then rolling that out into Manage My Booking in the coming months as well, to add on additional ancillaries and pay with your Skybux. Um the reason I mention it though, uh, and this is something that really impressed both both me and the wider team, was before we had actually announced the functionality, we soft launched, we wanted to test it in a production environment, um, sort of live environment. I I booked some tickets, I I uh um then uh uh tried to use my Skybux to redeem, etc. Um, because you can test things, but there's nothing like doing it in the real world. Um and so I I got my hands dirty and I did that. And and uh what shocked me though was in the first 24 hours after launch, before we'd even told anyone that we'd added the feature, customers were logging in in the booking flow and they were redeeming Skybux. And on day one, we were already reaching or bookings that had Skybucks being used in combination in part or whole with um with cash were making up around about four percent of all bookings that day. And since then that's only grown. Um and that just said so much to me that like as much as from a a kind of traditionalist loyalty perspective, a fixed value could be seen as um uh less flexible from a creative PL perspective, actually, simplicity really drives customer behavior. Um and we're we're we're now up into um a significant um number of bookings that have been made with Skybux. And that the trend just continues. And I think when you look at look at uh at other innovations in the industry, you look at what Alaska Airlines has announced recently um with uh their new Atmos program for Alaska and and Hawaiian um with uh as a result of the merger um or acquisition of Hawaiian by Alaska. Um they are I believe the first airline loyalty program to come out and actually give customers the choice to say, I fly based on distance or I fly based on spend. Because for different people, that means so much. Um we haven't done that, but what we have done is on the value side, we've said, actually, we want to give customers that transparency. Two different things, but both sort of similar concepts. It's about simplicity. There's intricacy there too if people want to find it, but for the majority of customers, it's about I want to get some instant benefits. And I I think the other real benefit that that we've seen, um I was shocked to discover that the average booking time for a member that is logged in in the booking flow, whether or not they paid with Skybux, but just having logged in, and because we have captured all of their information in the program, the average booking time for those logged in members is 50 seconds shorter to make a booking and convert than for people that do not log in. So that by itself, the loyalty program saves time. And time is is so precious for most people.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, time, especially when you're traveling and time away from your family or the need to get to a meeting. So I mean this is where you know having uh status uh uh has uh uh saved you time in in a number of different ways. But yeah, uh I appreciate you sharing this because uh I find this really fascinating. The the part I would also like to I guess highlight is where do you think this is going? So you uh you know, it's still I guess early days uh for the program overall. So I mean there's lots of different ways this will um evolve and grow. But you know, given where you've gotten to and some of the plans you have in place, what do you see your loyalty program looking like in the next couple of years? Where do you think this is headed? Are you are you putting more that of the focus then on um the status side as uh or the skybox or a combination of both? Yeah, tell us a little bit what's what's ahead for the program.
SPEAKER_00:Sure. Um so it's about expanding how our members can earn and redeem their skybox, uh, both with K Multa Airlines and with with our partners. Um I've mentioned the marketplace. Uh we're looking at a number of travel partnerships as well, um, where customers would be able to earn and and potentially burn. Um we're looking at exchange partnership opportunities too, um, given that a lot of our customers are outside of Malta and they might have um earned a lot of points in in other programs, um, whether it be in travel or outside of travel, uh, we're looking at how we can um help them convert their points from program A into KM Rewards Skybucks, and then they'll be able to book their holiday to Malta using their Skybux. Um but it's also about expanding those benefits, uh making the travel experience more seamless. My other hat is um I look after CRM at the airlines, it's customer relationship management. That's all about not only those loyalty members, but the non-loyalty members and really improving um communication with them, knowing more about them, being more personalized with how we talk to our customers. And I think that as the program itself grows, um, and the more customers we convert to members, and the more that we build the program out with airline partners, travel partners, non-travel partners, everyday um sort of earn and burn opportunities, we're gonna nerd we're gonna I mean we're gonna learn more and more about our customers, which ultimately allows us to better communicate to them in the way that they want to be communicated to, which ultimately means they will be more loyal to us as the airline and as the lead in from a loyalty program perspective. Um there's a that there's a lot coming up. It's an exciting place to be. Um we absolutely can scale from from where we are. Um and I think one of the benefits of of working for a smaller airline is that you get to get be involved in so many different things and you can influence change so quickly. Um that's not to say I haven't enjoyed my time at in bigger airlines and and at Hilton and Visa. It's just different. And I'm getting so much experience and exposure because I'm building the strategy at the same time as doing the testing and answering member complaints and working with the contact center, our KMR Ward support team to figure out how to handle certain situations. And it it's uh yeah, just a a really interesting place to be in my career.
SPEAKER_02:Aaron Powell It's one of the reasons I was really keen to have you on the podcast and part of this series, is because you are really in a sweet spot as far as I'm concerned when you look at loyalty programs, rather than just talking to the largest players, which it's the knowledge and insights are only going to be beneficial when you have that size and scale of an organization. What I thought you could share, and clearly you've done in our conversation today, is to be able to help a lot of organizations that may not have a loyalty program or are you know much earlier in the journey to share some of your experience, which there's a number of valuable takeaways I can definitely point to from our discussion. And so I want to make sure that we leave everyone with one of your biggest takeaways uh that they can apply from your experience, you know, implementing this program, optimizing this program, and the journey ahead. Uh what might be, Oliver, one of the one or two things that you might suggest for those people listening to this that are trying to decide if they want to get on board with creating a loyalty program or uh optimizing what they have if they're not currently uh seeing the the benefits?
SPEAKER_00:What would be a couple of suggestions you'd share with them? Um so firstly, make sure that you really understand who your customers are, understand um or identify who you want your loyalty program to cater to. Is it your entire customer base? Is it a small subset of your customer base? Then make sure that you've done the modeling on the profit and loss side of things. But but also taking into account it's not always just about the loyalty, profit, and loss account. It's about the wider benefits of the loyalty program, um the repeat business, the the the higher opt-in to marketing that you tend to see from loyalty members, the more likelihood that it is that they'll book direct. Some of those intangible benefits, and and some of which you can add a value to because your costs are potentially lower with direct bookings, etc. Um So it's about understanding your customer base, really making sure your customer proposition for the loyalty program is relevant to those customers. And then think about those uh technology solutions and make sure that they work for not only the systems that you have within your own business, but also to be able to potentially work with integrators to unlock other partnerships or to be able to adapt the loyalty program without having to take six months to do X, Y, and Z in hard coding in the back end. Um and I think ultimately it's about making sure that everyone in the business understands the importance of the loyalty program. So whether it be your frontline staff that understand why they need to welcome the elite members on board, um why uh they're so important to the business, why general members are so important to the business, and making sure that the CFO and and and the whole of the CCO, that the whole C-suite and all of your peers understand the power of loyalty when it relates to their specific business function as well as the business as a whole. Because loyalty is so much more than just rewarding customers. It's a a key lever in the growth of a brand and in driving repeat business and a major part of your marketing strategy.
SPEAKER_02:Thanks so much, Oliver. I've so enjoyed our conversation today. I think it's a terrific way to kick off this series, talk about loyalty, talking about airlines. I appreciate you highlighting some of the ways you've been working with Status Match as well. I find that business model fascinating and I want to spend more time exploring this space, but I this has been a terrific start to these conversations. I just want to close off by making sure that people can reach out to you and connect with you if they're looking to learn more about loyalty programs and just stay in touch with someone that's so knowledgeable in this space. So, where where would you suggest they do that?
SPEAKER_00:Sure. So for me personally, um absolutely connect on uh LinkedIn. Um Oliver Ross. Um love to connect, love to talk to fellow Av Geeks, fellow um uh people that are really interested in um loyalty programs, uh both in the UK, Europe, the US, and and beyond. Um and uh in terms of the airline, KMAltaAirlines.com is is our website. Uh we have uh KM Malta Airlines app. We also have a a loyalty app, um KM Rewards, um, that you can find on uh on the app stores. So um the last thing I'd I'd just like to say is A, Dan, thanks ever so much for um inviting me on the podcast. I've really enjoyed it. Um enjoyed getting to know you as well. And for anyone that has never been to Malta and has never tried KM Malta Airlines, you absolutely have to come. You have to visit Malta. It's an amazing place. I thoroughly enjoy spending every two weeks in Malta. I go there on holiday with my family as well. And I just can't say enough good things about the place, about the culture, about the people, about the cuisine. And you get to experience all of that when you fly on KM Malta Airlines too. And make sure you join the rewards program, KM Rewards at the same time. Thanks, Dan. I appreciate you uh having me on.
SPEAKER_02:That's awesome. Thank you so much, Oliver. I can't wait to get to Malta. And now I know how I'm going to get there. So thank you again very much for joining us. I look forward to keeping in touch. Thanks so much for joining us on the latest episode of Travel Trends. I hope you enjoyed this first episode on our loyalty series with Oliver Ross. I certainly thoroughly enjoyed the conversation in part because my son is so passionate about aviation. He happens to share the same name as Oliver. And my son is now studying to be a pilot, as you heard from our conversation. So it's really wonderful to speak to someone that has this much passion and interest for the subject matter. So thank you again, Oliver, for joining us. I look forward to keeping in touch. And thanks as well for attending my session at WTM. It was great to meet you afterwards. And I look forward to seeing the continued success of this program. Now, next week, we're going to have Erin Murray joining us from Loyalty Status Co., who just so happens to also be the sponsor of this series. But that's actually not the reason. It's more coincidental because I was really keen to have Erin on the Travel Trends podcast, and she has such a deep expertise in the loyalty space and obviously is doing amazing things with loyalty status and the status match in particular, which you can learn more information about at loyaltystatus.com before our interview next week. And then we're going to round out the series. I'm thrilled that we're going to have the CEO of Citizen M. I've already recorded this episode with him live. Leonard DeYoung is a fascinating case study in how to build a successful boutique hotel chain, which has been acquired by Marriott. And they created their own loyalty program that was incredibly successful. So you're going to hear their journey. And now obviously they're connected to Marriott Bonvoy. So he shares some really unique perspectives on where the industry is headed. So I'm really looking forward to sharing that conversation with you as well to round out our three-part series on loyalty as we prepare to bring that back as a theme and a topic again in 2026. And just on that note, as we hit the midway point of our season, I would love to hear any suggestions you have for our team with the topics, the guests you want us to focus on in 2026. So feel free to reach out to me anytime, Dan at Travel Trends Podcast. I'm always delighted to hear from you. And I just want to make sure that everyone knows that you can always send feedback to us and the team. I love hearing from many of our listeners about the impact that our podcast has had on your career, on your company. So feel free to reach out. It really inspires me and the team and helps us shape the future of both the content we want to produce on our podcast and also our events because we're going to be doing a lot more events for 2026. So thanks again for joining us and being a part of our extended community. And until next week, safe travels.
