SSI and Alaska Airlines recently announced a new loyalty rewards program called The Opinion Terminal, which offers Mileage Plan members the opportunity to earn award miles by participating in surveys and sharing their opinions.
Mileage Plan members who enroll in The Opinion Terminal program will receive 400 award miles after completing their first survey while Elite members will receive 600 award miles. Award miles will be directly deposited into a member’s Mileage Plan account and can be redeemed for air travel on Alaska Airlines, Virgin America and Alaska’s Global Partners.
Bob Fawson, SSI’s chief product officer, talked to Loyalty360 about the unique qualities of the Opinion Terminal loyalty program.
“What makes SSI’s approach different and better is that study participants (Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members) are rewarded directly in the currency of the airline,” Fawson explained. “This reinforces the brand and provides a more seamless experience than many other loyalty programs that reward in points which people then have to make an effort to claim by taking an extra step and navigating to the brand environment. With SSI, it’s much more seamless. These programs are also popular because researchers aren’t trying to sell the airline customer anything. They are providing an interesting activity (survey-taking) which allows people to get more rewards without buying anything and thus reinforces the brand in a positive light.”
SSI’s research shows that people find taking surveys satisfying for reasons other than just the points, Fawson noted.
“They enjoy giving their opinions, they find it to be a learning experience, and they like to be the first to know about new products, services, and offers,” he added.
Alaska Airlines, together with Virgin America and its regional partners, flies 40 million guests a year to 118 destinations with an average of 1,200 daily flights across the United States and to Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica and Cuba. With Alaska and Alaska global partners, guests can earn and redeem miles on flights to more than 900 destinations worldwide.
Alaska Airlines ranked “Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Carriers in North America” in the J.D. Power North America Satisfaction Study for 10 consecutive years from 2008 to 2017. Alaska Mileage Plan ranked “Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Airline Loyalty Rewards Programs” in the J.D. Power 2016 Airline Loyalty/Rewards Program Satisfaction Report for the past three years.
“Alaska Airlines is excited to offer this simple and easy way for Mileage Plan members to earn additional miles through The Opinion Terminal program with SSI,” said Ryan Butz, Alaska Airlines managing director of guest loyalty.
SSI’s B2B and B2C audiences are part of the world’s largest and most trusted proprietary sample, which means participants are carefully recruited, verified, and managed according to SSI’s high standards. SSI reaches and engages even the most challenging targets from more than 90 countries.
“SSI believes, in general, that loyalty customers are looking for new and different ways to earn reward points toward travel and other products and/or services,” Fawson added. “By accumulating more points, people are able to use them to interact with the brand and keep the brand top of mind. The good thing about working with SSI is that we have years of experience with loyalty programs in the travel and leisure space. Because of that, we have developed a platform and program that will be up and running quickly with minimal set-up effort. This makes it standout from other loyalty program options that might be available.”