IAG Loyalty is flying as younger customers see the value of points

The loyalty business of the airline group IAG has become one of the fastest growing in the world as younger consumers and eager travellers look to pick up points from spending. IAG Loyalty’s programmes, through which users accrue Avios points when they fly with airlines including British Airways and Iberia, grew 38 per cent in value between 2020 and 2023 to just over $7 billion, according to research by On Point Loyalty.
That compares with 10 per cent growth for the US carrier Delta Air Lines, which is the largest airline points programme globally, with an estimated value of $28 billion. Meanwhile, that of Germany’s Lufthansa group grew 7 per cent over the same time period and Air France’s by 4 per cent.It comes as research by Skift, the travel industry site, which was commissioned by IAG Loyalty, shows that younger age groups — people aged between 25 and 44 — were the most frequent users of loyalty programmes.Travel-related rewards remain the most popular among those surveyed, with nearly a third (30 per cent) of consumers ranking discounts on holidays and travel as their preferred reward, ahead of other incentives such as experiences (21 per cent), upgrades (14 per cent) or car hire (3 per cent).And six in ten consumers (61 per cent) want to collect more points from day-to-day shopping to spend on holidays, Skift found. On average, consumers are willing to spend 17 per cent more on their weekly shopping to collect points for travel and holidays.
• What are Avios points and how can I collect them?
Bosses at IAG Loyalty hope to expand the programme, including to more airlines. The Avios currency was introduced to Qatar Airways in March 2022.Skift found that nearly two thirds of consumers (65 per cent) are members of at least three loyalty programmes, with 27 per cent members of five or more. Many backed the idea of combining programmes into a single, unified system.