As if domestic carriers in India did not have enough on their plates already, there's another morale crusher taking shape —missing customer loyalty in loyalty programmes. 

As Bangalore-based entrepreneur Devashree B, a member of the once celebrated King Club of Kingfisher Airlines, says, “I had the King card and often used the upgrades and lounge facility. But recently after the airline started cancelling flights and the schedules went haywire, I stopped flying Kingfisher Airline altogether. I have now switched to another airline, the frequent flier points notwithstanding.”

But it's not only Kingfisher airlines, reeling under debt and losses, that has not been able to use its frequent flier programme (FFP) effectively. Another frequent flier, a Delhi-based consultant, who has earned thousands of miles on a rival full service carrier, also complains. “One is unable to redeem miles on most occasions as those are the black-out dates. On other occasions you have to give notice of at least 10 days to the airline to redeem them, which in my profession is not possible.”

Clearly, in these troubled times, customers would rather opt for on-time, efficient service and up front discounts than loyalty programmes.

Moreover, the fact that despite only full-service carriers offering frequent flyer programmes and not low-cost carriers (LCCs), the market share of LCCs is still estimated to be over 70%, speaks volumes about the ineffectiveness of such programmes in the domestic travel market as per a report in Financial Express Vishakha Talreja Guha.

As Amber Dubey, director-aviation, KPMG, points out, “The experience of the Indian market shows that the average passenger is looking for punctual flights, efficient service and low fares. The utility of FFPs to attract passengers in the price-sensitive Indian market is doubtful. It was made worse by the fact that many members fail to redeem the points when they want due to blackout dates or seat limitation for redemption. As a result, the FFP redemptions in India have been way below the amount provisioned by leading carriers.”

However, he adds that globally, FFP is still an effective tool for creating brand loyalty and the programme needs to be adapted to the specific context of the Indian market to be successful here.

Globally, airlines not only give the option of earn and burn miles, but with alliances in place passengers can even redeem miles on other member carriers. This is where Indian carriers face another hurdle. With debt-ridden national carrier Air India being denied a membership of the Star Alliance and recently Kingfisher also putting its entry in Oneworld on hold, FFP members of these airlines are denied the chance to redeem points on other carriers too.

Deloitte India's senior director Vishwas Deloitte agrees: “FFPs have lost their relevance in the domestic market. People are no longer choosing airlines based on loyalty programmes. Travel patterns have changed in recent years and low-cost carriers have become quite aggressive with their service.”

However, airlines predictably disagree. “Loyalty programmes are an effective tool for retention as well as attracting new customers. This is true especially on the domestic sector, where prices across carriers are similar. For a frequent flier, what differentiates and aids selection of a particular airline is the ability to earn frequent flier points for one's travel,” says a Jet Airways spokesperson.

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