Virgin Group and Virgin Atlantic to launch new Virgin loyalty programme
Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Group have announced the intention to build a brand new Virgin-wide loyalty programme, with unique and differentiated reward opportunities to reward customer loyalty across Virgin companies.
A new company, Virgin Group Loyalty Company, will be set up to own and manage this exciting programme. Virgin Red, an existing loyalty start-up within the Virgin Group, will also be integrated into the new group-wide loyalty programme. The new company will bring reward across the Virgin family together into a single company and create a more valuable offer for our customers. The new company will launch in 2019 and will be owned by Virgin Group and Delta Air Lines.
Flying Club will continue as the frequent flyer programme for Virgin Atlantic's customers and will continue to use miles as its currency. Flying Club members will continue to collect tier points and collect and redeem miles across Virgin Atlantic, Delta and a range of airline and other partners as they do today. In the future Flying Club members can look forward to an expanded range of ways to collect and redeems miles that will be powered by the new Virgin loyalty programme.
Andrew Swaffield has been appointed as CEO to lead the Virgin Group Loyalty Company. Previously the CEO of Avios and most recently the Monarch group, Swaffield has a wealth of experience in the travel and loyalty industry. He said: "Virgin is one of the most admired brands in the UK and across the world, serving 53 million customers each year across 60 companies. Customers expect to be rewarded for their loyalty to Virgin and we want to ensure Virgin customers get the very best rewards possible. Our ambition is to bring the Virgin companies together and combine their appeal to customers, working together to create a truly outstanding offer."
Oliver Byers, SVP Global Sales and Customer Loyalty, Virgin Atlantic, added: "Today Flying Club offers Virgin Atlantic's customers compelling and valuable rewards for flying on Virgin Atlantic, Delta and a range of Flying Club partners. This will continue to be the case, but at the same time we're excited to work collaboratively with Virgin Group to build a stronger loyalty programme and unleash the power of our shared brand to reward customers for their loyalty to Virgin. We'll be giving customers more reasons to join Flying Club and fly with Virgin Atlantic and our airline partners."
The Virgin Group Loyalty Company and Virgin Atlantic will keep customers updated with more detail of the new loyalty programme as it is developed.