Travelocity Rolls Out Rewards, VIP Program for Loyal Customers
Travelocity is taking rewards to another level, offering customers new perks designed to enhance booked trips through the online travel agency.
The online travel site is now rewarding customers with extra incentives (think gift certificates to online stores and discounts to events) for booking flights, hotels and vacation packages. Under the new offering, Travelocity is turning customers’ days of ordinary reservation-making into an experience.
Customers who book travel plans (airfare, vacation packages or hotels) through Travelocity, can receive special offers, termed “surprise and delight offers”, based on the items they book online. For example, customers who recently booked a selected hotel in New York City receive a custom anthology of The New Yorker. Others who reserved a qualified vacation to Las Vegas got a $25 gift certificate for shopping at Desert Passage and $25 toward live entertainment through ShowTickets.com.
Travelers who book a qualified ski vacation get a $50 gift certificate to MountainGear.com or a $25 gift certificate for reserving a qualified vacation to Napa Valley.
“When you look at the different online travel sites, the pries are generally equal,” Travelocity spokesman Dan Taporek said. “We want to build an experience around the travel [consumers] are buying.”
After customers confirm their purchase, they can also opt to receive a Bon Voyage e-mail, which travelers get 10 days before departure. The e-mail contains a virtual care package with a variety of offers customers can take advantage of during their trip. A customer who books a trip to Las Vegas gets discounts or recommendations on Las Vegas music downloads from iTunes, Blockbuster movies and Barnes & Nobles books.
When travelers return home, they can down their pictures to the Travelocity Photo Center, offered by Snapfish. On the site, consumers will receive a free set of prints and can share photos with their friends.
Travelocity’s site “is more than just a place to book a flight,” Taporek said. “We want to make customers’ experience something more.”
Print ads, p.r. and online materials support.
In addition to the rewards offering, Travelocity has launched a beta test of its Travelocity VIP program, which will provide additional awards to top customers. The VIP loyalty program, which launches in 2006, will include a dedicated toll-free number of priority customer services and easy-to-redeem benefits. VIP members will also receive unique “surprise and delight offers.”
“We want to go a step further for our loyal customers,” Taporek said.
Travelocity is sending out invitations this month to customers for its VIP program via e-mail. Further details will be announced during the program’s launch.
