Do you like to build up air miles? A new study has find that almost half of flyers never redeem their air miles because the because the terms and conditions are too restrictive.
Incremental revenue experts Collinson Latitude surveyed 1,005 British flyers in 2012 to find out about air mile usage. The survey also showed that 60 percent of people think they need to take too many flights before they can get a reward that's worth it, the Daily Mail reports.
Many reward programs are made to keep travelers with the same airlines so they fly with a particular airline often. However airline reward programs are facing criticism because 40 percent of people who collect miles never use them because the rules are not clear.
There are roughly 14 trillion reward points that have never been used by frequent flyers. According to the study, 79 percent of people who travel more than seven times per year want rewards that aren't related to travel
According to the Daily Mail, loyalty programs have changed significantly since Airmiles started in 1988. Airlines have very strict rules when it comes to rewards. For instance, many don't let passengers redeem their miles or points during peak travel times, air miles do expire and some airlines require a customer to spend a minimum amount even when using miles or points.
"Traditional rewards programs are not necessarily designed to accommodate the changing needs of customers as it takes too long to build up enough points," James Berry, product director told the Daily Mail.
"Commercial results from reward programs are increasingly under scrutiny and just doing the same thing will not help drive incremental profitability, nor will it tackle the problem of unused points," Berry added.
According to the study, almost 50 percent of British adults flew in 2012 but only 23 percent said they collected loyalty points.
Jay Sorensen, president of IdeaWorksCompany recommends that airlines expand their loyalty programs.
Many regular business travelers use British Airways' loyalty program. Many budget airlines don't use loyalty programs.
"The UK is a bit of an enigma in the market, as their three largest airlines don't encourage people to sign up to their programs," Sorenson told CNN.com
"Air France-KLM are particularly good. They have frequent promotions that allow members to redeem international awards at just half the usual miles."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
