Singapore – According to the most current YouGov Surveys data, three out of every five Singaporean customers (61%) are members of at least one airline loyalty program.
Singapore Airlines/Scoot KrisFlyer emerges as the preferred loyalty program, with nearly half (48%) of respondents members, much outnumbering Emirates Skywards (8%) and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (6%), which rank second and third.
When asked which two major benefits they appreciate most as members of an airline loyalty program, more than half (55%) stressed the importance of redeeming their miles for discounted or free trips.
Approximately 38% of people consider seat upgrades to be the most important benefit, while 27% value airport lounge access, making up the top three most desired perks.
Travel savings on hotel bookings (20%) and more luggage allowance (18%) are the most popular incentives, outranking bargains on retail purchases (13%), priority boarding (12%), and dedicated customer service (6%).
Although the relative popularity of certain benefits is stable across genders, women have a significantly higher preference for redeeming miles for discounted or free flights (60% vs. 51%), while men prioritise airport lounge access (32% vs. 22%).
The most popular reward across various generations of airline loyalty club members is receiving discounts or redemptions on flight tickets, with Millennials indicating a particularly strong preference (62%). Furthermore, when compared to members of other age cohorts, Gen Z members of airline loyalty clubs are significantly more likely to value additional luggage capacity (23%).
When asked how they typically decide on foreign travel bookings, nearly half (47%) of airline loyalty program members said they start by researching possibilities among airlines with whom they have loyalty membership. 14% of this group said they generally limit their options to flights offered by those specific carriers.
Approximately one in every five people (21%) like to first look for flights that match their vacation plans before using their loyalty membership to narrow down the available possibilities.
Nonetheless, 29% of respondents said their airline loyalty program membership has no bearing on their international flight ticket purchases.
Furthermore, men are substantially more likely than women to prioritise airlines where they have a loyalty membership at the start of their search for foreign flight tickets, with percentages of 51% and 41%, respectively.
Significantly, more than a third of Baby Boomers (35%) said their airline loyalty memberships have no influence on their selections to purchase overseas flight tickets.
