By Joseph M. Calisi ©2022 All Rights Reserved
Rome, Italy, March 8, 2022
Ita Airways is an ongoing evolution into an airline with a full slate of ‘Volare’ programs, and this is just one of them.
The ‘Volare’ Ita Airways air loyalty program was ‘kicked off’ on 15 October 2021 (first day of operations) to give its passengers a unique, 360 ° travel experience of maximum value. The 4 pillars of the program emphasize freedom, personalization, choice and, connection:
FREEDOM: Volare is a revenue-based accumulation of points program linked to overall expenditure rather than to the distance traveled, thereby ensuring that the customer gets a genuine return of value with the points-based accumulation system between 10 to 23 points per euro spent, with multipliers based on the level of membership, the route, flight class, and the ticket purchased. Moreover, redeeming points has literally no limits. In fact, there are no ‘blackout’ dates or purchase limits for award tickets: any class, fare, and route will be redeemable, on any date. The number of points required for award flights will vary according to the value of the ticket at that time; customers can therefore choose to use their points freely whenever they want to, based on how many points they want to spend. Finally, using the “cash & points” mode, the customer can pay for a ticket entirely using the points they have collected or, if these are not enough, making up the difference with cash.
PERSONALIZATION: Volare is a ‘made to measure’ program that consists of four exclusive Clubs, on an upward scale of increasing levels of premiums and dedicated priority services. With every purchase on ITA flights, customers can accumulate the points they need to upgrade to the higher Club level and take advantage of various benefits and premium services. Furthermore, beginning from Club Smart, as the access threshold increases, the advantage for the customer also increases in terms of multipliers and the services available:
· Club Smart: lets the customer accumulate and redeem points with every purchase they make on ITA Airways flights and soon, also on the marketplaces of its partners.
· Club Plus: has an access threshold of 30,000 points, and an accrual multiplier of 10%. This gives extra baggage services, priority benefits on baggage tags, boarding, check-in, transfer desk, and Priority lost and found, as well as a dedicated customer service.
· Club Premium: has an access threshold of 60,000 points and an accrual multiplier of 20%. Its exclusive services include access to the Lounges, Free Fast Track, free assigned seat, extra baggage, and Priority benefits on baggage tags, boarding, check-in, transfer desk, and Priority lost and found, as well as a dedicated customer service.
· Club Executive: with an access threshold of 90,000 points and an accrual multiplier of 30%, it gives access to the Lounges, Free Fast track, free assigned seat, extra baggage, and Priority benefits on baggage tags, boarding, check-in, transfer desk, and Priority lost and found, as well as a dedicated customer service and a kit that includes a physical card and a welcome gift.
CHOICE: the third value that the Volare program offers to customers is greater choice. Thanks to the partnership with SkyTeam, all of the Club-related services that are currently available for all ITA Airways flights will soon be extended to the other airlines in the network, enabling members to access more than 1,000 destinations worldwide. Furthermore, as part of ITA Airways’ business expansion strategy, Ita is committed to building an ecosystem of partnerships that offer Volare members even more products and services on which they can accrue and redeem points.
CONNECTION: Volare has an innovative, digital, and flexible footprint. It is always online and can be accessed anytime and anywhere on the web platform and thru the dedicated app. Currently, there are already many subscribers to Volare, both from Italy and abroad. To date, the program has approximately 275,000 members, of which approximately 40,000 are Elite members (i.e. Club Plus, Premium, and Executive). This result is also important because it is consolidated on the international market: suffice to say that 35% of the participants in the Status Match campaign came from foreign companies. Furthermore, preliminary analyses show that Volare subscribers buy and fly more than non-subscribed clients, confirming the importance of the program in increasing the satisfaction of Ita customers.