Emirates is introducing a ‘Guest Traveller’ function to its corporate loyalty programme allowing buyers to book non-company travellers such as consultants and still earn Business Rewards Points.
The move is part of the airline’s revamped loyalty programme, which it claims will allow for “easier redemptions and upgrades” including last minute bookings.
Emirates said one of the biggest features of the programme is the ability to use Business Rewards Points to book any commercially available seat at any time – a first for any airline in the Gulf region.
There is also now no restriction on enrolment with regard to organisation size.
As with other corporate loyalty programmes, enrolled organisations earn one Business Rewards Point for every USD 1 spent. (Note that this is only the base airfare, including carrier charges but excluding taxes and other industry partner charges. In addition Business Rewards Points are only earned on Emirates flights, and not on codeshare, interline or other partner flights).
In addition, individuals who are already Emirates Skywards members will earn Skywards Miles and Tier Miles at the normal rate.
Choosing an airline
Emirates recently commissioned an independent survey on the perception and habits of more than 800 business travellers and decision makers of business travel in the UAE and found the top three factors considered for airline selection were fare (30%), flight timings (26%), and value for money (23%).
According to the survey, respondents most commonly book business travel online directly with the airline (29%). Smaller organisations were even more likely to conduct bookings directly online with more than 50 per cent of their corporate travel booked this way.
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