Virgin America Reinventing Frequent-Flyer Programs

Discount airline Virgin America (Web site: www.virginamerica.com) contends it’s re-inventing the frequent-flyer program with its Elevate initiative. It’s a program bereft of annoying blackout dates, and members can redeem right at the point of booking, online or through a call to the company’s reservations line.

Virgin America CEO David Cush calls Elevate “unlike anything in the U.S. [airline] industry.” He says flyers “Don’t need to jump through hoops to book the flights they’ve earned.”

Members earn five points for every one dollar spent on published base fares. That means (depending on your fare) you can rack up a round-trip redemption seat for as few as four paid round trips.

That’s one of the key differentiations between Virgin America’s program and others. The points you accumulate are pegged to the price you pay – not the miles you fly. VX (the discount airline’s code) says the price in points is visible when you book flights online. That price in points varies based on the class of service, and the availability of seats. Flyers can book one-way travel as well as round trip when redeeming points . There’s an 18-month shelf life for points from the date of purchase. Effectively, that means points earned through September 2008 aren’t set to expire until 2010.

A Cheapflights’ observation. It’s the dynamic pricing premise that sets Virgin America’s Elevate program apart from a lot of frequent-flyer programs. The idea that you can get an unsold seat on any flight is intriguing. It’s the potential price in points of that seat that’s the issue. Remember, VX says that “Price in points varies based on class of service and seat availability.”

© Cheapflights Ltd Jerry Chandler