I can’t help but feel that when Alaska Airlines replaces Mileage Plan with “Atmos Rewards” when it combines loyalty programs with Hawaiian Miles, the result for consumers will not be positive. But it’s not too late to ensure that Alaska Airlines remains an outlier in the world of frequent flyer programs.
We’ll get into the program specifics in a moment, but first, the name. All I can think of is whether venerable aviation consultant Henry Harteveldt had anything to do with this…his own company is called Atmosphere Research Group. And while that company name works well for him, I do wonder why Alaska Airlines would choose such a generic name for its combined loyalty program.
I look back on loyalty program name changes and see two glaring mistakes over the last decade: Marriott and Hyatt. After its merger with Starwood, Marriott took Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) and created Marriott Bonvoy, a name that has become the butt of many jokes (to be “bonvoyed” means you had a negative or problematic experience with the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program or a Marriott hotel). We may have become accustomed to the Bonvoy name, but it still strikes me as a foolish brand progression.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on Live and Let's Fly.
