Airport Experience® News - ACDBE Issue 2025

DATA CHECK

Loyalty Reimagined

34 % of high spenders participate - offering an immediate opportunity to drive even more value from an already lucrative segment.

30 % of Af uent Leisure Travelers are program members, demonstrating their openness to structured engagement.

Among travelers identi ed as experience-focused, a substantial 43 % are engaged in loyalty programs, showing that emotional and experiential value is a key motivator for participation. Survey respondents also noted the existence of free space in airports. More than half (51%) would prefer additional seating in unused areas, while 38% favor the idea of pop-up lounges and 36% want to see local, culturally relevant pop-up retail introduced. Loyalty Reimagined Airline frequent flyer programs are “losing their shine due to inflated redemption rates, increasingly difficult elite tier thresholds, and fragmented reward value.” Airport have a opportunity to fill the gap, the Airport Experience report suggested. “Airports have a unique opportunity: to build direct, rewarding, and commercially meaningful relationships with travelers - particularly those already spending the most,” the report said. Currently, 25% of travelers are enrolled in an airport loyalty program. About 30% of ALTs are loyalty program members currently, and 34% of high spenders participate, the study found. One-third of airport loyalty

members say that their membership makes them spend “a lot more,” the study found, while a further 40% say they spend “a little more.” “These results suggest that while airports may be behind the curve in loyalty infrastructure, they are well positioned to leapfrog traditional models by offering simple, visible, and high- impact benefits: faster check-ins, curated rewards, access to exclusive spaces, or even bundled digital perks,” the study found. In the report’s conclusion, Mignon Buckingham, CEO of Airport Dimensions, said the data can serve as a call to action. “The findings in AX25 highlight both the extraordinary pace of change in traveler behavior and the growing expectations of airport users across the globe,” she said. “The traveler is telling us what they want, and the data shows us how they behave. This research is a call to action for the airport community: to evolve our spaces, services, and strategies to unlock new value that will benefit both travelers and airports alike.”

33 % of airport loyalty members say that their membership makes them spend “a lot more.” A further 40% say they spend “a little more.”

Just 3 % of global members say the program offers them no bene t at all - a resounding endorsement of loyalty's power when it’s done right.

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AX NEWS JUNE 2025