Air Miles UK to award miles for eBay purchases
In the UK, the Air Miles programme has signed a deal with the UK arm of the online marketplace eBay to reward members with points based on the amount they spend on eBay.co.uk auctions and 'buy it now' purchases.
To launch the new partnership, which follows a successful three-month trial, Air Miles is rewarding members with Double Miles (that is, 2 Air Miles for every £10 spent on eBay.co.uk's Buy-It-Now and auction items) until 7th June 2007.
Earning miles After that date, members will earn 1 Air Mile for every £10 spent. Air Miles collected will automatically be credited to the member's account within 35 days.
To earn Air Miles, it is important that members should log on to the Air Miles UK web site first, then click through to the eBay web site from there.
Partner strategy The deal with eBay is the latest in a line of partnerships that Air Miles has signed up on its "virtual high street" to reward programme members for online purchases. Other household names (among the programme's 120 retailers) at which members can earn miles include JohnLewis.com, HMV, Interflora, Play.com, Boden, Tesco.com, Comet, and Waterstones.
The Air Miles Online Shopping programme initially launched with 25 retailers in September 2005, and has since grown to 120 online partnerships, using the affiliate marketing model in conjunction with Affiliate Window, TradeDoubler and Commission Junction.
Redemption opportunities According to Sarah Wood, director of marketing and insight for Air Miles UK, the programme now has 8 million active members, and some 768,000 miles were issued to the programme's members for shopping online via the Air Miles UK web site in the run up to Christmas 2006 (enough for 1,280 return flights to Venice, Wood noted).
The programme offers members a range of travel rewards with more than 110 airlines, 25,000 hotels around the world, cruise packages, travel insurance, car hire, and package holidays from major tour operators. Air Miles also offers a price match guarantee for its brochure holidays, and there are no credit card charges or booking fees.
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