Airlink will introduce its Skybucks frequent flyer programme on March 1, 2023, enabling customers to earn rewards on flights and redeem them against future travel and other Airlink purchases.
Airlink CEO and Managing Director, Rodger Foster explained that ever since it became an independent carrier, customers had been requesting such a programme.
‘’We have spent the past year researching, planning and developing our compelling new Skybucks programme. It enables our loyal customers to earn a rand value percentage on every flight and to redeem Skybucks on their next flight as a form of payment to more than 45 destinations in 13 sub-Sahara African countries, including Madagascar and St Helena Island,’’ says Foster.
There will be four Skybucks membership tiers, with eligibility determined by the number of sectors or leg of a journey flown in 12 months (a typical Johannesburg-Durban-Johannesburg return ticket comprises two sectors).
· Blue Tier is for customers who have flown less than 18 sectors.
· Red is for 18 to 34 sectors.
· Emerald is for more than 35 sectors.
· Black tier membership is by invitation only.
Each tier earns rewards at a different rate; the higher the tier, the more Skybucks are earned for the same flight at the same fare.
Additionally, Skybucks can also be used for full or partial payment of air tickets (excluding statutory taxes and charges) and upgrades.
Skybucks will be valid for 18 months from the date of the last activity, but it will be possible to extend their validity before they expire. It’s transferrable between members, and families of up to eight can pool their Skybucks. Customers will receive 1,000 Skybucks (Sb10 is worth R1) upon enrolment during March 2023.
Tier membership
Customers who have flown sufficient sectors with Airlink in the three months prior to becoming a member, will be eligible to move to a higher tier by furnishing the Airlink booking reference (a six-character code), ticket number, flight number and date of travel; as well as the departure and destination airports for the sectors previously flown.
If for any reason, a journey is not picked up by the system, members have 90 days from the date of flight to retroactively claim their Skybucks.
Tier membership is valid for 12 months, except for customers who are automatically progressed to the next tier, once they have flown the required number of sectors within that time frame.
“Besides providing a great added value loyalty programme for our customers, in doing so, we are also taking every measure to safeguard customer data privacy and are using servers situated in the European Union to manage the Skybucks membership information,’’ Foster added.
‘’As a result, data management and security will be compliant with both the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA),” assured Foster.
The enrolment process can be completed on www.skybucks.co.za.