Rocket Travel by Agoda’s latest report shows travel-based loyalty programs continue to climb in popularity thanks to the sector’s ability to build loyalty through highly personalised customer experiences.

Rocket Travel by Agoda’s 2025 Trend Report reveals that the top five airline loyalty programs alone saw a 7.75 percent average growth in valuation from 2020 to 2023 while some travel loyalty programs in the financial services sector have tripled in value since 2019.

Rocket Travel head Damien Pfirsch said: “Unlike other industries, travel is something that people are emotionally invested in. By offering real-world experiences that customers really care about, it’s easier for brands to turn transactional relationships into long-term partnerships with their customers.”

A potential opportunity

While the report noted a dip in levels of customer satisfaction for many customer loyalty programs post-Covid because of reductions in benefits, there was now an opportunity to re-ignite customer enthusiasm through more engaging online experiences.  

For brands using Rocket Travel by Agoda solutions, some partners have seen 40 percent of loyalty users book more than once.

According to Pfirsch: “Digital travel platforms are uniquely engineered to let customers design their own, highly-personalised experience thanks to great search capabilities and a wide selection of destinations and accommodations, all at value-driven prices. The technology is also highly customizable, so brands are able to offer their loyal customers an enjoyable experience with all the look and feel of their main site.”

Key benefits

Other benefits include the ability to search based on distance to key points of interest, find refundable or flexible travel options, filters based on pricing data and localised languages. 

Meanwhile interactive tools proactively recommend options to the customer based on their preferences, like deep discounts for price-sensitive travel planners or options with high earning potential for points-hungry members, drive increased repeat rate and added long-term value from each customer.

Pfirsch said: “These personalization capabilities are only going to get stronger as the industry embraces AI.”

The report also noted that travel-based loyalty programs tend to appeal to higher spending customers, presenting businesses with the opportunity to not only boost levels of customer engagement but also benefit from higher customer lifetime values.

Elsewhere the report explores how travel-based loyalty programs offer partners the opportunity to tap into ancillary revenue streams.

According to Pfirsch: “Travel loyalty programs also offer businesses the flexibility to drive ancillary revenue through expansion into adjacent verticals such as hotels, car hire and ground transportation. For example, we worked closely with one of our partners to estimate that if they looked to offer trip insurance as an add on, they could boost incremental revenue by around $1.2 million and the early results are indeed looking promising.”