AIRLINES & ALLIANCES

GLO Interview: Salma Al-Hmoud, Loyalty Development Manager, Royal Jordanian Airlines (Full Interview)

Topics discussed: Introduction and overview of Royal Club - Reflecting on the past 12 months - About collaborations to promote Jordan - Collaboration with Status Match - Partnerships and ecosystem - Magic wand

GLO

00:00 Introduction and overview of Royal Club

01:34 Reflecting on the past 12 months

02:32 About collaborations to promote Jordan

04:30 Collaboration with Status Match

06:09 Partnerships and ecosystem

07:41 Magic wand

Transcript

GLO: Dear Salma, it’s an absolute pleasure to meet you here at the Amadeus Loyalty Customer Conference in Nice and to have the opportunity to interview and talk about the Royal Jordanian loyalty program. Could you start by introducing yourself to our members?

Salma Al-Hmoud, Loyalty Development Manager, Royal Jordanian Airlines: I am Salma Al-Hmoud from Royal Jordanian Airlines, the Manager of Loyalty Development, managing the loyalty program, the strategy, terms and conditions, partnerships, etc.

0:38

GLO: Can you give us an insight into your program? How long has it been going? How many members do you have? Can you give us an overview?

Salma Al-Hmoud, Loyalty Development Manager, Royal Jordanian Airlines: Our program goes back to the 90s, but in early 2020, there was a push to increase the number of members and to activate the program with the members; it is a relatively small program, because RJ is a relatively small airline compared to the airlines of the region. We have around half a million members. 60% are based in Jordan, and we are trying to increase that number, hoping to double or triple it. We have a strategy to expand and have more engaged numbers for the coming two years.

1:34

GLO: Could you update us on how the last 12 months have been for you?

Salma Al-Hmoud, Loyalty Development Manager, Royal Jordanian Airlines: Well, the last 12 months were challenging. We had some interesting projects. We had new partnerships with the different banks for the new co-branded cards. One is already launched, and the other one is on the way, and it should be announced next month. We moved our miles retail platform to Points. We partnered up with Points, which is a part of Plusgrade. We have several other partnerships such as Status Match.

2:23

GLO: It’s been a very busy and active year for you.

Salma Al-Hmoud, Loyalty Development Manager, Royal Jordanian Airlines: Yes, it has been busy and we are working on several projects to be launched later this year.

2:32

GLO: You mentioned you want to become the hub in the Levant, and you’re working with other countries to draw them to Jordan. What other efforts are you currently undertaking?

Salma Al-Hmoud, Loyalty Development Manager, Royal Jordanian Airlines: We are collaborating with the Jordan Tourism Board and trying to make RJ the official carrier for the incoming groups. We’re working hand in hand with the Jordan Tourism Board to promote Jordan as a tourist destination and to have the other groups coming from Europe to Jordan with RJ. We are working on a new website to promote Jordan as a preferred destination with categories such as About Jordan, What to visit, Where to eat, What to do for relaxation and other interesting things to do. And it should be announced very soon.

3:35

GLO: I have seen some of the adverts and as you say, Jordan been quite active in the recent years. Have you seen an increase, a pickup in visitor numbers?  Have you seen an impact on your airline passenger numbers?

Salma Al-Hmoud, Loyalty Development Manager, Royal Jordanian Airlines: Determining that is challenging because of the conflicts in the region. But we are trying to promote Jordan as a safe place to visit. Things will pick up in the summer and October, but let’s see how things go. Naturally, summer is the high season for tourism and for the expats to come to Jordan and see their families. But let’s see how things go because the highest season for tourism in Jordan is September, October and November. So, let’s hope things are much calmer in the region and that things return to normal soon.

4:30

GLO: You mentioned that some of your initiatives involve launching your points and currency, and you also mentioned Status Match. What is your strategy going forward in terms of how you want to position your loyalty program and acquire customers outside of your region?

Salma Al-Hmoud, Loyalty Development Manager, Royal Jordanian Airlines: The strategy is to expand in the sense that we are trying to be the hub for the travelers in the region. We are trying to increase Royal Club database in these countries. We will work on some acquisition campaigns with some offers, and we are offering to make things simpler for members: We are offering status match for new members who are interested in joining Royal Club and have a high tier with other airlines. We are welcoming them in collaboration with Status Match to have the same tier with RJ and to get the same benefits for one year starting from the date of submitting their request.

5:38

GLO: How has the uptake been so far?

Salma Al-Hmoud, Loyalty Development Manager, Royal Jordanian Airlines: It’s been great, and it is actually a way to increase our database because most of the requests we are getting are coming from Europe, which is one of our target places for growth. We are getting good engagement. We are getting good media coverage. Surprisingly, it is giving extra revenue, and now it is helping with the Royal Club revenue.

 6:09

GLO: You mentioned earlier the ecosystem of partnerships that you’re building. What is your strategy and approach to nonairline partnerships?

Salma Al-Hmoud, Loyalty Development Manager, Royal Jordanian Airlines: We are now trying to make Royal Club miles a currency for day-to-day activities. So, we are trying to have earn-and-burn opportunities with shopping malls, banking, credit cards, hotel stays, experiences, etc. That’s what we are trying to achieve. For the next year or two, we are working on expanding our partnership network with nonairline partners. 

7:05

GLO: You are laying the groundwork, and you’ve spent the last 12 months implementing new features and forging new partnerships. What can we expect to hear in the next 12 to 18 months? What are you focusing on?

Salma Al-Hmoud, Loyalty Development Manager, Royal Jordanian Airlines: We’re focusing on better awareness of the program, better experiences, easier ways to burn demise and feel the value of the program and increasing our database. Of course, I think these are the opportunities and challenges at the same time.

7:41

GLO: It is a GLO tradition to ask this question during our interviews with heads of loyalty: If you had a magic wand, and you could invent any feature you wanted without any restrictions or budget constraints. What would you invent?

Salma Al-Hmoud, Loyalty Development Manager, Royal Jordanian Airlines: A platform where I can find all the information about our members in one place is where I can see the true value of the member their pain points what they are interested in to make their lives easier to have more personalized, customized program that would serve everyone as they would love to

8:22

GLO: that’s interesting to hear. And we’re hearing it a lot from our members. It’s this magic button, you press and every customer gets that personalised offer, and everything works seamlessly and talks to each other.

Salma Al-Hmoud, Loyalty Development Manager, Royal Jordanian Airlines: Yes. Everyone likes to have a personalised experience, so we are trying to deliver that. Of course, it is challenging, so we are working to connect the departments together to see how we can achieve this.