2023 Awards Winners
The 2023 Golden Loyalty Awards winners (from left to right) are:
Master of Ceremony
David Andreadakis, CGO, BLUEWATER
Frederick Lehmkuhk, Programme Strategy & Design Manager, ETIHAD AIRWAYS
Kalpak Shah, Chief Technology Officer, LOYALTY JUGGERNAUT
Panagiota Makridou, Loyalty Marketing Senior Executive, AEGEAN AIRLINES
Randy Petersen, Founder, Flyer Talk/BoardingArea/InsideFlyer
Jelena Kezika, Senior Director Strategy, GLOBAL HOTEL ALLIANCE
Sarah Udy, Executive Manager - Member & Program, QANTAS
Christophe Etchegaray, SVP Global Partnerships, ACCOR
Ravindra Bhagwanani, Managing Director, GLOBAL FLIGHT
Global Flight has recognised once again the best innovations in loyalty programs during the Loyalty & Awards 2023 conference, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Ravindra Bhagwanani, Managing Director of Global Flight, also organiser and chairman of the Loyalty & Awards conference, said "While the winners get the top recognition they deserve, it is encouraging to see across all nominations how much programs invest in developing the market further, being motivated by this ultimate recognition. Those innovations across the board are a clear indication that interesting times are ahead, both for the program operators themselves as for their members".
Best Marketing Campaign
The award recognising the “Best Marketing Campaign” was received by the Greek flag carrier, Aegean Airlines. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of its loyalty program, Miles + Bonus, the company celebrated with a set of campaigns, released within a 4-month period. Aegean’s campaigns obtained outstanding results in terms of activation and reengagement of members.
Best Use of Technology
Etihad Airways was the winner in the “Best Use of Technology” category. The airline was one of the early movers in the NFT area by launching a collection of aircraft models, dubbed EY-ZERO1. The purchase of NFTs was also smartly linked to granting benefits in the Etihad Guest loyalty program.
Excellence in Management
Global Hotel Alliance deserved the Award in the "Excellence in Management" category thanks to a far reaching and well executed program transformation. Leaving its historic recognition-only approach behind and notably introducing a redeemable award currency delivered results beyond expectations.
Best Loyalty Partnership
The last award for program operators recognised the “Best Loyalty Partnership”. Accor and Qantas emerged as winners here. They extended their already close partnership by including more tier members to the benefits granted on the respective partner. The uptick notably in terms of member engagement convinced the jury.
Best Supplier Innovation
In the supplier category, IT company Loyalty Juggernaut topped the competition for the third year in a row. It introduced GRAVTY Pulsar, a patent-pending innovation powered by Generative AI that delivers an autonomous approach to loyalty campaign management, enabling a much more personalised approach than traditional means.
Best Lifetime Achievement
Randy Petersen is considered the most powerful voice of frequent flyers and the driving force behind many relevant channels, from his original printed InsideFlyer magazine to FlyerTalk and BoardingArea. He is also the father of the Freddie Awards.
