Consider the customer journey:



Understanding the entire customer journey including all the touch points where value can be added for the customer is the key here and as well as adding that value for the customer, there is the obvious comfort that revenue will be generated – there’ll be a return on the relationship.



By understanding the journey a customer goes through, travel brands are better positioned to decide what to offer them and how to ensure it is viewed as worthwhile to the customer, not just pushing a product.

Extend the product offering:



A flight is usually the first purchase point for a traveller, so flights and the associated products (baggage, seats, upgrades etc) are obvious initial revenue streams for airlines.



However these products are just the start, travellers are also likely to need hotels, travel insurance and car hire at the very least.

Add long term value to relationship:



A recent survey from The Loyalty Practice on changing customer loyalty in 2009 found that only 3% of respondents are most loyal to travel brands.



This is compared to banks, which received 23% of votes and supermarkets, which received 33%.