Among the many announcements at IndiGo’s event today, the key one was IndiGo’s reveal of its IndiGoStretch product. But the airline also had another ace up its sleeve. The airline confirmed the launch of its loyalty programme, and it is coming sooner than you think.

IndiGo to launch BluChip.

IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers indicated on an analyst call in 2023 that the airline is exploring launching a frequent flyer programme. No timeline was put on the move, and the announcement was considered exploratory. In terms of resources, the airline had already hired a head of the loyalty programme then, and it was discussing the shape and form of the product it would launch. Today, we got more details on the product itself.

Today, IndiGo announced the launch of its loyalty programme, which will be branded as IndiGo BluChip. While launching the programme, the airline emphasised that it was transitioning into a global aviation player, and it wanted to recognise and reward the airline’s frequent flyers through the new loyalty programme.

The programme will offer a revenue-based earn and burn. IndiGo customers who become members of the programme will be able to accumulate IndiGo BluChips on every IndiGo flight based on their spend. The airline claimed that their programme would offer the highest rewards on flights and ensure a hassle-free redemption on every IndiGo flight up to the last seat available, 365 days of the year.

However, details on the value of the BluChips have not been made available, so it is hard to assess this value at the moment. The current existing format of 6E Rewards, available only to co-brand card members, is worth INR 1 per point. IndiGo clearly will be doing revenue-linked redemptions, which means, if the flight is, let’s say, worth INR 5000 in cash, you will need an equivalent number of points to redeem it on points or perhaps do a mix of cash and BluChips, like valid with the current 6ERewards programme.

Members will earn more IndiGo BluChips when booking directly on the IndiGo website and mobile app, as has been the trend with Indian carriers. Tiers for upgrades will be reviewed daily, as opposed to a fixed anniversary. In a positive move, IndiGo’s BluChips, the currency to be earned for flying the airline, will never expire for active members. How active members are defined is yet to be seen. Most probably, they will need members to accrue points every few months to signal that they are active.

In terms of recognition, IndiGo BluChip members will also get benefits, such as Prime Passes (IndiGo Prime) and Baggage and Seats, indicated by Neetan Chopra, IndiGo’s Chief Digital and Information Officer, who was on the stage to talk about the programme.

What happens to 6E Rewards?

6E Rewards was IndiGo’s co-brand loyalty programme, where only holders of their co-brand cards could earn points. The airline did not see much success with it, kind of stopped talking about it after it hit 300,000 members, and it fizzled out. The current co-brand partners are HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Incidentally, HDFC Bank was the first co-brand partner, which then saw an RBI Ban on issuing credit cards for a while. Kotak Mahindra Bank is currently serving a similar ban at the insistence of the RBI.

Existing 6E Rewards members will be migrated to the new programme once it is launched.

Pre-registration now live

IndiGo is still not ready to roll out the programme, so they are accepting pre-registrations for it instead, to dovetail into the event. You can pre-register for the loyalty programme here.

The airline will give away 18,000 IndiGo BluChips to one member who pre-registers, and 50 members will get 1,800 chips.

• One participant stands a chance to get 18,000 IndiGo BluChips,·
• 50 participants daily will stand a chance to accumulate 1,800 IndiGo BluChips.

Bottomline

IndiGo has announced that it will launch a loyalty programme in September 2024, to be called IndiGo BluChip. The programme will have revenue-based earn and burn, and it is currently accepting pre-registrations, while it will share more details closer to the date of launch of the programme.

What do you think of IndiGo adding a loyalty programme to its offerings?

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