By Lyndsey Burton
Director
easyJet, Europe’s main low cost flight carrier has recently become the first budget airline to offer air miles.
Teaming up with Citibank, the new air miles scheme will work solely through the easyJet MasterCard.
easyJet MasterCard cardholders will be able to earn ‘easyJet Miles’ at a rate of up to 3 Miles for each £1 spent. 3 Miles will be awarded for each £1 spent on flights and other purchases in the same transaction as a flight on easyJet.com, 2 Miles will be awarded for each £1 equivalent spent overseas and 1 Mile will be awarded for each £1 spent on any purchases in the UK.
Immediate gratification, the ‘easy’ way
easyJet Miles are some what different to the normal flyer miles we’ve all become accustomed to though.
Rather than saving up hundreds and thousands of miles to claim a reward flight and crossing fingers for seat availability on the one flight we actually want to use; easyJet Mile collectors will simply have to purchase a flight at easyJet.com in the normal way and any miles accrued so far will be credited back to the cardholder’s account as a rebate.
The most striking benefit to this ‘air mile’ rebate scheme is that there are no flight availability limitations other than what you would expect as a cash-paying customer.
Another benefit is the immediate reward here, rather than waiting to collect enough miles, you simply fly when you want to as normal and any miles you’ve collected will act as a discount off the cost of the flight.
Get the pounds off now
There are also introductory bonuses on offer with the easyJet MasterCard credit card. Including 10 easyJet Miles for each £1 spent on flights and other purchases in the same transaction at easyJet.com for the first 3 months.
There is also 4,000 bonus easyJet Miles up for grabs if you spend £250 within the first 3 months too.
What’s a mile worth?
easyJet Miles are worth 1 penny. So 100 Miles would equate to a £1 saving off the cost of an easyJet.com flight.
In example, a return flight from London Gatwick to Alicante, costing approximately £114.96 (including all taxes, fees, travel insurance and hold luggage) would earn you 342 easyJet Miles, £3.42 off your next flight.
Comparatively, it works out as a 3% rebate scheme when you spend with easyJet.com, and a 1% rebate scheme when you spend anywhere else.
So how does it hold up against the established players?
There are definite benefits to the easyJet credit card air miles scheme, and ones that you won’t find with any of the bigger airline rewards schemes either.
When you buy a flight at easyJet.com, depending upon the amount of easyJet Miles you’ve managed to accrue, they will be used to credit back the cost of taxes, fees and any other purchases (car hire, insurance, etc…) as well as the cost of the flight.
Another striking feature that holds the easyJet reward scheme above the competition is that you’ll still be earning Miles at 3 per £1 on any flight purchases where a rebate is also credited back to your account. In effect, here – unlike most reward schemes, you will earn rewards on your rewards!
But, in absolute comparison, how much are you really getting back for your money, and does the reward value hold its place against its competitors?
British Airways miles are worth approximately, 0.7 pence each (based on an average redeemable reward).
You do need to factor in how many BA Miles you can earn per £1 spent, and on the British Airways credit card (without the annual fee) you’ll earn 1 Mile for each £1 spent.
AirMiles is slightly different however, each AirMile is worth 7 pence, but you only earn 1 AirMile for each £10 spent.
Virgin Atlantic flyer miles are worth 0.7 pence, and on every day spending you’ll earn 1 flying club mile for each £1 spent.
Bmi destination miles are worth around 0.5 pence, but you'll earn 1.5 miles for each £1 spent on your UK shopping.
So, here's how it works out, on a spend of £1,000 in general shops in the UK:
All in all, despite being a budget airline to only just roll out a reward program, easyJet are winning the top spot in the air miles best buy tables.
For anyone with a holiday home in the Spanish sunshine, cross-European business travellers, and even continental holidaymakers, the easyJet credit card has become the obvious card of choice and more than fulfils the ‘easy’ ethos.
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