<br/>Provided by 7DAYS.ae<br/><br/>“I have a confession to make,” I tell Dave Battiston as we begin our meeting. “I’ve never used my card.”<br/><br/><br/>But the Air Miles CEO needn’t take offence. Despite having flown more miles in my 27 years than a flock of migrating geese could collectively manage in a lifetime, I have never claimed miles on a frequent flyer programme, let alone come close to racking up enough for a freebie. So when yet another long-haul flight went begging as I arrived in the UAE a little over a year ago, I was hardly about to change a lifelong habit... laziness, that is.<br/>Though I was automatically enrolled in the Air Miles loyalty programme when I opened up a bank account in Dubai, the only thing I’ve had swiped since I’ve been here is my mobile phone - and that was not a particularly rewarding experience, I can tell you. Battiston, a laid back New Zealander, is far from annoyed at my apathy. But then, I’m not his prime target - housewives are the ones he’s got his eye on. Husbands shouldn’t worry... much - all Battiston wants is household mums, in the 25-45 age bracket, thinking about Air Miles morning, noon and night.<br/>“We want to be at every stage of the retail mindset,” he says. “Everything she does, from waking up in the morning until the night-time - paying the bills, grocery-shopping, at the pharmacy and buying insurance. We want to just keep expanding.”<br/>The scheme has come a long way since the 1980s, when founder Sir Keith Mills had the idea on a train journey from Liverpool to London. Mills thought how transport companies must yearn to fill up more seats and took the idea to British Airways, which ended up buying the business. The concept differed from other frequent flyer programmes because points could be collected from a number of different participants and then be redeemed for flights and other rewards. The Air Miles trademark was patented but opened to many other companies besides airlines - not everyone could afford to fly in those days after all.<br/>With BA’s interest limited to the UK market, Mills was able to take Air Miles to Canada, and to the Middle East in 2000, getting key partners such as Spinneys and HSBC on board here in the UAE. The current figures are already impressive: the scheme has 1.5 million members in the country and 70 per cent of its membership base are active users over a three-month period, according to Battiston.<br/>How does the company make its money? “They (the participants) give us a small percentage of every transaction,” he explains. “Usually one per cent. It can go right up to eight per cent but we like to keep it on an even level so the retailers can be cost-effective. They can do a lot of bonusing - triple Air Miles and so on.”<br/>The incentives for scheme participants, be they retail outlets, car rental firms or travel agents, are quite simple: consumers who love their Air Miles feel much more inclined to do business at a place where extra miles are on offer. “The great thing about it from a participant point of view is the return on investment,” Battiston explains. “We have clients like HSBC, which recorded a 29 per cent increase in credit card spending and fifty per cent in card acquisition year on year. Lamcy Plaza saw a 31 per cent growth in sales.<br/>“We are getting more on more online. Sun & Sand Sports recently came on and has just had huge results.”<br/><br/>Besides having busier stores, participants also get reports on group behaviour, telling them where certain demographics are shopping. Air Miles can then tailor an email campaign for them when it comes to marketing. “They can mix building the brand with actually understanding human behaviour and getting retention from that to make sure their existing customers don’t go anywhere,” says Battison.<br/>But while the CEO himself has been working hard to get a couple more key participants on board, as well as launch operations in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Oman, some big spenders in the UAE, such as HSBC Platinum or Premier credit card holders, have already managed to swipe their way into the millions.<br/>“If our members have over 250,000 miles, they can get anything they want,” claims Battiston, referring to the deal as “Air Miles à la carte”. “We get people telling us they want to stay in the Burj Al Arab,” he says, adding that one Emirati man had even earned enough miles to purchase a car - and did just that!<br/>It gets me wondering how far I could have gone if I’d only got into the frequent flyer business. Probably to the moon... and back.<br/><br/>For more information visit www.airmilesme.com<br/><br/>Read more UAE News on <a href="http://www.7days.ae/showstory.php?id=72410">www.7days.ae</a><br/>
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