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LUSAKA. – Emirates, which flies daily direct from Lusaka to Dubai and Harare, has set out the benefits of its Business Rewards programme. Speaking during a British Chamber of Commerce Zambia event, Emirates commercial manager Hamad Al Ali explained that the airline conducted a survey of business travellers to help it revamp its corporate frequent flyer programme.Large and small-scale businesses, as well as non-government organisations are targeted in the revised scheme which sees companies receiving benefits when booking with Emirates in addition to the benefits received by individual passengers under its Skywards passenger loyalty programme.

The biggest feature in the newly-improved programme is the ability to use Business Rewards points to book a commercially-available seat at any time, giving members cash-like convenience, said Mr Al Ali.

“In a bid to please our customers, the Emirates team has undertaken various surveys to help shape and revamp the Emirates Business Rewards corporate loyalty programme,” he said. “It has been simplified and made more competitive, allowing easier redemptions and upgrades, even on last-minute bookings.”

The improved scheme was outlined to CEOs and top businesspeople at the British Chamber of Commerce Zambia (BCCZ) last week

Emirates recently commissioned an independent survey on the perception and habits of over 800 business travellers and decision-makers of business travel in the United Arab Emirates.

The findings in the survey reiterate the need for cost-effectiveness and flexibility in corporate travel. The top three factors considered for airline selection in the survey were price (30 percent of respondents), flight timings (26 percent), and value for money (23 percent).

The survey indicates that 29 percent of respondents commonly book business travel online directly with the airline. It further shows that smaller organisations are more likely to conduct bookings directly online, with more than half of their corporate travel being booked this way.

“The Business Rewards programme is already satisfying our customers’ needs and providing value-added benefits to organisations of any size, be it charities or clubs,” added Mr Al Ali. “While the simplified Rewards programme continues to provide value and services to key industries such as manufacturing, oil, gas, trading, tourism and IT, the new system will allow other industries with a large labour force, such as the construction industry, to benefit from the programme.”

Customers earn one Business Rewards point for each US dollar spent on the base airfare, which includes carrier charges but excludes taxes and other industry partner charges. Business Rewards points are only earned on Emirates flights, and not on codeshare, interline or other partner flights. – Wires.